Bryce Harper Finally Has A Team For 2019
One of the biggest free agents this off-season was Bryce Harper, there has been much speculation as to where the 26-year old slugger would land or rather, who would land him.
Spring training is in full blossom and Harper was still without a decision until Wednesday when he decided to sign the largest contract in sports history! That contract was with the Philadelphia Phillies for 13 years and worth $330M. There will be plenty of brotherly love to go around for Harper, to begin at least because that fan-base can turn on you very quickly.
The contract includes a full no-trade clause, no deferred money (Hi Bobby Bonilla), and no opt-outs. Unless things hit the fan and he really wants out he will be a Phillie until he's 39 years old.
With this new mega contract, he'll make an annual average salary of $25.4M but this deal does include a $20M signing bonus.
His average annual salary may not be what Manny Machado's ($30M) or Nolan Arenado's ($32.5M) is but the luxury/security of a 13-year contract is incredible.
Now, this is not a good contract for the Phillies and I'm sure they know that but if they think Bryce Harper can help put this team over the top for a chance to win a World Series Title and they actually do, it'll then be worth it. If they don't, this will go down as one of the worst contracts in sports history (Hi Alex Rodriguez to the Rangers and Albert Pujols of the Angels).
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