Harper, Phils reach 13-year deal

[Jim65]

Originally Posted by clydepepper

He'd better grow some very thick skin very quickly!

Harper has a habit of not running hard or even getting all the way to first on fly balls, Philly fans will kill him if he does that now.

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by Jim65

Harper has a habit of not running hard or even getting all the way to first on fly balls, Philly fans will kill him if he does that now.

I've watched most every game of Harper's career. He also doesn't run hard to first base on ground balls, unless he smells a base hit. And, I've seen Harper get a single off a ball he hit off the right field wall AND barely make it to second base on a ball he hit over the center fielder's head, because he lingered at home plate to admire what he thought was going to be home runs. I say, Good Riddance!!

[AndrewJerome]

The allure of both Harper and Machado is that they are relatively young as free agents hitting the market since they both started in the bigs as teenagers. Hence the huge money. I don't think either is a generational player deserving $300M. Neither has an AROD type resume entering free agency.

Bryce has two monster seasons (.330 BA and 1.109 OPS in 2015 and .319 and 1.008 OPS in 2017) and then a few just OK seasons mixed in. Just a weird roller coaster of a career thus far. Shows superstar talent and then has weird clunker seasons. With plenty of questions about being a good teammate etc.

In my opinion Machado has a much weaker case than Bryce for the big money. He has similar questions about being a good teammate / head case. But he's never had a monster year. And the best OPS of his career was last year at .905. Career .822 OPS guy gets $300M? Defense can't possibly be THAT good. I understand you have to overpay to as a small market team (my Ms did the same thing with Cano), but I just don't understand the allure of Machado as a huge $ player, especially given his antics in the playoffs last year.

[ullmandds]

I am not a huge fan of either player for that kind of money for so many years!! And I am very happy that my Yankees have not pursued either one of them...Seeing as such long term lucrative contracts have all but exploded in their faces over the last 15 years!!!

[chaddurbin]

Harper is the bridge to trout for Philly, potentially. If Harper can contribute 8-9 wins the next 2 years for Philly and make them a contender, then that would be the cherry on top for trout to go there in 2 years. That ballpark is a bandbox, if Harper stays healthy he will put up numbers.

[KCRfan1]

Let's assume that Philly wins the Series the next 2 years. Is there incentive for Philly to go after Trout and tie up an even larger contract than Harper? Money is probably better spent on arms.

[Bobsbats]

Say what you want to, Harper in Citizens Bank Park, if healthy is 35-40 bombs a year. Its funny seeing Yankees guys talk about money. It's 21-26 million a year and in 5-6 years, that will be normal superstar money. It's a great signing especially if the NL goes with the DH in the upcoming years.