Bryce harper contract phiilies 2019 free#

Either way, plenty of dollars will soon come Betts’s way. Then the potential age difference wouldn’t be a factor and the two sides could negotiate starting with an apples-to-apples comparison.

Bryce harper contract phiilies 2019 free#

Or, much like Machado’s free-agent deal this winter provided a template for the new Nolan Arenado contract with Colorado, Harper’s contract could serve as a baseline number if Boston wants to extend its star before he reaches free agency. He shouldn’t, anyway, given the skill gap between the two players in Betts’s favor.

So Betts is no stranger to record amounts of compensation, and, even with the age difference, it would be difficult to imagine Betts signing for less money than Harper in two years. That total represented a record for players at that stage of the contract process. Last season, even after a relatively down year in 2017, Betts won his arbitration case to earn $10.5 million (Boston had offered just $7.5 million), and earlier this winter, he and the Red Sox reached a $20 million deal for this season to avoid having to go to arbitration for a second consecutive year. The 2018 AL MVP is the same age as Harper but isn’t slated to reach free agency until after the 2020 season, so he’ll be two years older when searching for his big contract. Harper isn’t the best right fielder in baseball, because Boston’s Betts plays the same position. The Giants’ desperation didn’t match the Phillies’, after Philadelphia made several win-now transactions and needed a climactic capper, but he certainly would have helped.īaseball’s Chosen One Is at a Crossroads We Promise the Manny Machado–Padres Marriage Is a Good Thing Nolan Arenado’s Record Deal Is a Win for Both Him and the Rockies Mookie Betts Like Manny Machado with the Padres, he’s young enough that he would’ve still been in or near his prime when the Giants’ slow rebuild through the minor leagues was ready to return the major league club to the success it experienced in the first half of this decade. But he would have made them better this year, and he would have made them better in 2020, and he would have made them better in 2021 and beyond. Harper alone wouldn’t have fixed the Giants’ 2019 problems, which range from an aging core to a spotty staff to an outfield that would need two Harper-level players to look good.

FanGraphs forecasts a 75-87 record for San Francisco this year, Baseball Prospectus 73-89-and both marks are the worst in the NL outside Miami. The Giants project as one of baseball’s worst teams this season, after winning just 64 games in 2017 and 73 in 2018, despite making win-now moves-trading for Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria, among others-last offseason. Check out all of The Ringer ’s MLB coverage leading up to Opening Day San Francisco Giants