There’s a rather large contingent of Philadelphia Phillies fans who would prefer the team issue a record contract to Bryce Harper, rather than Manny Machado. In the end, beggars maybe can’t be choosers – the Phillies lineup would be significantly improved by adding either – but the club hasn’t closed the door on adding the 2015 National League MVP.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Phillies are among a trio of teams that are willing to offer Harper a contract that will last at least 10 years long:
Harper has met multiple times with representatives of the Washington Nationals, according to a club source, and the possibility of a return to the place he spent the first seven years of his career persists, despite Nationals owner Mark Lerner’s insistence that Washington would not stretch beyond the $300 million offer Harper rejected near season’s end.