The buzzword when it comes to Bryce Harper potentially signing with the Phillies appears to be "optimism" or some derivative thereof. A philly.com headline Sunday morning said the team is optimistic and includes this first paragraph:
Phillies owner John Middleton flew back to Florida on Saturday evening without a deal for Bryce Harper but the team continues to feel optimistic that they will land the superstar outfielder.
Middleton was flying back to Florida from Las Vegas, where he reportedly met with Harper and his wife Kayla. More from MLB.com late Saturday night:
A source also reinforced an NBC Sports Philadelphia report this week that speculation Harper does not want to play in Philadelphia is untrue.
Philly is not a problem for Harper.
The Phillies remain optimistic they will sign Harper, but it is taking time.
There's that word again!
Some reports were stronger on the O word ...
Philadelphia #Phillies owner John Middleton still in Las Vegas with Bryce Harper negotiations and optimism now is that 10-year deal with Bryce Harper is finalized by Monday afternoon.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 24, 2019
What we know as of Sunday morning is that the Phillies are easily the most heavily involved team bidding on Bryce Harper. We can rather easily speculate that his agent, Scott Boras, is shooting for the free agency record, which right now is 10 years and $300 million (Manny Machado to Padres last week). He might also shoot for $325 million, which was Giancarlo Stanton's 13-year contract extension.
Harper is not the best player of all-time, but he is one of the best free agents ever, especially when adjusting for the fact that he's headed to his age-26 season, as most free agents are late 20s or even early 30s.
After the Phillies missed out on Machado, adding Harper seems like the logical conclusion to this offseason. It appears they are optimistic. Now it's time to get the job done.
