MLB Rumors: Bryce Harper Sweepstakes Down To 3 Teams, Phillies To Meet Boras

The Bryce Harper sweepstakes is expected to heat up now that the Winter Meetings officially commenced Monday, and there are three teams reportedly in the running for the All-Star outfielder.

According to Michael J. Duarte of NBC LA, a rival baseball executive believes the Harper sweepstakes is down to just the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Duarte added that for the Dodgers, plenty of other moves needed to happen first in order for them to land Harper, while the team is also hesitant to meet the asking price of Harper's agent Scott Boras.

Harper, along with Manny Machado, is one of the biggest free agents on the open market this offseason and is expected to command one of the most lucrative contracts in MLB history.

Previously with the Washington Nationals before becoming a free agent, the 26-year-old was said to have rejected their 10-year, $300 million contract, and is projected to receive a 14-year, $420 million contract in free agency.

The Nationals believe it is inevitable he would join another team, despite previous expectations from baseball executives that he would return to the side. They have since signed former free agent pitcher Patrick Corbin to a six-year deal worth $140 million.

"I really don't expect him to come back at this point," Nationals owner Mark Lerner told WJFK-FM 106.7 The Fan recently, as quoted on ESPN. "I think they've decided to move on. There's just too much money out there that he'd be leaving on the table. That's just not Mr. Boras' M.O. to leave money on the table."

"When we met with them and we gave them the offer, we told them, 'This is the best we can do.' We went right to the finish line very quickly. And we said, 'If this is of interest to you, please come back to us, and we'll see whether we can finish it up.' But we just couldn't afford to put more than that in and still be able to put a team together that had a chance to win the NL East or go farther than that," he added.

The Phillies, meanwhile, have more money to spend than any other team and are expected to go after Harper or Machado, if not both, as they look to win the World Series for the first time since 2008.

According to Jim Salisbury of NBCS Philly, the Phillies were working out a time to meet Boras in Las Vegas. However, while they maintain their interest in Harper as well as Zach Britton, Salisbury added that at the moment, they seemed to be more interested in the services of Machado, who is represented by Dan Lozano. Philadelphia will be meeting Machado this week as well.

As for the White Sox, they are also interested but it would ultimately depend on how much money they're ready to shell out for Harper as they continue their rebuild.

"It’s very important for us to remain very diligent where we are in this," White Sox vice-president and general manager Rick Hahn said Monday. "We’re entering Year 3 of a rebuild, and although I think there’s some potential skepticism that it might be a year too soon, perhaps be pushing it, we’re very mindful of that. And we also want to balance the fact there is some unique opportunities out there in the market, and we wouldn’t be doing our job — even if it is perhaps a year too early — not doing our job if we didn’t fully vet those opportunities."

"It doesn’t mean we’re going to just look for any way to make some sort of splash. It has to fit with the long-term vision of what we’re trying to accomplish. Traditionally, the third year of a rebuild isn’t always the time where you push those chips in, so to speak, but when unique opportunities present themselves you have to respond."

Harper hit .249/.393/.496 with 34 home runs, 34 doubles and 100 RBI during the 2018 season. He has made six All-Star teams and also notably won the 2015 National League MVP.