Bryce Harper’s New Deal & the New York Yankees

In a bit of a weird turn of events the Washington Nationals restructured the contract for Bryce Harper for the 2018 season, his final season before hitting free agency. The Nationals and Harper agreed over the weekend on a contract that will pay Harper $21,625,000 next season plus an additional $1 million if he were to win the National League MVP Award. The money isn’t an issue really, well it is but one thing at a time, but what this deal tells me more than the obvious that whoever signs him before 2019 will have to break the bank to do so is that Harper hitting free agency is all but a foregone conclusion at this point.

Harper will not be pulling a Mike Trout and will not sign a contract extension like Trout did to stay with the Washington Nationals. Nope, Harper is testing the market after the 2018 season which is exciting for the Yankees, presumably, and their fans, confirmed.

Bryce Harper will be just 26-years old when he hits free agency which reminds me a lot of another former Yankee player, Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez was 25-years old when he signed his 10-year deal worth $252 million with the Texas Rangers and that was back in 2001. What does that mean for Harper? Will he be the first to sign a $400 million deal for 10-years or so? At this point, the way inflation has run rampant through the game, I’m not going to be the one to say that he won’t. Especially considering his agent, like Alex at the time, is Scott Boras.

So what does Harper’s new deal mean for the Yankees? It means they, and 29 other teams, will have the opportunity to bid on his services before the 2019 season. 10-years and $400 million? $600 million and 15-years? Giancarlo Stanton signed a $300 million deal for 12-years and has shown nothing but an injury prone season after another so keep that in mind before scoffing at a 15-year deal. The bidding wars have already begun and it’s only going to get higher and higher from here.

Yankees fans, and most notably the Steinbrenner family, are you ready?