The Dodgers Offered Bryce Harper $45 Million A Year
Our long national nightmare ended when Bryce Harper signed with the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday. Certainly, I have never been so happy to no longer need to cover a news topic. While I could say you’re tired of reading about Harper, that’s probably not true.
Now, Jon Morosi of Fox Sports reports that the Dodgers made a serious run at Harper. Furthermore, Los Angeles was willing to pay Harper as much as $45 million per season to sign a contract with them. Of course, this would have shattered the all-time AAV (average annual value) dollar amount. Then, Harper would have still seen free agency again at age 30.
The tweet of record is here:
In Bryce Harper talks, I am told #Dodgers were willing to offer a four-year deal worth approximately $45 million per season. That would have allowed Harper to shatter the all-time AAV record and become a free agent at age 30. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) February 28, 2019
Interestingly, Arash Markazi offers a little different perspective. If Harper had decided to take the Dodgers’ offer – he still could have signed a 10-year contract after that to trump his current 13-year, $330 million pact he signed with Philadelphia.
If the Dodgers offered Bryce Harper a 3-year deal averaging $45 million annually, Harper would have been a free agent again at 29 years old and you have to imagine would have been in a position to sign a 10-year deal that would have gotten him at least $25 million annually.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) February 28, 2019
Now, this is really something. The Dodgers will survive without Harper, but he would have been a nice cherry on the sundae. One can only venture to guess why the free agent outfielder didn’t find fulfillment in the Dodgers’ offer.
Scott Boras did not shed light on his client’s discussions with the Dodgers, only saying they were offered ‘the full buffet’ in terms of variety. Harper was also offered a 12-year, $310 million dollar contract by the San Francisco Giants.
Top stories at Dodgers Nation
- Four Dodgers Listed As MVP Possibilities
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- Bryce Harper Signs in Philadelphia
Equally important – this should put a final bow on the Harper stories in regards to the Dodgers. And that’s not a bad thing.
Still, don’t think there won’t be a special chorus of boos from the Chavez Ravine stands when Harper comes to town until you’re 13 years older then you are right now. A quasi-rivalry has been initiated – born of dollars and cents – and to be finished with wins and losses.
Let’s hope that Los Angeles has the final laugh.
Dodgers are just better than the Phillies.
I can’t fault them for NOT going for 350 million or so over 10 years that’s insane…and Assuming the 45 mil a year story is true…I think they did the right thing…NOW they should either use some of that money on someone else or how about giving us some MORE FREE TV GAMES???
Mentioned a while back that nobody will out bid the Dodgers on a short term deal. Harper wanted a long term contract that kept him out of FA again as health and drop in play would/could make him less desirable and lose all leverage. It isn’t about WS wins for him though these may occur with Philly over the next couple of seasons.But we’ve seen teams that go all in walk into the exit door head first and never recover.Dodgers didn’t need him to get into the series and his post season numbers certainly don’t guarantee victory because of him but quite the opposite.
How much longer are you going to beat this Harper story? He signed for a length of contract that the Dodgers weren’t going to even come close to. He clearly wasn’t about the money since he’s getting ~$25.3M per year with Phillie vs. $45M that Dodgers offered. Get over it. The Dodgers just made an offer that he was never going to sign so they could say, “We tried.”
Not any longer.
Your comment “the Dodgers just made an offer……..” and “we tried” is ridiculously childish……None of us know what took place …….you can’t stand it because it blows apart your whine that they were not willing to spend money.
Harper may be past his prime: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/bryce-harper-may-already-be-past-his-prime/
What a waste of money. Is superman at least guaranteeing half of those years with world series rings? One man can’t win it all. when negotiating contracts does he even look at the teams roster? Glad Dodgers didn’t sign him.
Robin, I am OK with not giving Harper what the Phillies ended up paying him. However let me say this Harper or no Harper Dodgers are not, as good as FO and Roberts paint this team to be. I won’t go into specifics but as of now IMHO Dodgers are not PS material…yet….
“Our long national nightmare ended when Bryce Harper signed with the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.” – the perfect summary, Clint.
Thanks Jim! Thank you for the read and taking time to comment as always! Go Blue!
Thirteen years is ludicrous for any team. I’m sorry if you think otherwise. No one dislikes what the business of baseball has become more than me, but there has to be some form of reality in any business and a 13 year commitment for anything as uncertain as a major league baseball player is just “silly” (thank you Philly for coining the phrase and then coming through) . For Bryce it was always about the money, as it is for 98% of all professional athletes and maybe Bryce isn’t comfortable with free agency at 29 or 30. The players that spend their entire careers with one teem like Derek Jeter are far and few in between. I’d love to put CK in that category (and still might), but with his current “issues”, I wonder.
While Bryce would have made the Dodgers only marginally better, he certainly would’ve made going to and watching games more enjoyable. Intangibles aside, with JT at 34, Machado would’ve been the smart pick-up, but again, at what price?
The only nightmare I’ve experienced in the baseball world (besides strikes) was the McCourt Nightmare. I, for one, couldn’t be happier with the current ownership and FO. I deny no one the right/ability to make as much money as they can. The trick is the balance, the value we, the consumers, experience against the money the owners make and so far, I’m enjoying the ride…..Go Blue!
Clearly Bryce wasn’t willing to bet on himself and take the offer and hit free agency again in 3-4 yrs. I think all the so called problems w free agency would be solved with incentive contracts. Offer a guaranteed base salary and incentives that would push it to the top if the player performs.
Sorry, but I just don’t believe this rumor. Makes no sense for Dodgers to make that kind of offer with Seager coming up for a contract extension
Hi Socal!………The 45 million number has been floating around and I think it was Boras who let it out initially, but supposedly he did not tell anyone what team it was. Check out this article that I read yesterday from Tom Verducci………www.si.com/mlb/2019/03/01/bryce-harper-philadelphia-phillies-contract-scott-boras……….
Reading that one, I get the impression Harper never considered taking the Dodger offer…….sounds like Boras was using the Dodgers to get Frisco and Philly nervous, so they would increase their offer length………according to this article Harper wanted length and his goal was lifetime length, never highest annual. But then again, this is Verducci’s take, not necessarily Harper’s version of events. But the article does sound plausible.