bryce harper contract offer from nationals

#Bryce harper contract offer from nationals free

‘It’s like, ‘What does that do for me? What does that do for my family?’”Īpproximately $70M of Stephen Strasburg’s 7-year/$175M is deferred, “. Few people can turn down a $100 million retirement fund Bryce is one. About $100 million of that contract was deferred ‘til I was 65 years old.’ He stops and turns his palms to the sky in disbelief. ‘But I didn’t know if I fit into their plans. ‘I grew up in front of those fans and that city, and I enjoyed every minute of it,’ Harper says. “Washington, where Harper was an MVP, rookie of the year and a six-time All-Star, made a 10-year, $300 million offer in October. Multiple reports in the last weeks noted that the Nats’ offer included significant amounts of deferred money, and from what he told ESPN’s reporter, that didn’t make much sense to the outfielder. Harper hadn’t shared his thoughts about the Nationals’ offer publicly either, until recently, when he spoke to ESPN’s Tim Keown for a feature that was published on Monday. “They never told us what their feelings were towards it. “That’s part of their negotiation,” Rizzo said. “Īnd Harper and Co.’s response to the offer? Did they counter or share their thoughts? “I’m not going to get into the specifics of it, but it was a real aggressive opening offer to a great player. “It was a $300 million deal over 10 years and there was some money deferred,” Rizzo said.

#Bryce harper contract offer from nationals free

“That wasn’t to say after the first day of free agency we weren’t going to discuss it again, but certainly when the Patrick Corbin signing took place, then it became more difficult, then we had to really process it amongst ownership and that type of thing of where we were, and where we were going, but we never closed the door on him.”ĭid the Nationals’ initial offer (10/$300M) ever change? Was it ever increased as some reports suggested? “So we fired what I thought was an extremely market-valued, aggressive offer as our primary offer and put an expiration date on it. They did not counter on it at all.” - Mike Rizzo on Harper camp’s reaction to 10-year/$300M offer “So we talked to him a few times with ownership and myself right there - I spoke to him personally a couple times and at the last home game of the season we made him this proposal and this offer, to and his agent, and we had to put an expiration date on it because we couldn’t let that linger on until March 2nd, when he signed, and try and get the rest of our business done. Our best chance to do that was to try and sign him before the free agent deadline. So we felt that our best way to not only try and lock him down but to then know what the landscape looks going forward as far as the offseason, who we can go after and that type of thing, what our financials look like. “Our thought process was this: We wanted to keep him and so our strategy was we have exclusivity to negotiate with him until the first day of free agency and then he becomes a free agent to everybody. “We met with Bryce a couple of times during the season, at the tail end of the season,” Rizzo explained. There were comments up until he signed on in the City of Brotherly Love about not closing the door on a potential Harper return, and Rizzo reiterated last week that that was the case. try to circle back before taking the Phillies’ offer? Did they ever increase their offer? Did Harper and Co.

seem unlikely, Managing Principal Owner Mark Lerner said he didn’t see anything getting worked out with Harper. In addition to that late-season offer, before he hit free agency, the Nationals were reported to have met with Harper and his agent around Christmas, but early in December, after the Nats signed Patrick Corbin to a 6-year/$140M deal and made a few other moves that made Harper’s return to D.C.

I’m not going to get into the specifics of it, but it was a real aggressive opening offer to a great player.” - Mike Rizzo on offer to Bryce Harper “It was a $300 million deal over 10 years and there was some money deferred.