For weeks, hell, months, we have heard speculation that Harper wanted to head to the west coast to be close to his hometown of Las Vegas. The LA Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were assumed suitors for Harper, and at one point it looked like he was heading to Bay Area.
But no, the rumors that Harper wanted nothing to do with the City of Brotherly Love proved to be false.
Harper's signing with Philadelphia was surprising from that standpoint, while solidifying the Phillies as the clear cut favorite in the NL East.
The Phillies have been busy this off-season, signing former Pirate and Yankees outfielder Andrew Mccutcheon, trading for Mariners second baseman Jean Segura, trading for Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto, and adding former Yankees reliever David Robertson to the bullpen. Now with Harper, the Phillies have a team ready to compete with the Dodgers, Cubs and Brewers for National League supremacy.
Two takes on the contract: 1) The years committed to Harper are insane. 13-years without an opt out could be something the Phillies live to regret, especially in five or six years if the team doesn't win a championship with Harper in town. 2) At only $25 million a year, the Phillies can go ahead and make other moves. They could conceivably still add a pitcher like Dallas Keuchel this year, or wait and sign Angels outfielder Mike Trout in 2021.
All of sudden the Phillies look like the Yankees of old, willing to spend "stupid money" to get a championship.
Only problem is, as we all know it is very difficult to win by "buying" a championship during the offseason. The Yankees tried that annually from 2002 through 2016 and only came away with one title. The Mets tried that with the Mo Vaughn/Roberto Alomar/ Jeremy Burnitz offseason of 2002 and it blew up in their face.
The Angels have also spent like bandits in the past and haven't been the playoffs in about seven years.
So there is precedent to think this could implode for the Phillies.As far as the division is concerned, the NL East is clearly a three-team race. The Braves are loaded with young talent and pitching, and the Nationals have three excellent starting pitchers and slugger Juan Soto. Both should hang with Philadelphia all year.
As for the Mets ... well ... they made moves, but nothing that makes any reasonable person think they can compete for a playoff spot. Adding a bunch of players over the age of 32 doesn't bode well for the Mets, and they have tried too hard to "Moneyball" their way to piecing a team together. Let's be honest, an outfield collection of Jeff McNiel, Keon Broxton, JD Davis, Juan Lagares, and Carlos Gomez isn't good. In fact it stinks.
Oh, and the Mets are playing hard ball with Jacob deGrom and his contract. Nice.
As for the Marlins? We won't even go there ...
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