Boras spotted in Houston airport.....Harper??!!! Signed with Phils.

Nobody outside Mike Trout is.

 

The Philly got a 5 billion dollar tv deal recently and they NEED to spend money. Say what you want but I think Boras has been playing the entire league this offseason.

 

Totally agree it is their own fault for letting Boras drag this out. Until teams start retracting offers, Boras can get away with this.

 

He signed with the Phillies.

 

13 years with no opt outs is insane. 25.4 a year.

 

Report is that it's for 13 freakin years. No opt-outs either.

That's just a f***ing stupid deal from the Phillies standpoint.

 

That Harper deal is gonna be an albatross.

 

holy **** with what has already been reported

 

That seems worse than a 10 year 300 mil. I think Machado's deal with an opt out is better.

 

It’s not that bad. If he gets hurt they have insurance. So the risk is he declines sooner than expected. As long as he’s a star for the next 5 seasons (which would provide $120M to $200M in value), the next 8 seasons he can be mediocre and the contract would only be underwater $10-15M/yr. That’s tiddlywinks for a big market club like Philadelphia.

At $10M/war he only needs to put up 33 war in 13 seasons; that’s ~2.5/season.

 

I love Harper. LOVE. The idea of him possibly being an Astro was almost too much for me. I kept a metaphorical candle burning this whole offseason, up to today, hoping against all logic that somehow he'd end up in Houston...

Now that I see that contract, I'm SO happy that he's elsewhere. Imagine doubling the length of Carlos Lee's deal, more than tripling the value, and then ADDING THREE MORE YEARS.

Pujols II: Electric Boogaloo.

 

First thing to think is that by 2033, contracts will be well into the 45m per year stratosphere. So I see the money as irrelevant in the long term.

Second thing to think is that Philly secured the face of the franchise. Something Philly is unlikely to ever have the chance to do again.

Harpers box office is limited in Philadelphia, but he is box office.

Believe the Phillies took the two biggest challenges out of the equation, personnel and money, and did what they had to do, they secured talent and didn't let the investment cloud the decision. The work is always easy. It's money and talent that cause problems.

Liked it for Philadelphia.

Also, think some of the bigger contracts of the last 10 years all went to latin players, who were in my opinion a larger risk for decline due to the steroid testing. Don't think Harper is using, so they are likely to get a long career of consistency from Harper.

Harper on the other hand is locked into a city for a long time. A city that is hard to live in. A city who's profile is blue collar. And I don't see Harper as that kind of guy. So he will have to be happy. And he will need to fit in. I would worry about being locked into a city like that for so long.

 

Does the insurance cover luxury tax? If not, injury is still a big risk if his payroll still counts to luxury tax even as they have to replace him. That could all change with a new CBA, but this contract risks being an albatross under any agreement that has official payroll limitations or taxes.

 

That deal sounds like it sucks for Harper. Locked in for 13 years, lower annual amount, no opt-outs either.

He could have made more money by signing a short-term contract with higher per year salary. This will be the last contract that he gets.

I feel like Boras got owned here.

 

I would have spent that money on Trout. Eventually, the contract will be an albatross (probably after year 4 and previous historical contracts that large).

 

Seems like he could have gotten an opt out deal in the 300 million range from somebody. But either way, dude got paid.

 

Boras doesn’t lose, haters

 

He is guaranteed $330,000,000 no matter what.

Harper is fine.

 

Ignore how the money is laid out. Would you commit these salary figures to a 26 year old on a Hall of Fame trajectory:

Age 26-28 $45M/yr (needs to average 4.5 fWAR, star level OF)
Age 29-31 $30M/yr (3 WAR, above average everyday OF)
Age 32-35 $20M/yr (2 WAR, average everyday OF or star level DH)
Age 36-37 $10M/yr (1 WAR below average OF or average DH)
Age 38 $5M (.5 WAR average bench bat)

Basically as long as he’s badass the next 5 years it’s a win for the Phillies even if he’s not playable the last 4 years of the deal.