In life, some things are obvious, some things are vague, and some are ambiguous.

In the case of Bryce Harper’s admiration for J.T. Realmuto, and his desire to see him return to Philadelphia in 2021, we’d put that squarely in the “obvious” category. It’s so obvious that we wonder at times if he’s going overboard in his very public demand for the Phillies catcher to be extended on a long-term deal.

Today, Harper posted this on his Instagram story:

“Reppin all winter.”

On a serious note, Harper’s influence might be necessary to keep Realmuto around. Based on John Middleton’s doozy of a Saturday press conference, there’s hardly a guarantee that the Phils go out and try to keep their stud catcher around. Perhaps Harper calls up Middleton and say, “Hey, you spent this money on me and said you wanted to win, so you’re either committed or you’re not. Go out and make him an offer.”

Bryce also posted this:

Interesting times for the Phillies. They’ve got some decent pieces, but they need to decide if they want to go for it, or just half-ass it through the pandemic. Matt Klentak is gone, sort of, but Andy MacPhail is still around and will be part of the search for a new GM. Nothing that came out of this weekend’s news does anything to assuage concerns and make you feel good moving forward, does it?