Bryce: All things considered, I'd Rather be in Philadelphia

[DCFan]

0-3, 2Ks in his debut (so far).

Can't those who want to stalk Bryce get this info in a box score?

[imref]

Can't those who want to stalk Bryce get this info in a box score?

yeah but what fun would that be?

[DCFan]

yeah but what fun would that be?

Well then be sure and post his payroll info when the players get paid.

[skippy1999]

Can't those who want to stalk Bryce get this info in a box score?

Can't you just not read the thread that's all about knocking Bryce since it offends you so?

[DCFan]

Can't you just not read the thread that's all about knocking Bryce since it offends you so?

I do for the most part but it's this loss today that's got me out of sorts. Peace.

[imref]

I do for the most part but it's this loss today that's got me out of sorts. Peace.

get outside, go for a walk. We'll meet again on Saturday! 

[DCFan]

get outside, go for a walk. We'll meet again on Saturday! 

I'm going to fire up the grill shortly. Nothing like the smell of meat cooking on the barbie to straighten ones mind out.

[varoadking]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/03/28/opening-day-nats-fans-ripped-defaced-marked-up-their-bryce-harper-jerseys/?utm_term=.b91549043f12

 

[Minty Fresh]

We got shutout on opening day.  Phillies won 10-4.

[Copecwby20]

https://www.si.com/mlb/2019/03/28/nationals-fans-bryce-harper-jerseys-opening-day-photos

I saw some funny ones yesterday as well.

[DCFan]

https://nypost.com/2019/03/30/mets-also-adjusting-to-nationals-life-without-bryce-harper/

The view from New York.

[Natsinpwc]

Both the Phillies and Nats appear to need Kimbrel.  Could be some interesting bidding. 

[Slateman]

Bryce is hot

[UMDNats]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/how-bryce-harper-went-from-im-gonna-be-a-national-to-were-going-to-philly/2019/04/01/8727f018-5495-11e9-9136-f8e636f1f6df_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3834ba98458b

In the Nats’ final home game on Sept. 26, Harper came to the plate four times against the Miami Marlins. Four times, he received a standing ovation from a Nationals Park crowd of 28,680, a gathering thinned by a gloomy forecast. When the rains finally intensified in the eighth inning, Harper headed down the steps from the dugout to the clubhouse for what felt like a final time.

As Harper sat at his locker, Alan Gottlieb, the chief operating officer of Lerner Sports and a longtime confidante of the Lerner family, walked through the clubhouse and asked Harper to come to Manager Dave Martinez’s office. When Harper walked through the door, Martinez wasn’t there. Instead, he was faced with the organization’s most important figures: Ted Lerner and his son Mark, who earlier in the summer had taken official control of the club from his then-92-year-old father.

Harper was still in his uniform. The game hadn’t yet been called, but he was about to have a business meeting. At that time, the Nationals were the only team that could offer him a contract. The Lerners said they loved Harper, that they wanted him to be part of the future. They handed him an envelope. Harper was stunned.

For years, as Harper’s impending free agency became one of the sport’s central story lines, the annual winter meetings — held this offseason in, of all places, Las Vegas — seemed to be a natural place to conclude the process. Harper’s camp, though, wasn’t looking at it that way. Boras told Harper he probably wouldn’t sign until March 1, even as Harper said he told Boras to go back to the Nats with any offer they received from another club. So as the Nats went about rebuilding their roster, Harper’s camp didn’t counter the original proposal.

“We were like, ‘Thank you for the offer. We appreciate it. We’ll consider it. But let’s keep working towards one,’” Harper said. “So I didn’t talk to them for probably the first two months of the offseason.”

The Dec. 23 meeting in Palm Springs was Harper’s best chance to re-engage the Lerners. The two couples enjoyed an afternoon lunch with Boras and his top lieutenant, Mike Fiore. On speakerphone from Washington was Ted Towne, the Nationals’ assistant general manager in charge of finance.

Harper was thrilled with the meeting. At one point, he said, Annette Lerner turned to her husband and said, “Ted, get it done.”

“I was like, ‘Cool!’” Harper said. “Mrs. Lerner usually makes great decisions.”

By the time the Harpers headed back to the airport, Harper said he was convinced his free agency wouldn’t last much longer.

“I’m sitting there like, ‘I’m gonna be a National. I’m gonna be a National,’” he said. “‘They’re going to make me an offer this week. We’re going to build off of that, and it’s gonna happen.’ I told Kayla, ‘Be ready to go back.’ I flat-out told her. I was psyched. I was like, ‘Be ready to go back, because if we can, we’re going back.’ I was pumped.”

When the calendar flipped to 2019, the Nationals got back to Harper and Boras with a new offer on Jan. 3: 12 years for $250 million, according to one person with direct knowledge of the terms. Much like the proposal they made to Harper before the season ended, some of the money was deferred. The last payment from this contract, according to the person, was in 2072.

That last offer was pretty bad. Deferring enough money to pay for another 50 years is pretty wild. The Lerners are weird, man.

[GburgNatsFan]

If that's really true, it makes me feel differently about the whole situation. And that the creeping fear that the Nats will not make a reasonable offer to Rendon... that's growing.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/how-bryce-harper-went-from-im-gonna-be-a-national-to-were-going-to-philly/2019/04/01/8727f018-5495-11e9-9136-f8e636f1f6df_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.3834ba98458b

That last offer was pretty bad. Deferring enough money to pay for another 50 years is pretty wild. The Lerners are weird, man.

[Squab]

I want to believe this is the real story because it lines up with what I've been saying all offseason. He wanted to come back, but they never made him a remotely competitive offer.

[UMDNats]

The fact that Boras never even countered the Lerners' 10/300 offer (when Bryce said to get it done) tells me that he felt could probably get something like 11/310 or 12/320 but not hit the record - Bryce gets his mega deal, but it's not a record, so Boras looks bad. It sounds like Bryce wanted to stay at a big contract and could work off 10/300 with deferrals, but Boras convinced him he had to leave.

Also lol @ old man Ted handing over an envelope in a rain delay and then making Bryce charter a plane to come see him. The last offer can only be conceived as a "we don't give a crap anymore if you leave" offer. Offering 12/250 with MORE deferrals is a freaking savage move.

[UMDNats]

I want to believe this is the real story because it lines up with what I've been saying all offseason. He wanted to come back, but they never made him a remotely competitive offer.

Eh, 10/300 even with deferrals would have broken the AAV record and it was an absolutely fine starting point for negotiations. I think they would have done it for 12/320 or something with less deferrals than originally offered, but we'll never know because it sounds like Boras had no interest in doing it and the Lerner's weren't desperate to get it done.

The 12/250 offer definitely was not intended to be a serious offer though.

Boras is out here spinning it (I imagine most of this is sourced through Boras considering it was a private interview) like Bryce got the record deal AND a better landing spot for him but he basically pigeon-holed his client by not seriously engaging the Nats in September/October.

[GburgNatsFan]

I don't see 10/300 in that article. Only a  an offer of 12/250. If 12/250 was a second offer, it was an insult.

Eh, 10/300 even with deferrals would have broken the AAV record and it was an absolutely fine starting point for negotiations. I think they would have done it for 12/320 or something with less deferrals than originally offered, but we'll never know because it sounds like Boras had no interest in doing it and the Lerner's weren't desperate to get it done.

The 12/250 offer definitely was not intended to be a serious offer though.

[Squab]

Eh, 10/300 even with deferrals would have broken the AAV record and it was an absolutely fine starting point for negotiations. I think they would have done it for 12/320 or something with less deferrals than originally offered, but we'll never know because it sounds like Boras had no interest in doing it and the Lerner's weren't desperate to get it done.

I've seen/heard elsewhere that the 10/300 offer either a) never happened/was a deliberate leak or b) was off the table before free agency began. So he couldn't possibly have accepted it before seeing the market.

[UMDNats]

I don't see 10/300 in that article. Only a  an offer of 12/250. If 12/250 was a second offer, it was an insult.

The "envelope" offer:

When he got back to his locker, Harper texted Kayla: You’re not going to believe this, but they just made me an offer in the middle of this game. When the rains wouldn’t relent and the final innings were canceled, Harper went to the hallway outside the clubhouse, still in uniform, and met Kayla. Together, they opened the envelope with the Nationals’ official offer: 10 years, $300 million, with explanations of how around $100 million of that money would be deferred, the last payment coming in 2052.

He was handed it 9/26.

[GburgNatsFan]

Thanks.

The "envelope" offer:

He was handed it 9/26.

[mitlen]

I've seen/heard elsewhere that the 10/300 offer either a) never happened/was a deliberate leak or b) was off the table before free agency began. So he couldn't possibly have accepted it before seeing the market.

Dukes just had Svrluga on 106.7.   

"When the calendar flipped to 2019, the Nationals got back to Harper and Boras with a new offer on Jan. 3: 12 years for $250 million, according to one person with direct knowledge of the terms."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/how-bryce-harper-went-from-im-gonna-be-a-national-to-were-going-to-philly/2019/04/01/8727f018-5495-11e9-9136-f8e636f1f6df_story.html?utm_term=.b517ac66513b

[imref]

Jon Morosi
@jonmorosi
Source: Bryce Harper has planned to make a formal statement of thanks to @Nationals fans at some point before first pitch tomorrow, likely via print or social media. @MLB @MLBNetwork

[varoadking]

The "envelope" offer:

He was handed it 9/26.

Pretty creepy...