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9:41 p.m.: Middleton is still in Vegas and Phillies and Harper's optimism is to finalize a 10-year contract by Monday afternoon, Nightengale reports.
9:19 p.m.: The Middleton plane is back on the East Coast, but both parties have had a "busy day of meetings" and talks will continue, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philly tweets.
8:39 p.m.: The Phillies are engaged in "serious and deep negotiations" with the crippling player Bryce Harper, Bob Nightengale of the United States today reports. Team owner John Middleton, who met Harper's camp in Las Vegas, does not want to leave without an agreement in place, according to Nightengale.
The Phillies' meeting with Team Harper in Vegas, which also includes Constable Scott Boras, is their second summit since Jan. 10. After the initial sitdown of both teams, Nightengale named Philadelphia as the favorite of Harper's signature, which remained the case in the weeks that followed. Now, with the season approaching and the other elite free agent of the current class, Manny Machado, released from the table this week, a resolution for Harper could finally be on the way.
The month Machado spent on the open market ended with the acceptance of the $ 300 million offer from Padres. The Phillies were also interested in Machado, but they were not willing to tackle the Padres proposal, leaving Harper as the best free agent available. After seeing Machado withdraw from the table, the Phillies "will be much more reluctant to get away from" Harper, said Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer this week.
Whether with the Phillies or another team, Harper apparently has a good chance of overtaking the Machado guarantee – the largest ever granted to a free agent. However, the 26-year-old Harper market has yet to meet as planned this season, as evidenced by its jobless status as March approaches. Aside from the Phillies, who entered the off-season promising to spend (which they did, although far from being close to "stupid" amounts), the Nationals, White Sox, Padres and Giants showed levels of varying interest for Harper. In this group, Philly easily looks like the most aggressive team in the race. Although Harper spent his entire career in Washington, where he played the lead role, the team's owner, Mark Lerner, painted a bleak picture on Friday when asked if the Nationals would accept him again. Meanwhile, the White Sox may not even bet on Harper, the Padres did not appear to be serious contenders and the Giants feared a long-term commitment.
All in all, it seems that the stars have aligned themselves so that the Phillies reach their coveted target after months of hunting. While the Phillies have not surpassed the .500 mark in the season since 2011 and are bogged down in a seven-year drought in the playoffs, they are keen to fight in 2019. Despite what is happening with Harper, Philadelphia has already made improvements in this offseason by acquiring Catcher J.T. Realmuto, short stop Jean Segura, outfielder Andrew McCutchen and relieves David Robertson. But there is still plenty of room for Harper, a Hall of Fame talent who could help propel the franchise to relevance.
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