I don't get hating on Harper. He played really well for the Nationals for years, won an MVP here, and didn't badmouth the team or the fans on his way out. The Nationals didn't need to resign him because Soto had emerged and frankly did not have the money to resign him: they spent the money on assets that directly led to a World Series win. Meanwhile Harper got himself one of the largest FA deals of all time. It was a win-win situation. I understand hating anyone in a Phillies jersey, of course, but Harper should be the guy on the Phillies we hate the least not the guy we hate most.
I definitely don't get hating on Soto or cheering for him to do poorly. He won a World Series here and was the face of the franchise for years. He rejected a perfunctory extension that severely undervalued him and was designed to be rejected. Trading superstars is what rebuilding teams must do in this day and age and it looks like Soto will hit the FA market in a few years and the Nats could still make a run at him there.
Harper is just a guy that you love when he's on your side and hate when he isn't. It annoyed me that he went to a bitter rival for marginally more money when we had a good thing going her, but I'm mostly indifferent to him now.
Soto seems like a likeable guy and watching him the first few years here was amazing. I don't like Boras at all and think his approach is bad for the game, bad for the fans, and has his players convinced to take risks that don't really make sense at an individual level. I don't see a 440 million offer as a severe undervalue, and should have been something that could have been a starting point for negotiation if Soto wanted to be here. Rejecting 440 million to hold out for a possible 500 million just doesn't make sense when he's now needing to have a couple spectacular seasons if he hopes to get over 100 million for his next deal.
I feel a bit bad for hoping for him to fail, but if he turns into a bit of a bust and we dealt him at the right time, then it looks like the Nats made the right call, and could serve as a big warning for current and perspective Boras clients.
