Earlier in the offseason, the idea of two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper and his agent, Scott Boras, wanting to rework and/or extend the remainder of what’s turned into a very team-friendly contract with the Philadelphia Phillies reached a fever pitch.
The discussion has died down in recent weeks, but it could very well ramp back up this month as the Phillies report to Spring Training, particularly if Harper — as he has multiple times — not-so-subtly hints at wanting his contract extended beyond the 2031 season.
For his part, Dombrowski spoke publicly for the first time about a possible new deal for Harper during a Wednesday morning appearance with Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie on SportsRadio 94 WIP.
“Well, I would not get into any contract situations publicly. I just never really do that,” Dombrowski said. “I will say, I have the utmost respect for Bryce, [he’s a] tremendous player, he’s done everything for our club, and the team and the city. So he’s the type of guy you want to have.”
After adding the necessary qualifiers about how much the Phillies appreciate what Harper has done in his first five seasons with the team, Dombrowski did seem to politely suggest that altering the eight years and $196 million remaining on the seven-time All-Star’s contract probably isn’t in the cards.
“He’s in a situation where you can always desire or want, anybody can, anything that they would like,” Dombrowski continued. “We end up making business decisions that sometimes are difficult.
“One way I would just say it, without getting into any particulars, is that we’re thrilled that he’s on board. We know that he’s a Phillie for eight more years. And there’s a lot of time to digest things. But it’s a situation where we are thrilled that he’s on board. Again, you can desire and want anything you like, but I think it’s also apparent that knowing Bryce that when he gets to Spring Training under any circumstances, he’s ready to go and you know you’re going to get 100% from him in every regard.”
Boras has said on the record multiple times that he advised Harper to insist on an opt-out clause in his 13-year/$330 million deal. Harper ultimately didn’t want one, believing that if he committed to an organization and delivered Hall of Fame-caliber results early in the deal, he would be able to level with ownership about contractual desires even without an opt-out clause.
Back in November, manager partner John Middleton spoke exclusively with Phillies Nation about some of the noise Harper and his agent had been making about wanting to tack on additional years to his contract.
“So let me put it to you this way — my intention is that Bryce will never play baseball for any other team,” Middleton told Phillies Nation.
“Now, he wants to play longer than his contract,” Middleton continued. “So if he’s still gonna feel that way in the long-term, we’re gonna have to address that issue at some point. It’s not as simple as do you address it today or tomorrow or next year or two years from now.
“But the intention remains the same. I want Bryce to always wear a Phillies uniform until the day he stops wearing a baseball uniform at all,” Middleton said. “And when that happens, I want him to switch into a long-term relationship, like Mike Schmidt or Larry Bowa has had with the team. So I expect Bryce to be a Phillie for decades — long after I’m gone.”
From an economic standpoint, the Phillies don’t have much motivation to address Harper’s contract right now. He’s signed for eight more years, through his age-38 season. They unquestionably benefit from his contract being relatively team-friendly. And there’s no reason to believe that Harper will threaten to withhold services or give less than 100% effort without an amended contract.
Dombrowski is also well aware of how quickly things can go south for Hall of Fame-caliber players as they age. In March of 2014, two years before he could become a free agent, Dombrowski’s Detroit Tigers signed Miguel Cabrera to an eight-year/$248 million contract extension. Cabrera is one of the greatest hitters in MLB history, and had just won consecutive AL MVPs in 2012 and 2013. But by the time his new eight-year deal kicked in during the 2016 season, Cabrera was 33. He posted an impressive 5.1 WAR in 2016. From 2017-2023, Cabrera posted -3 WAR. Perhaps it was all worth it to see Cabrera hit his 500th home run and record his 3,000th hit in a Tigers uniform, but for the bulk of his extension, he wasn’t a very good player.
Harper’s body structure may allow him to age better than Cabrera, but it’s no guarantee he’ll be able to achieve his stated goal of playing into his mid-40s. There’s one Tom Brady in the history of sports, and a lot of other Hall of Fame-caliber athletes who hit walls in their mid-to-late 30s. Harper has toned down the violent nature of his swing even from what it was during his first Phillies season in 2019. But he’s had multiple minor back injuries, and before you invest in a player into their 40s, it makes sense to see what they look like when they’re 35. Harper is 31.
Of course, it’s unclear exactly how Dombrowski honestly felt at the time of the Cabrera extension. Was he gung-ho on reaching a long-term deal with the two-time defending AL MVP multiple years before he could reach free agency, or was owner Mike Ilitch — who would pass away in February of 2017 — hell-bent on making sure Cabrera spent the rest of his career with the Tigers?
Middleton, 68, is in tremendous health, so the situations aren’t exactly comparable. But if Harper helps to land the Phillies on a parade float in 2024, could the owner instruct his president of baseball operations to extend the contract of one of the greatest players in team history? That seems plausible.
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