The San Diego Padres are expected to meet with free agent Bryce Harper over the next two days in his hometown of Las Vegas, Nev., according to Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic.
Harper’s free agency has drawn out into the end of January and presumably the start of February as spring training is set to start for clubs. At the start of his process, Harper rejected a $300 million, 10-year deal from the Washington Nationals.
Since then, it’s been countless reports suggesting Harper’s intentions one way or another. The Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox stood out in front with the Nationals most recently. However, according to Rosenthal, with the process lasting so long, Harper and his agent, Scott Boras, have had talks with a number of other teams.
This is on the heel of Chris Russell of 106.7 the Fan first reporting Thursday morning that Harper was meeting with a mystery team. And that other teams were involved in the negotiations.
“Here’s what I know,” Russell told The Sports Junkies Thursday morning. “I knew the other day that he wasn’t signing anywhere, least of all with Philadelphia, because he’s got an unidentified team meeting with him in Las Vegas today.”
“From what I understand,” Russell said, “it’s not just one other team that’s getting involved in this, other teams are trying now that the price and now that this process has drawn out. I can’t say definitively he will meet with more than one other team, but from what I understand, other teams are trying to join the fray late.”
There was great speculation Harper was set to announce his signing with the Phillies on Tuesday in large due to MLB the Show video game hinting to a big announcement. However, whether that was smoke and mirrors, Harper and Boras wanting to weigh options or other teams desperately jumping in the mix, the speculation was all for naught.
At one time projections were for Harper to receive a $400 million contract. But, as his free agency has lingered it appears that may not be the case. Could the Nationals’ $300 million offer be the best offer?
It’s debatable that the offer is still on the table. Nats principal owner Mark Lerner suggested the offer would be Washington’s best and final with their limited available spending budget that shrunk after the signing of starting pitcher Patrick Corbin.
Contradicting reports have emerged that Washington had or had not upped their offer or were still in the fray. It’s anyone’s guess where all of this will end up, but Nationals fans are surely watching with curious eyes to see if Harper will return to the team that drafted him No. 1 overall in 2012 or if he would sign elsewhere.
