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Bryce Harper Yankees illo(Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
Bryce Harper, the NHL's most valuable player at age 23, is a free-agent at age 26 and spends his time in an industry with annual sales of $ 11 billion. His combination of skill, age and marketing character make him an excellent candidate for the big leagues.
In particular the Yankees of New York.
Harper, who has 184 career circuits and a lifetime career of .900, rejected in September a $ 300 million 10-year contract offer presented by the Washington Nationals. It is a good bet to set a new standard for the most lucrative contract in North America. history of sport.
It may take weeks for this process to take place. In the meantime, USA TODAY Sports will examine why each team could use Harper's services – some more than others, certainly some better equipped to get them.
A case for Harper and the Yankees joining forces:
In the field
When a generational talent with megawatt star power comes on the market at its peak, the Yankees range suddenly looks like a table for a family dinner during the holidays.
There is always room for one more.
The acquisition of Giancarlo Stanton by the Yankees almost a year ago has ostensibly shut the door to their long-awaited pursuit of Harper. An outstanding player with a $ 325 million contract? Stanton played that role on the payroll and at the plate, where he scored 38 homers and scored a .852 OPS, a great season as he adapted to a new league and a new market.
However, the Yankees season also showed how easily they could welcome Harper.
Stanton was the designated hitter for 86 games. At 29, he will probably be home for most of his career. An injury to Aaron Judge even forced Stanton into the right field for 72 games. Even though the Yankees' outer field has a lot of body, there is not much resistance.
If they add Harper, the player most likely to lose a starting position would be left-field player Brett Gardner, who has signed a new contract for one year and $ 7.5 million.
But at age 35, after a season in which he beat .236 with a .322 OBP, Gardner probably ranks best as the fourth-place player, anyway.
Center field player Aaron Hicks is eligible for free agency status after this season.
And Stanton, let's not forget, could withdraw from his contract after the 2020 season – but he can, at age 31, exceed the seven years and that there is still $ 218 million on his contract is debatable.
In the short term, the Yankees could coach Hicks with Harper and Judge, with Stanton at DH.
In the longer term, they could eventually play Clint Frazier in the middle of the field or move Harper to the first goal, where there is still no viable full-time solution.
These are insignificant details, however, when we consider the thunder that a Judge-Harper-Stanton group could produce on the plate.
Consider their careers on base and OPS: .398 / .963, .388 / .900, .358 / .905.
And consider that at age 26, Harper and Judge will enter their most powerful years.
Finally, be aware that Harper will be sitting under Yankee Stadium's right-hand porch, the venue with the most generous circuit rate for left-handed batters in the last five years.
The major league record with 267 home games that the Yankees have achieved in 2018 may well be a starting point.
Off the field
A Harper-Yankees duo has been so eagerly awaited, it would be almost cliché if it happened.
From his love for Mickey Mantle to his adolescent tweet supporting CC Sabathia while employed by the Washington Nationals, to the New York press corps, a decade of construction has finally given way to time.
However, now that the moment everybody was expecting has finally arrived, it is almost counterintuitive to pair the two.
That should not be.
Harper as a Yankee would undeniably be a good result for almost any party: his important national profile would develop, the Yankees would have yet another superstar to brag on a television network that they should redeem, and Major League Baseball would have the most visible player on his most popular team.
It has been too long since the Yankees were no longer called the Empire of Evil; Betting on pennies last season to avoid the luxury tax cap of baseball has saved them tens of millions of dollars in the long run.
Stealing Harper would throw him and them as public enemies once again. That's good: baseball is better when characters are placed in specific roles. And these Yankees would be an itinerant show that many would come to see – if only to boo a freshly shaven Harper.
Can they remove it?
Do the Yankees have the money?
(Cue laughing track here).
Consider this: When the Yankees splurged on free agents Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and A.J. Burnett and won the 2009 World Series, their franchise was worth $ 1.6 billion, according to Forbes. They had revenues estimated at $ 441 million – and a payroll of $ 200 million. The MLB, meanwhile, generated about $ 6 billion in annual revenue.
In 2018? The Yankees are worth about $ 4 billion, their annual revenues exceed $ 619 million and their industry generates more than $ 10 billion in revenue.
At the same time, the Yankees' first day payroll was about $ 167 million.
Yes, you read correctly: the value of the franchise has doubled, the revenues have increased by 40% and the payroll has decreased by 17%.
Of course, the Yankees have their limits. But they can absolutely add Harper – for example, for 12 years and 420 million dollars – and continue to grow elsewhere while retaining their core.
Heck, they're going to get Judge just above the league minimum for one more season, and then take advantage of his production for about $ 10 to $ 20 million a year for three seasons of officiating. It's only after 2022 that they will have to worry about locking up Judge – and even if they decide to let him walk, let's not forget that Judge is six months older than Harper.
Stanton and Aroldis Chapman, the closest, are the only ones to have a money guarantee by 2020. The Yankees could also add Harper, a prominent player like Patrick Corbin, and replenish the market while keeping books very clean for the next decade.
With a significant remaining potential capital, they could even choose to associate a potential customer with a toxic contract – like the remaining $ 47 million Jacoby Ellsbury – if they want to save a few dollars.
Will it happen?
Very probably. The Yankees will certainly be interested in Manny Machado, who will facilitate the loss of Didi Gregorius in the short term and keep Miguel Andujar out of the third goal in the long run. There is little indication that they are very present on Harper.
Yet a year ago, there was practically nothing to link them to Stanton. And when they have hundreds of millions of dollars to burn and a famous superstar who has eyes for them – well, let's just say that the Yankees are still there.
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