Phils Sign Bryce Harper, extend spring training invite

[ER222]

Any idea as to when his introductory press conference will be? I'm going to call is sick.

[schooldoc]

Saturday.

[EastFallowfield]

Heard that Harper would be 2nd youngest in the presumed lineup, here there are by age, a bunch have birthdays in March so this is what I believe they will be on opening day.

McCutcheon 32
Segura 29
Realmuto 28
Hernandez 28
Herrera 27
Franco 26
Harper 26
Hoskins 26 (5 months younger than Harper)

Kingery, Quinn and Cozens are younger, but Altherr, Walding and Knapp are older. Crazy.

[andyb]

This is why it was pretty important to land Harper. We don't have an old lineup by any stretch, but the core of the lineup is in their prime and after this year nobody would be under 27 - so there would be minimal upside to the lineup collectively.

Now we get better enough where we might actually win with this lineup. And probably buy us 2-3 years to continue developing the next wave of replacements that will replace players as they get older.

[xogfog]

I know Kapler loves to mess the lineup on a day to day basis, but aside from rest days, Harper should be in the 3 hole and Hoskins in the 4 no matter what. I'm assuming this would the generic lineup:

1, Hernandez 2B
2. Segura SS
3, Harper RF
4. Hoskins 1B
5. Realmuto C
6. McCutchen LF
7. Franco 3B
8. Herrera CF

If most of that lineup has a good year, they should score a ton of runs

[philsphan67]

On the MLB network yesterday they had McCutchen one. It will be interesting to see what McCutchen we get this year. I am hoping the 120 - 130 game McCutchen with an 800 OPS.

[zambonir]

I believe the physical would be in Philadelphia.

Also, until Harper is under contract it can't be tampering because he's a free agent. He can say whatever he wants, and Trout could have also tried to recruit him to Anaheim (ha). If they chatted in October that would be different (but still probably not actionable).

Haven't read WaPo stories yet (would you mind using the real links instead of Google search results Atown?) but Boswell called Harper working-class? He was just ripping him last week.

I don't think AF ever suggested Harper wouldn't want to come to Philly because he'd rather go to the clubs in New York, at least. That was Machado. It will be interesting to see if they actually do choose to live in Philly full-time but since they don't even have kids yet the question of where to send them to school won't even come up for years. I would think Vegas will still be home, but it's not a long off-season.

[julio]

I see that Middleton's plane is in Las Vegas to pick up Harper and his family. Where will the plane fly to, Clearwater or Philadelphia? While I understand the urgency for him to get started with spring training, it would be a bit odd to not have a press conference of this magnitude in Philadelphia.

Middleton's plane is heading for Clearwater, not Philly. Should be on the ground around 4:30 pm.

[julio]

Also, will there soon be a change to the banner atop this page?

I can't update the banner until I have decent photos of the new regulars (Harper, McCutchen, Segura, Realmuto) in Phillies uniforms in game action. No way you're going to see a Nationals jersey up there!

[bkox]

Matt Breen (matt_breen)

[phillychuck]

PC will be in Florida because that's where all the Phils' administration is now, and where all the regular beat writers for the Phils are now.

[andyb]

It will be interesting to see what McCutchen we get this year. I am hoping the 120 - 130 game McCutchen with an 800 OPS.

Interestingly, McCutchen is the one guy we have who never gets hurt. 146+ games 9 years in a row. 153+ in 8 of them. Now should he rest 15-20 games a year at his age? Maybe. But it is also kind of nice to have one veteran who has a good history of staying in the lineup.

[andyb]

I can't update the banner until I have decent photos of the new regulars (Harper, McCutchen, Segura, Realmuto) in Phillies uniforms in game action. No way you're going to see a Nationals jersey up there!

Do we even know what number he will wear yet? Assume he is not going to wear Doc's 34.

[phillychuck]

There has been some discussion of a phone call between the Phils and Halladay's family asking about the number...don't know if just speculation or inside knowledge from a reporter or two. It makes sense, though, it would be cool to honor a recent player by wearing his number. Then they could retire it for both of them (hopefully).

[zambonir]

While I understand the desire to accomodate your new star player (and it's good they would consult the Halladays), that they are even considering it (if in fact they are) suggests they had no intention of retiring Halladay's number. Which is just fine, IMO (he passes the BBHoF threshold but not any other. Even his inclusion on the WoF can be debated though he's certainly more deserving than Thome). I don't think it would be appropriate to do it 20 years from now (or make Harper share the number). Either Roy's number gets retired in the next year or two and it's off the table or it's Harper's now.

[julio]

Agreed. One way or the other - retire it as Doc's, or let Harper have it.

This would have been a non-issue had the Halladay family opted to have Roy's plaque ID him as a Phillie - but they did not, and I can understand why. But that decision puts the Phillies in an unanticipated situation - what to do about a former Phil who goes into the HOF, but not as a Phillie? Regardless, they need to make that decision, and they need to make it now.

[Patchmk88]

Bryce Harper will wear No. 3 with the Phillies, per source.

— Matt Breen ( @matt_breen ) March 1, 2019

[zambonir]

I kind of see it the other way - he should have gone in as a Blue Jay, if anything. Putting him in with no logo at all - the names of both teams will still be on his plaque - was a very Phillies-favorable gesture. So the opportunity is there. It's also not an official policy (and as an unofficial policy it will end with the '08 group).

But yeah, how long do they have, 24 hours?

Ah, just posted after Patch. I was really pulling for 33!

[el-pietro]

Harper 3 seems odd to me. I'm sure I'll get used to it very very quickly though!

[Philsmania]

Number 3 in honor of his fellow Mormon, Dale Murphy?

He wore 34 because he idolized Mickey Mantle and 3+4=7. He could try to swing a deal with Franco for 7.