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Bowden: Phillies in Front for Harper, Deal “Probably” Done This Week
By Bob Wankel
Published:

I’m truly sorry I couldn’t be there for you yesterday throughout Jon Heyman’s Harper/Phillies attention-grabbing tweets, the subsequent hedging, and eventual walk-back:
One interesting dynamic to the Harper/Machado market: 3 prime teams have shown interest in both stars — the Phillies, Padres and White Sox. Phillies have been confident they’ll land 1 of the stars, but at least 1 of these teams will be shut out.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 18, 2019
That’s not news, it’s, uh, it’s math, man.
But good news. New day, new speculation.
This time it’s former MLB general manager Jim Bowden checking in on CBS Sports Network with an update on the Harper situation, if you want to call it that:
"The process is coming near an end."
Live from @CBSSportsHQ, @JimBowdenGM has the latest Bryce Harper news on Time to Schein. #T2S pic.twitter.com/btyiHlBoaP
— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) February 18, 2019
The key points:
- Harper is going to get 10 years.
- The deal is going to beat the annual average value of Giancarlo Stanton’s 13-year/$325 million deal. That’s $25 million per year for you math whizzes.
- Harper wants to win, it’s a priority, and he thinks the Phillies are close.
- Bowden is sure that Harper can see himself hitting in the lineup between Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto.
- He still believes Harper will end up in Philadelphia, but did note that “anything can happen,” just in case anybody out there wasn’t aware of that possibility.
- Finally, Bowden hears that Harper will probably be signed by the end of the week.
There you go. That’s the latest. Harper and the Phils by no later than Friday. Done deal. Unless it’s not. You know the drill.
One more thing. A new episode of Crossed Up is here. All the latest on Harper, but also a good convo about Jon Heyman. Give it a listen below.
Bob Wankel covers the Phillies for Crossing Broad. He is also the Vice President of Sports Betting Content at SportRadar. On Twitter: @Bob_Wankel E-mail: b.wankel@sportradar.com