That is a fair point.
This will go down as one of the worst FA deals in recent history. No way will Harper ever earn this. Great deal for him though! $330M f’ing guaranteed. Jesus. And people are freaking out about a $15/hr minimum wage.
He hits well at the Bank. His numbers in SFs ballpark were awful so no way would he have wanted to play at McCovey Cove. I thought for sure he’d end up with the Dodgers.
I’ll help pay his salary, though. If the Phillies can find a way to get Trout in 2020, look out. That will be the toughest ticket in baseball and maybe in Philadelphia.
As far as that being the longest contract what about the famous contract with the Mets and Bobby Bonilla? They’re paying him over 1 million a year until 2035. Granted it’s a deferral kind of thing but still… they’re paying him for 35 freaking years!
Thirteen years for $330m, with no buyout. Weird to say but it seems like a terrible contract for both sides. Sure Harper will get rich (richer), but I would have thought signing 2 5-6 year contracts would have brought him more money. And as for the Phillies, 13 years is a long time to gamble on a player.
Is this no trade or perhaps limited trade as well?
The deferred payment thing is actually really common. The Orioles will be paying Chris Davis until 2037. The Braves are still paying Bruce Sutter until 2021.
Boooooooo!
Not if he’s hurt a few years from now due to his playstyle, which cuts his productivity in half, for example. He’s giving up that shot at extra money for guaranteed security. And with $330M being way more than any single person ever needs, makes a lot of sense to take the money.
The Cardinals begin paying Albert Pujols about $1.2m yearly for the next decade this season because of the deferred money in the 8-year deal he signed with them in 2003. And they owe Matt Holliday $1.4m yearly from 2020-2029.
But I think the all-timer right now is the deferred money the Nats will owe to Stephen Strasburg.
I think Mad Max has him beat. Half of Max’s $210m/7y is deferred. Worth every penny to watch him stalk his prey behind the mound in the late innings.
The only people who like deferments more than the Nats are US Presidents who got draft notices in the 70s.
Here are the supposed three “finalists” for Bryce Harper and what they were offering. He obviously went for the most cash.
A co-worker who always gets season tickets got hers yesterday and apparently Harper is already a massive hit at the box office from what I’ve heard. Lots of comparisons to the 2008 Phils in how they can structure the lineup, the numbers these players put up in previous seasons, etc. I’m always in I’ll believe it when I see it mode with baseball, but it sure is nice to have a really competitive team again.
Between the Sixers, Eagles and now the Phils, we could have 1980 levels of excitement again in this city. The Flyers are probably a year or two away at the least, although they’re overachieving right now too.
The Phillies ticket office has reported selling 100k individual game tickets since the announcement of Harpers signing.
1% of the way to paying off that deal!
I mean, I’d be freaking jacked if my team signed a Harper. Yeah the deal probably won’t look great in 2030, but there will be some good times in the near term.
Yep. Like I said, I’ll help them pay for his services, same as I’ve helped pay for Embiid’s big contract, Butler, Harris, Redick, and eventually Simmons.
Looks like the Braves lost another pitcher to arm issues, this time reliever AJ Minter. Man, if I’m the agent for Dallas Keuchel or Craig Kimbrel I’m loving this.
I’m a little surprised that the Cardinals haven’t at least kicked the tires on Keuchel, especially with the shoulder issues Carlos Martinez keeps having. There’s no way he’s going to be back in the starting rotation, STL will enter the season with Mikolas, Flaherty, Wacha and…??? They’ve got tons of options for those two spots, but lots of question marks. Gant? Gomber? Wainwright? Hudson? Ponce De Leon? The perennial Lucy-with-the-football Alex Reyes?
It’s possible they have kicked the tires, much like the Braves, but he is still asking for too much money/years. I think he wants to get close to Corbin money and I just don’t think a team is going to give him 6 years 20+ Mil/year when he is 31 and his velocity is already dropping. I really want the Braves to add him to the rotation, but I don’t $180 million want him to be added to the rotation.