Per Source: Cubs are More In on Harper Than They Let On
The biggest fish in all the free agent market, rightfully or wrongfully, is Bryce Harper. 2019 has been billed as the winter of Harper for the last several seasons, and as we stand on the doorsteps of a very productive week in his sweepstakes, little gambits of information are beginning to leak out.
Scott Boras, the man fans love to hate but players love to love, had mentioned that he only really expects three serious suitors for Harper. While he did mention that there will be several more teams interested, and will meet with himself and Bryce, teams don’t want to communicate their interest in him and lose.
“This is a submarine race, not a regatta,” Boras says. “You do not want other teams knowing you’re interested in a generation player. No one wants to be known as a loser in this.”
How secretive are these meetings? Apparently the teams that do enjoy an audience with the young slugger are given a room number for a Las Vegas suite. Harper and his wife Kayla, enters the room long before the team representatives. Teams and the Harper’s are also escorted through back halls and out of the peering eyes of nosey media onlookers.
This method screams Theo Epstein and the cloak of secrecy he likes to work in. This leads to a tweet which Julie DiCaro sent on Monday, and something that she spoke about on her show Saturday.
I'll jump into the mix here to say that ahead of Saturday's show, I was told by a person in a position to know that the #Cubs are *more* in on Harper than we've been led to believe.
Whether that means due diligence or something more, I don't know.
— Julie DiCaro (@JulieDiCaro) December 10, 2018
Huh. Could the Cubs be quietly meeting and expressing interest behind closed doors, while allowing themselves to save face in the event that they come up short? It would make a lot of sense, especially for a team that has expressed, and which other teams have expressed, that there is little money to spend on a big name.
But do the Cubs need to back the Brinks truck up to Harper’s Vegas estate in order to land him?
Perhaps not. There is a notion that Boras and Harper might be looking for the highest AAV available and not the most money for the most years. This lends credence to the comments made by Dan Plesac, who said recently he believes the Cubs and Harper figure out as way to work out a deal.
“I think the Cubs are going to be in on Harper, I really do,” Plesac said in the interview. “I’m not sure that he’s going to get that 10-year, $350, $360 million deal that he’s looking for, but I think if they cut the years down I can see him well over $30 million a year. I think if that’s the case I would have to think that the Cubs would have to be one of the ones that would be in on Bryce Harper.”
This whole offseason, like it or not, will revolve around Harper. Until he signs somewhere, we will keep seeing rumors and editorials and whatever else come out on him. While it had always sounded like it was about the money, and capturing the biggest contract ever, these recent comments (and the Cubs potential interest) is the first time that we’ve heard something other than money is important to Harper.
In a recent explanation of how the Harper meetings are run, Harper does as much selling of his character, past, and future to teams as those teams are selling themselves to Bryce.
Harper, who has surprised teams with his maturity and intellect, several team executives say, intently quizzes them on the team’s direction. He’ll ask detailed questions about their minor-league prospects. And he wants to know what they plan to do at the July 31 trade deadline:
“Will you do what’s necessary to win?”
Harper has been candid, teams say, even with admissions of mistakes growing up in this game. He also conveys confidence that he’s ready to assume the responsibility of being a leader and the face of the franchise, while enhancing a team’s image and marketability.
Kayla, Harper’s wife of nearly three years, accompanies him on these visits. She asks about stadium security, the nursery, proximity of the clubhouse to the family room, and their rules for kids in the clubhouse.
Then they hand the meeting over to Boras, who does a deep-dive into what they can expect when signing Harper, contractual points, and leaves them with a 118-page booklet on Harper, his accomplishments, and comparisons to Lebron James.
Could this more mature Harper be just what the Cubs are looking for? It sounds like it is, but the exact level of interest might not ever be known.
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