Offseason moving slower than fans expected for the Phillies

By Keegan McKoskey
December 5, 2018

Harper, Machado share laughs on third base. Photo from Flickr

The Philadelphia Phillies finished their 2018 season with an 80-82 record and were third in the National League East Division. As winter meetings and free agency has begun, the Phillies are looking for big changes to come to the upcoming season. Two of the biggest free agents were at some point looking to come to Philadelphia. Those being shortstop Manny Machado and outfielder Bryce Harper.

Machado was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers last season at an attempt for a World Series title but came up short. His contract was for 1 year, $16 million before he became a free agent after the last season. Rumors have been going around that it is possible the Phillies would be in contention to sign him.

The Phillies recently traded first basemen, Carlos Santana and infielder, J.P. Crawford for shortstop, Jean Segura. As many fans agree with this trade, it could possibly push Machado away from the Phillies. They are going about the offseason the right way though as if Machado doesn’t sign with Philadelphia, Segura is a strong competitor.

“I think Harper would be a better asset to the team rather than Machado,” said junior accounting major Gerald Healey. “Harper has much more value to the team especially after getting Juan Segura.”

Bryce Harper is among serious talks in coming to Philadelphia from several sources. Some fan theories state that Harper is coming to Philadelphia because he followed Joel Embiid and Rhys Hoskins, both franchise players on Philadelphia sports teams just a couple days after free agency.

Team owner Bob Middleton said that the Phillies were going to be “a little bit stupid in this offseason”. “We’re going into this expecting to spend money.” The Phillies have been expected to sign big name players throughout the past couple offseason but always came up short. If there was any offseason to go all out, it would be this one. With big name players on the market such as Harper, Machado, Brantley, and Kimbrel, it would make the upcoming season a whole lot different.

Phillies logo. Photo from Wikimedia

Harper will more than likely take at least a $400 million contract and Machado most likely won’t be too far behind that number. Spending that much money on two big name players is quite a big goal to achieve. However, signing a big name like Harper and picking up a smaller big aspect would be the most likely scenario to happen. With salaries factored in, the Phillies have around $110 million to spend, according to Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

“Corbin could be the first domino in the rest of the big players signing,” said Phillies employee Paul Bendetti. “The offseason usually doesn’t pick up until one big named player signs so hopefully Harper or Machado sign soon and it’s with the Phillies.”

When asked about signing Patrick Corbin, the Phillies were prepared to not be outbid. Shortly after that statement, Patrick Corbin signed with the Washington Nationals for a six year $140 million contract. This was a big name on the Phillies radar this offseason along with Machado and Harper. Could this mean the Phillies are throwing in the towel? We’ll find out in the upcoming weeks.

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Keegan McKoskey

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