Bryce Harper

Nationals Extend Bryce Harper Through 2018

By charliewilmoth | May 13, 2017 at 1:33pm CDT

The Nationals have announced that they’ve agreed to terms with Bryce Harper on a deal for the 2018 season. Harper will receive $21.625MM, making his 2018 salary the largest ever for a player who would have been eligible for arbitration, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag writes (Twitter links). Harper can also receive up to a maximum of $1M in bonuses, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links) — he can receive the full $1M for winning the NL MVP, $500K for second, $250K for third, $150K for fourth and $100K for fifth, and he can also receive $100K each for winning an All-Star berth, a Gold Glove or a Silver Slugger. Harper was already under team control through 2018, so he can still become a free agent following the 2018 campaign.

Harper’s massive 2018 salary surely provides a bit of satisfaction for his agent Scott Boras, whose love of precedent-shattering contracts is well known. Harper is making $13.625MM in 2017, his second to last season before hitting the market. His $21.625MM salary next season gives him a big raise that’s difficult to evaluate, since so few players have come anywhere near that figure during their arbitration-eligible seasons. Jake Arrieta was the highest paid arbitration-eligible player last offseason, at $15.637MM; the year before that, Aroldis Chapman made the most, at $11.325MM. That year, Josh Donaldson agreed to a two-year extension that bought out two seasons of arbitration eligibility at $11.65MM and $17MM. In 2014-15, David Price received $19.75MM from the Tigers for his last arbitration season. The year before that, Clayton Kershaw received a salary of $4MM plus an $18MM signing bonus in agreeing to a long-term deal that bought out his last year of arbitration eligibility.

Of those, the Price and Kershaw salaries stand out as the clearest precedents for Harper’s current deal. Another is Mike Trout’s current long-term contract with the Angels. That deal is, of course, significantly different in structure and purpose than Harper’s 2018 deal, but it pays him $19.25MM for this season, which he entered with five-plus years of service time.

Harper’s $5MM 2016 salary was relatively low in part because he agreed to it following the 2014 season as part of a two-year extension that settled a grievance between with the Nats about a clause in the contract he signed upon being drafted. But Harper got a huge $8.625MM raise for 2017 (shattering MLBTR’s projection) that probably came thanks largely to his monstrous 2015 season, in which he batted .330/.460/.649 while hitting 42 home runs and winning the NL MVP award. That big 2017 salary established a baseline that led to his record-breaking deal for 2018. After somewhat of a down year in 2016 that might have been partially due to shoulder troubles, Harper has begun the 2017 season on an MVP-caliber pace yet again, hitting a ridiculous .372/.496/.717 so far.

In the past, Harper and Boras have shown intense interest in testing the free agent market rather than signing a long-term deal, and Harper’s new contract for 2018 does nothing to change that. He’ll still be eligible in the 2018-19 offseason, joining a headline-grabbing free agent class that also includes Donaldson and Manny Machado. Harper will still be just 26 at that point and could yet again set a contract record, particularly if anything resembling his current 2017 pace continues until then. Following the 2015 season, Harper suggested to a reporter that he thought he could make over $400MM on the open market.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL Notes: Nationals, D-backs, Dodgers, Cards

By Connor Byrne | April 30, 2017 at 4:45pm CDT

Even though he’s facing a six- to nine-month recovery from his torn left ACL, Nationals center fielder Adam Eaton isn’t abandoning hope on playing again this season. “I’m going to work my butt off and give myself the best-case scenario to play,” Eaton told reporters, including Jamal Collier of MLB.com. “This year would be great, and if that is the case, that means we are playing in October, that is for sure.” Cubs left fielder/catcher Kyle Schwarber suffered multiple torn knee ligaments last April but was able to suit up again in late October for the World Series, of course, so it’s not impossible to imagine Eaton returning if the Nats get that far. However, Schwarber got hurt in early April, giving him a three-week head start on Eaton; further, unlike Eaton’s game, Schwarber’s isn’t predicated largely on either speed or defense. It’s also worth noting that Schwarber was not healthy enough to play the field during the Fall Classic, instead serving as a pinch-hitter in Chicago and a designated hitter in Cleveland.

When announcing Eaton’s injury Sunday, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo mentioned that he’s confident in the team’s in-house center field options. Right fielder Bryce Harper and shortstop Trea Turner, both of whom have center field experience, are not among the possibilities to grab the reins from Eaton, according to manager Dusty Baker. When asked Sunday if he’d consider using either Harper or Turner in center, Baker responded (via Eddie Matz of ESPN.com): “No. Leave my team alone.”

For Washington on Sunday, life without Eaton began with a 23-5 drubbing of the NL East rival Mets. Harper hit a home run and reached base four times, but his performance paled in comparison to Anthony Rendon’s. The third baseman had an afternoon for the ages, going 6 for 6 with three homers and 10 RBI. In the process, Rendon became the 13th player in major league history to knock in double-digit runs in a single game.

Here’s more from the NL:

The Diamondbacks project Archie Bradley as a long-term starter, but the right-hander won’t go back to the rotation in the wake of Shelby Miller’s season-ending elbow injury, manager Torey Lovullo announced Sunday (via Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com). “He will remain in our bullpen,” Lovullo said of Bradley. “The way we look at it is he’s been pretty dominant in the bullpen.” With a 1.20 ERA, 10.8 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 15 innings, the 24-year-old Bradley has indeed been almost untouchable as a reliever this season. Bradley wasn’t nearly as good as a starter from 2015-16, a 177 1/3-inning stretch in which he recorded a 5.18 ERA, 8.42 K/9 and 4.52 BB/9. While it’s a certainty that he’ll stay in the bullpen, it’s unclear who will take Miller’s spot in the rotation. “Those are the discussions we’re having,” Lovullo stated. “And within the system there are a variety of options for us. So, we’ll hammer that out. That’s a discussion we’ll be having as a group over the next few days.”
Dodgers outfielders Joc Pederson and Franklin Gutierrez are nearing returns from the disabled list, relays Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links here). Pederson, who hit the DL with a groin injury this past Monday, will begin a rehab assignment at Single-A on Wednesday. The Dodgers’ hope is that he’ll be ready for activation Friday. Gutierrez, down since April 12 with a hamstring strain, started a rehab assignment of his own at Class-A on Saturday. With those two coming back, top prospect Cody Bellinger will likely return to Triple-A. The 21-year-old homered twice in the Dodgers’ improbable win over the Phillies on Saturday, contributing significantly to the excellent .316/.409/.632 line he has posted across his first 22 major league plate appearances.
It seems Cardinals third baseman Jhonny Peralta’s DL stint is largely the result of a bad reaction to medication, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Peralta began taking pills toward the end of spring training in an effort to combat an upper respiratory infection, but they only worsened his condition and left him feeling “dizzy” and lethargic. Manager Mike Matheny took notice. “We watched him throughout most of spring and it was, ‘Hey, he’s really moving well, he looks strong.’ And then something hit a point and I started asking the medical guys, ‘Is there anything going on?’ Yeah, he has some upper respiratory stuff. But let’s look into this. It just doesn’t look right. Jhonny was really good about being honest about how he was feeling and not doing the, ‘I’m just going to grind and go.’” Peralta is now on the right track, fortunately, having stopped taking the medication. He could rejoin the Cardinals as early as May 8, per Goold.

Olney’s Latest: Machado, Harper, Tigers, Jays, Giants

By Connor Byrne | March 19, 2017 at 9:17am CDT

Given that Orioles third baseman Manny Machado and Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper are scheduled to reach free agency after the 2018 season, high-payroll teams will spend the next two years deciding the more worthy target, writes Buster Olney of ESPN.com. With that in mind, Olney polled seven evaluators on which potential $400MM player they’d prefer to sign. Six chose Machado, whom the evaluators regard as a more well-rounded player. “Harper gets credit and gets a huge part of his reputation for how far he hits home runs, but they still only count for one run,” one evaluator told Olney. “Machado is an entire field hitter who hits to the situation. He can hammer majestic homers, but can also do other things to help a team win.”

Heyman’s Latest: Nationals, Alvarez, Cubs, CarGo, Yankees, Colome

By Steve Adams | March 2, 2017 at 5:47pm CDT

The latest notes column from Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports kicks off with an extremely early look at the potential market for Bryce Harper in two years, with Heyman listing the Yankees, Nationals and Phillies as teams that many within the industry think will vie for the 2015 NL MVP in free agency. The in-depth look at Harper focuses on the 24-year-old’s improved clubhouse demeanor and maturity in recent years and also adds more fuel to the rumors that Harper played part of the 2016 season through a shoulder injury that he’s reluctant to discuss. Heyman also touches base on Derek Norris later in the column, noting that there may be a better chance that Norris is simply released than traded. Washington agreed to a $4.25MM salary with Norris to avoid arbitration, but because arb contracts aren’t fully guaranteed, they could cut Norris before March 15 and only pay him 30 days termination pay — about $688K, by my math.

Some highlights from a lengthy look at all 30 teams around the league…

Pedro Alvarez still has fans in the Orioles’ front office, per Heyman, but there’s been “no evidence” of renewed contact between the two sides. The Twins talked to Alvarez’s camp at one point but haven’t been in touch recently, and while Rangers manager Jeff Banister is fond of Alvarez dating back to the pair’s days in Pittsburgh, there’s nothing to suggest the two sides could strike a deal.
The Cubs met with Scott Boras recently and discussed Jake Arrieta, but there was “no traction” in talks between the two sides. Heyman paints a similar picture to the one that has surrounded extension rumors with Arrieta for the past several months; the Cubs would be amenable to a three- or four-year deal, but Arrieta and Boras are targeting something more along the lines of Max Scherzer’s seven-year, $210MM contract. Heyman also notes that the Cubs made a play for right-hander Brad Ziegler this winter before he inked a two-year deal with the Marlins.
Extension talks between the Rockies and Carlos Gonzalez are “on hold” for the time being. The team tried to explore talks with Gonzalez (another Boras client) recently, but with free agency just a few months away, hammering out a new deal has long seemed unlikely (and, I’d argue, unnecessary from the Rockies’ vantage point, given the plethora of outfield options in Denver).
After spending a combined $99MM on Matt Holliday and Aroldis Chapman at the Winter Meetings in early December, Yankees GM Brian Cashman was told he only had $4MM to work with over the remainder of the winter, Heyman reports. That level of cash prevented the Yanks from luring targets like Travis Wood and Jerry Blevins to the Bronx but did prove to be enough to buy Chris Carter (and perhaps Jon Niese, who inked a minor league deal). Cashman also tells Heyman that he did receive trade offers for Brett Gardner, but the offers simply weren’t enticing.
Rays closer Alex Colome was oft-rumored to have drawn trade interest last summer and earlier this offseason, though Heyman writes that the Nationals wouldn’t part with top outfield prospect Victor Robles in order to acquire him. Colome was outstanding in his first season in the ninth inning last year, logging 56 2/3 innings with a 1.91 ERA, 11.3 K/9, 2.4 BB/9 and a 47.1 percent ground-ball rate. The 28-year-old hasn’t even reached arbitration yet and is controllable through the 2020 season, so if he does eventually emerge as a potential trade chip, the asking price from the Tampa Bay front office would likely be deemed exorbitant by many clubs.

Quick Hits: Quintana, White Sox, Sabathia, Harper, Grichuk

By Connor Byrne | January 15, 2017 at 3:51pm CDT

Interest remains strong in White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana, writes CBS Chicago’s Bruce Levine, who reports that teams have sweetened their trade proposals for the 27-year-old over the past week. While the Astros, Pirates and Yankees have been connected to Quintana more than anyone else this offseason, there are also other clubs in the mix, sources told Levine, who adds that the White Sox could strike a deal to move him soon. Chicago isn’t in any hurry to give up Quintana, but Levine expects it to happen prior to spring training.

Elsewhere around the majors…

Yankees southpaw C.C. Sabathia will turn 37 in 2017, the last year of his contract, but retirement isn’t on his mind. Regarding the end of the long Yankee tenures of Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira last season, Sabathia told Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record, “If anything, it made me want to play as long as I can. As long as I’m healthy and feeling good, I want to play.’’ While Sabathia is no longer the front-line starter he was earlier in his career, he did bounce back last season from a couple subpar years in a row. In 179 2/3 innings, he logged a 3.91 ERA, 7.61 K/9, 3.26 BB/9 and 50.1 percent ground-ball rate. That impressed general manager Brian Cashman, who said, “It’s a big year for him. It’s his free-agent walk year. And I’ll sign up right now to get what we got out of him last year. He was very effective.’’ Cashman also stated that Sabathia’s “expectations and hopes are to pitch for another four or five years or something like that.”
The Nationals and right fielder Bryce Harper avoided arbitration Friday when they agreed to a $13.625MM salary for 2017. That figure trumps MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’s $9.3MM arbitration projection for Harper, leading Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com to wonder if it was a goodwill gesture on the Nationals’ part. Harper made $5MM last season, which was a bargain even during a down year for the 2015 National League MVP. By nearly tripling Harper’s salary, Zuckerman posits that the Nats may have been trying to make up for his cheap cost last year and perhaps improve their chances of extending the Scott Boras client before he hits free agency two winters from now. However, regardless of the club’s motivation, Zuckerman concedes that Harper’s 2017 salary probably won’t affect whether he’ll stay in D.C.
Cardinals outfielder Randal Grichuk underwent left knee surgery to remove loose cartilage earlier this offseason, he told reporters – including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch – on Sunday (Twitter link). Grichuk added that he’s doing well after a month-plus recovery. The 25-year-old has now undergone surgeries in back-to-back offseasons, including a procedure to repair a sports hernia last winter. With the signing of big-money center fielder Dexter Fowler in free agency, Grichuk is in line for the everyday job in left next season (depth chart).

Nationals, Bryce Harper Avoid Arbitration

By Steve Adams | January 13, 2017 at 1:05pm CDT

The Nationals have avoided arbitration with right fielder and 2015 NL MVP Bryce Harper, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that Harper will receive a hefty $13.625MM salary — a massive raise over his $5MM salary from the 2016 season. Harper’s raise shattered the $9.3MM projection of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz and stands out as the largest raise ever given to a position player that is entering his third year of arbitration eligibility. Harper will be arb-eligible once more next winter and is a free agent following the 2018 season.

Nationals Notes: Harper, Kiermaier, McCutchen, Giolito, Wieters

By Mark Polishuk and Jeff Todd | December 5, 2016 at 6:03pm CDT

There’s a sense within the Nationals organization that it may not be possible to reach agreement with outfielder Bryce Harper on a long-term deal to keep him from reaching free agency after the 2018 season, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. A team source says that the club believes Harper is looking for a deal in excess of ten years and $400M — though it does not appear he has actually made such a specific request. That level of contract would apparently be a non-starter for the team, which is perhaps not surprising after Harper failed to repeat his outstanding 2015 campaign. Despite the chatter on the polarizing star, agent Scott Boras says that he has yet to discuss a long- term arrangement with the Nationals, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Nats GM Mike Rizzo declined to comment on the subject, as Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post tweets. Whatever situation may or may not exist involving a Harper extension, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports that Harper isn’t the subject of any active trade talks.

Some more news out of Washington…

Also from Nightengale’s piece, he reports that the Nationals asked the Rays about Kevin Kiermaier but “consider the asking price exorbitant.” Arguably the game’s best defensive player, Kiermaier has generated 13.1 fWAR over the last three seasons and is under team control through 2020, so it is very understandable that Tampa wants a huge return for Kiermaier’s services.
Both Nightengale and FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman report that the Nats are willing to discuss prized righty Lucas Giolito, with Heyman noting that Giolito’s name has surfaced in talks with the White Sox about Chris Sale. If D.C. is unwilling to part with either Trea Turner or Victor Robles, one would think that Giolito would almost have to be involved in a potential Sale trade, as Chicago surely wouldn’t part with its ace without landing at least one blue-chip youngster.
The Nats have found the Pirates’ asking price on Andrew McCutchen to be too high, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. This doesn’t necessarily close the door on a McCutchen trade, though Sherman writes that the Nationals are reportedly more focused on other options, including a deal for Sale.
Despite some rumors to the contrary, the Nationals aren’t planning to flip catcher Derek Norris and then pursue Matt Wieters, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports.

NL East Notes: WBC, Nats, Gonzalez, Blevins, Braves

By Steve Adams | November 2, 2016 at 11:03pm CDT

For those of you looking for some rain delay reading during one of the craziest games in World Series history, here are a few notes from the NL East…

Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper isn’t likely to participate in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, but ace Max Scherzer is open to the idea, writes Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. The WBC provides players with an opportunity to represent their country on a global stage but can be a source of scrutiny as well due to the enhanced risk of injury and, in pitchers’ cases, the increased workload they face when voluntarily adding some intense innings to their schedule before the regular season even gets underway.
Janes also writes that the Nationals are likely to exercise their $12MM club option on lefty Gio Gonzalez. That doesn’t come as a significant surprise, as the free-agent market is devoid of starting pitching talent and, as she notes, Gonzalez would figure to command multi-year offers if he reached the open market. Furthermore, his contract contains a vesting option for the 2018 season, so he has two years of club control remaining, so long as he reaches 180 innings pitched in 2017. That’s no sure thing for Gonzalez, who is prone to abbreviated outings and high pitch counts. Those factors and the Nats’ bevy of young arms could prompt the team to explore the trade market for Gonzalez if they decide they’d like to move on, Janes notes, but I’d have to agree that simply declining his option makes little sense even if the team’s preference is to get younger.
The Mets would like to have Jerry Blevins back in 2017 and covet a veteran lefty specialist to complement southpaws Josh Smoker and Josh Edgin, per ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin, but team officials expect that the 33-year-old Blevins will find a fairly lucrative multi-year deal in free agency this winter. Blevins was effective in 2016, tossing 42 innings of 2.79 ERA ball with 11.1 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a 45.8 percent ground-ball rate while earning a $4MM salary. A multi-year pact does indeed seem possible for the lefty in spite of some curious reverse platoon splits. The .258/.313/.324 line that Blevins yielded to lefties appears to be largely driven by a .368 BABIP from same-handed opponents, and the .637 OPS that he surrendered is hardly a robust mark anyhow.
The Braves have hired Orioles bullpen coach Dom Chiti as their new senior director of pitching, according to MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (Twitter links). Atlanta is also adding former O’s pitching coach Dave Wallace, per Kubatko. Wallace will function as a roving instructor throughout the team’s minor league system. Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun writes that Wallace signed a two-year deal with the Braves and adds that the loss is notable for the Orioles organization, pointing out that Zach Britton credits the duo with his development into the dominant closer he has become.

Boras On Health Of Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper

By Jeff Todd | October 20, 2016 at 6:43pm CDT

Righty Stephen Strasburg and outfielder Bryce Harper — arguably the Nationals’ two most important players — are both on track to participate in a full and normal Spring Training in 2017, agent Scott Boras tells Jon Morosi of MLB Network (Twitter links). That appears to be positive news for the Nats, who went without the former for the postseason and endured persistent whispers that the latter was dealing with shoulder problems.

In the case of Strasburg, Boras says that he’s expected to be capable of maintaining a typical offseason throwing program in advance of camp in February. The key rotation piece, who inked a $175MM extension early in the 2016 season, was diagnosed with a flexor mass strain in his right forearm. He had at least been throwing to keep open the possibility of a postseason appearance, had the Nats advanced, though that never seemed particularly likely. Needless to say, Washington’s outlook for 2017 and beyond depends quite a bit on whether it receives a healthy and effective Strasburg.

As for Harper, the superstar will begin his usual offseason strength and conditioning program, according to Boras. That’s essentially non-news, but it seemingly confirms that there’s no significant shoulder health issue that was left unaddressed during the preceding season — as a pair of reports from SI’s Tom Verducci had suggested. Or, at least, it suggests that any such issue can be resolved without resorting to any treatment or procedure that would disrupt Harper’s normal workout routine.

Still, some mystery seemingly endures. The Nats maintained all along that they were not aware of any such injury, and even reportedly posed the question directly to Harper — who said he was healthy. Boras declined comment on the subject despite having weighed in on several other notable clients’ own health matters in recent years, raising some eyebrows. Now, Morosi says on Twitter that Boras has previously confirmed an injury, citing a recent story from Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. His comments there were seemingly ambiguous: Boras noted that Harper “played with limitations at times” but also seemingly hinted that those were not necessarily related to a specific, ongoing physical ailment (let alone one that wasn’t being publicly acknowledged or addressed).

Whatever is truly going on, it appears that Harper’s health won’t be a limitation as he looks to bounce back from a disappointing 2016 season. The 24-year-old was still solid overall for the Nats, with a .243/.373/.441 batting line and 24 home runs, but he fell off badly after a torrid start and didn’t come close to his productivity in the prior year. In 2015, Harper won the NL MVP award after swatting 42 long balls and slashing a ridiculous .330/.460/.649. Whether he can return to being that kind of force could go a long way toward deciding the Nationals’ fortunes in 2017 — and shaping the course of his own future.

Quick Hits: Britton, Harper, Ramos, Bregman, McCullers, Rasmus, Abad

By Jeff Todd | September 26, 2016 at 10:53pm CDT

Orioles closer Zach Britton has turned in a season to remember, and it’s not all that surprising given his recent excellence. Still, it wasn’t long ago that such a showing seemed highly improbable, as Danny Knobler of Bleacher Report writes. Britton was no lock to make the O’s roster out of camp in 2014, but the refinement of his unbelievable power sinker that year has turned the southpaw into arguably the game’s most dominant reliever. Knobler takes an interesting look at Britton’s transformation as a pitcher, as well as his earlier path toward the majors.

Here are a few more stray notes from around the game:

Nationals star Bryce Harper suffered a thumb injury that caused some concern, but manager Dusty Baker said tonight that X-rays were negative, as Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com reports (Twitter links). Washington is suddenly facing a variety of significant health concerns as it readies for the NLDS, though at least in Harper’s case the prognosis seems promising. Catcher Wilson Ramos is a new concern after leaving tonight’s game following a play at the plate. He’s due for an MRI tomorrow, the results of which could have huge implications for both the team and his coming run through free agency.
Burgeoning Astros infielder Alex Bregman could be back sooner than expected after a “leap forward” in his recovery from a hamstring strain, MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart reports. Indeed, he could appear as soon as this week. While the timetable isn’t quite as promising for righty Lance McCullers Jr., he might be ready to go for the postseason if Houston can sneak in. Meanwhile, there’s said to be little chance that outfielder Colby Rasmus will return to uniform before qualifying for free agency.
It’s possible that Red Sox deadline addition Fernando Abad won’t even crack the team’s postseason roster, as Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald reports. The veteran southpaw has largely been quite good against opposing lefties since coming to Boston, but he has still coughed nine earned runs with a dozen strikeouts and eight walks in his 12 2/3 innings of work. Though nothing has been decided, manager John Farrell did acknowledge that the club is assessing both Abad and rookie lefty Robby Scott for the postseason pen. Scott, 27, has just six MLB appearances on his ledger, though he has yet to allow a run.

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