Bryce Harper Rumors: Reason Phillies Are Favored Over Dodgers, Decision Imminent

The Bryce Harper sweepstakes came alive Monday morning with another twist after the Los Angeles Dodgers entered the race. Sources claimed to have witnessed Dodgers officials including manager Dave Roberts in Las Vegas to meet with the in-demand outfielder.

The Philadelphia Phillies were said to be leading the race with Bleacher Report’s Adam Lefkoe even claiming that a deal worth $330 million over 8 or 10 years was agreed between Harper and the Phillies with a press conference scheduled for Wednesday.

At the moment it seems like there is nothing official from either the player or the Philadelphia franchise and there are still other teams looking to sneak their way back into the reckoning. The Dodgers’ interest was not spoken about since December and were thought to be out of the running until Monday when it became clear they were still interested in the in-demand free agent.

However, similar to the San Francisco Giants, the other team in the running for Harper, the Dodgers are also said to be looking at a short-term deal with a high annual average value (AAV). But it remains unclear if Harper will accept such a deal as his desire has always been to sign a deal well north of $300 million over 10-years.

And the Phillies are said to be the only team at the moment that is offering a long-term deal, but the number yet remains unclear. John Middleton, the owner of the Philadelphia franchise, was in Vegas over the weekend but came away without securing the deal for the outfielder, though they are said to be quietly confident about securing Harper’s signature in the coming days.

According to Fancred and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, who spoke to 94WIP’s “Marks & Reese”, the Phillies remain the favorite to land Harper despite the late interest from the Dodgers but was clear that mystery teams yet to show their hand could also win the race as has happened before.

“I do think the Phillies are the team that makes the most sense,” Heyman said on the show. “They got the stupid money, I think he’d like to play in Philly. But let’s just go back and look at the history of this, [Robinson] Cano to Seattle surprise, Greinke to Diamondbacks surprise, Machado to Padres surprise.”

The MLB insider also claimed the Dodgers were a “longshot” since all the reports were claiming they were only offering a short-term deal. But Harper was only keen on a long-term deal at the moment, and the Giants were said to be the closest contenders as they were willing to stretch into the six or seven-year mark.

Meanwhile, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale believes Harper will make a decision this week having met multiple times with interested teams. Dodgers manager Roberts confirmed the meeting with the player and the report claims they are among three teams currently in the running for Harper’s signature.