Bryce Harper Rumors: Why The New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs Won't Sign MLB's Top Free Agent

There was a time when an eventual union between the New York Yankees and Bryce Harper seemed almost inevitable. It was only a few months ago that the Chicago Cubs were considered to be the favorites to sign MLB’s top free agent in the 2018-2019 offseason.

With spring training underway, however, neither team is in the Bryce Harper Sweepstakes. Both teams have had ample time to present the outfielder with a strong offer, and he would likely be interested in playing in either New York or Chicago.

Why haven’t the Yankees or Cubs tried to sign the 26-year-old star?

The Yankees have made an offer to Manny Machado, though they aren’t among the favorites to land the infielder. A year after trading for Giancarlo Stanton, who signed a record-setting $325 million contract a few years ago, New York hasn’t seemed interested in spending that kind of money on any other player.

“Look, we have Stanton, [whom] we just brought on board a year ago,” Yankees’ owner Hal Steinbrenner said in an interview Sunday for Yankees On Demand. “I’m not against long-term deals. Clearly, there are concerns about the ending years of those long-term deals. But what I try to do every offseason is just figure out what our biggest area of need is. This year, it was not an infielder and not an outfielder. It was pitching. That’s what we immediately addressed. We went after what was available and what we liked and what we felt would be a good fit here. We leave no stone unturned.”

Harper is expected to get a contract worth more than $300 million and possibly one that breaks the record set by Stanton in 2014.

While it’s true that the Yankees did upgrade the rotation and bullpen, the organization didn’t break the bank to improve its pitching staff. New York was outbid for No.1 free-agent pitcher Patrick Corbin. The Yankees re-signed starters J.A. Happ and C.C. Sabathia to short-term deals in addition to trading for James Paxton.

New York re-signed reliever Zack Britton and gave Adam Ottavino a three-year contract. The Yankees also signed infielders Troy Tulowitzki and DJ Lemahieu.

After making sure to stay below the luxury tax for the 2018 season, the Yankees are set to be above the threshold for the 2019 season. Only the Cubs and Boston Red Sox have a higher payroll than New York, and neither team was willing to spend much money this offseason.

“We don’t have any more,” Cubs’ chairman Tom Ricketts said when asked why the team didn’t spend more money this winter, via USA Today. “We have to have flexibility in the future. ... We’ve been in the top five spending the last few years, and we put our money back onto the field. You can’t have a high-profile free agent every single year.

“The way we look at it, you got to think long-term, it’s not just one season. We think we have a very, very good team. I think we’ll win our division.”

The Yankees went 100-62 last season and are among the favorites to win the 2019 World Series. The Cubs have made the playoffs in four straight years.

The Philadelphia Phillies seem to have the best shot to sign Harper. They are competing with the San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals.