Arguably the top free agent on the market, Bryce Harper and his agent Scott Boras are holding out for a record-breaking deal this offseason. Harper's market still isn't entirely clear yet and it's become a bit murkier now that the Washington Nationals appear to be back in the picture.
Jim Bowden reported on Friday that the Nationals' last offer to Harper was actually "much more than the $300 million being reported by the media." The latest offer refers to the meeting that Harper and Boras had with Nationals owner Ted Lerner for five hours on the weekend before Christmas. It was reported Harper rejected a 10-year, $300 million offer from Washington at the end of the 2018 regular season in September.
#Nationals last offer to Bryce Harper was actually “much more than the $300m being reported by the media” according to a source. Apparently, The 10-year $300m offer was actually just the team’s 1st offer to Harper.
— Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenGM) January 4, 2019
Just to get you up to speed on the back-and-forth between Harper and the Nats this past couple of months, here's a timeline of how things have played out:
- The Dodgers reportedly offered Yasiel Puig to Nationals in an August waiver trade but Harper was pulled back from trade waivers after the two sides couldn't work out a deal.
- Harper reportedly received and rejected an 'aggressive' offer from Nationals in September before becoming a free agent at the end of the season.
- Nationals principal owner Mark Lerner told reporters in early December that the $300 million was the "best we can do."
- Before Christmas, Boras and Harper met with 93-year-old Ted Lerner, Mark's father, for five hours.
And now it's January, and it looks like the Nationals are still hanging around in the sweepstakes for the 26-year-old slugger.
