Having a hard time seeing how that would work. Although I guess it does make sense for the Yankees to facilitate keeping Realmuto in the NL.
Crane is saying Houston will increase payroll and top out right below the luxury tax. His track record has been pretty good about putting his money where his mouth is, so I believe him. Houston fielding a $190M+ payroll gives them an awful lot of options this offseason and beyond, given their current projected payroll for 2019-2021 is $138M, $120M, and $100M. Even more reason I think Harper might be in play, as would adding multiple players from Pollock, Happ, Morton, and Grandal.
If the Astros sign Harper would he play left field? What if we don't trade Tucker? Would we have a Harper, Springer, Tucker outfield or a Harper, Springer, Reddick outfield?
I'm still extremely dubious as to this Bryce Harper talk, but theoretically if we signed him he would play RF no questions asked. He had a bizarre season as the metrics go, but prior to this year he was a good outfielder. Tucker or Reddick would be in LF.
I'm looking at this Matt Miller guy's profile on Twitter and I'm not exactly getting a reliable source vibe from him. Nowhere in his bio does it suggest he's a beat writer for the Astros or a writer at all. His handle is 69MattMiller. When someone wrote LMAO in response to his tweet about Harper he responded with, "My twitter handle should say it all." When someone laughed at the assertion the Cubs didn't even talk to Harper, he responded with, "That's what my mom told God leave me alone." Soooo...yeah...this guy is no Burt Steele
I saw an article on MLB.com that looked at him defensively. The clift notes version is that his defensive metrics likely were bad based mostly on not hustling, and not from an erosion of physical skills. Article made this sound like a good thing. As I consider hustling a skill, I'm not as optimistic about his defense going forward.
I still can't believe the Astros are seriously in the Harper discussions since it has to be at least $30+ million per season. Maybe he wants to win and for some reason he thinks the Astro family would be where he is happiest. He would be the perfect left handed bat to add to this line up. If Harper signs I have to think Reddick's last 2 years at 13mil each would be moved out and the young guys would battle it out in left field with their half a million salaries. The roster has to have some production from minimum guys some where. This isn't LA or NY.
i dont see the astros signing him to 30 m a year (he would have to take a huge discount (maybe 20-25) i dunno about this
Fake news until @Nook confirms. Hope there is some action today - i'm not that busy in the office and ready to f5
Harper would probably play LF with Reddick in RF and Springer in CF. If he’s not traded, Tucker can play RF once Reddick’s contract expires after 2020. As we’ve seen with other AL teams, having 4 good outfielders is not an issue due to DH, rest, and 1B. But if Houston signs Harper I think it increases the odds of Tucker being traded for a SP.
Harper may view himself the way Kevin Durant did when he chose to sign with GS; different cat, different priorities. If winning is by far his biggest priority, the Astros and Dodgers are easily his best bets. Yankees and Red Sox don’t have a spot for him. All other teams he’d likely be wasting 2-3 of his prime seasons waiting for his team to get as good as those top 4. I think Philly will offer him the most money, and LA and Houston will make good offers and offer a better chance to win. I’m starting to think Harper might sign earlier than expected. I don’t think Philly will wait around for him and once they move on Harpers leverage with Houston and LA goes way down. Either of the Chicago teams could get in the mix as well.
I don’t even want Harper, even though he is a great player, I think 10 year deals in the 300-400 million range are super dangerous and can easily go very wrong and cripple the franchise for years.
Harper reportedly rejected a 10/$300M deal from Nats. He’s not coming to Houston. I would guess LA— I don’t get why he’d leave DC for Philly unless the $ are that significant. Philly is a tough place to play and a downgrade from DC imo.
It’s all about the value and structure. I trust Crane/Luhnow not to get themselves into a situation that could cripple them. If he signs with Houston I expect the deal to be unconventional and includes opt outs that make it likely Harper is only with the team during this current competitive window.
