Phillies

Scott Boras Talks About the Possibility of a Bryce Harper Contract Extension with Eight Years Remaining on Deal

By Kyle Pagan

Published: Nov 3rd, 2023 · 11:13 AM EDT

---

Scott Boras was on Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman’s podcast, The Show, and Heyman asked him a question about how Boras looks back on Bryce Harper’s contract, now that it is essentially a “bargain deal.” Skip to 14:30 for the start of the discussion:

“I think Bryce’s point was, I created the opt out with Alex Rodriguez so Bryce was fully aware. I may have advised him on this six different times. This is not the economic way to do this. Bryce’s point-of-view was look I’m gonna go there and commit. I’m gonna go there and win. I want to show the fans that I like them and in one place. And we’re going to win this way. Then when the time comes after I produce and prove what I do, if I have discussions or matters related to economics I want the owner to say – which I give John Middleton a lot of credit he did say – is that Bryce Harper is undervalued. And that’s the whole goal. He gave him a record contract. After 3 or 4 years of performance he’s delivered more than expected. And then the player if he has economic dynamics that he wants to discuss he’ll do so with his ownership. And that’s how Bryce felt.”

You can hear how annoyed that greedy bitch Scott Boras is that his client left $100+ million on the table by choosing no opt outs. You can guarantee he’s going to be like a gnat in Harper’s ear buzz buzz buzzing about ‘we need to get you an extension.’ Obviously we don’t know how Bryce feels in this situation, but if I had to guess he and Boras will be pushing for an extension before that 13 year deal is done.

Heyman asks later on if they can extend that contract if it has no opt outs (skip to 18:00):

“No, (it’s not crazy), Bryce has mentioned that he wants to sit down with ownership in time and talk about… he wants to achieve all of his goals in Philadelphia. He obviously wants to play into his early 40s. He has all those goals, he wants to really do everything he can to put up Hall of Fame numbers. I think he’s committed to the game, committed to his city. All those conversations will be coming forward at an appropriate time.”

Hold on a second. It sounds like there was a part edited out in that first sentence. Go listen to the quote at 18:30. It just doesn’t sound like how a person would normally talk. Did Boras drop a nugget there and tell probably Heyman to delete it? Look for Heyman to break the next gigantic contract a Boras client signs.

Now has Bryce outperformed his contract already? Absolutely. He’s done everything we could’ve hoped for barring a World Series ring. MVP, clutch playoff moments, helped get free agents to sign here, embraced the city, and more. He’s everything you’d want your star player to be. And John Middleton knows that. There’s just a little apprehension there if you’re a Phillies fan when you wonder how much Middleton would be willing to spend. Zack Wheeler is in line for an extension, Trea Turner just signed a big-money deal, Aaron Nola could be back on a big deal, and they already had a top-5 payroll in the MLB last year. How long will the Black & Mild money last?

The good news is we’re lucky enough to have an owner that is on record saying this, via Scott Lauber at the Inky:

“How much money did the ‘27 Yankees make? Or the ‘29 A’s? Or the ‘75-76 Big Red Machine?” Middleton said. “Does anybody know? Does anybody care? Nobody knows or cares whether any of them made any money or not. And nobody cares about whether I make money or not. If my legacy is that I didn’t lose any money owning a baseball team on an annual operating basis, that’s a pretty sad legacy. It’s about putting trophies in the cases.