Obligatory up front: The bar for sharing info out there when we’re in Obsessive Watch mode is a little lower than usual. But I’m still not going to share things with you out there that have absolutely no reasonable case for being credible. Unless it’s some fun Reddit report that everyone is talking about and we could *discuss* here (wetbutt23 and katyperrysbootyhole excluded), I’m not gonna put something on the site that I believe is very likely untrue.
To that end, in his post-executive days, Jim Bowden has had some highly-visible rumor misses and bungled cover-ups. Although he is a prominent national media voice, I think you have to regard his reports with a little higher scrutiny than you might some of his colleagues at The Athletic. But I’m gonna share a couple things he tweeted today, and I have a reason for doing so:
Harper vs. Machado 2018 stat note:
Velo 94+
Machado avg .230 Slug .366
Harper avg .327 Slug .779Harper Hunt:#Phillies #Nationals #Dodgers #Cubs
Machado Hunt:#Yankees #Phillies #WSox
— Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenGM) January 4, 2019
#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
Bowden is the former GM of the Nationals, and was the GM there for years as the current ownership group – the Lerner Family – took the reins in the mid-2000s. To the extent Bowden has peculiar insights into the doings of any MLB team, it would probably be the Nationals. So, in that spirit, I think it’s at least taking note of what he’s reporting.
On that front, there are two things of note:
(1) Bowden is saying the Nationals, after having their late-season 10/$300M offer rejected by Harper, subsequently made a much larger offer. Could that offer have come directly from ownership? Perhaps at the reported five-hour meeting before Christmas? Obviously the structure of an offer – especially from the Nationals – can make a huge difference on its actual value, but Harper netting, in the end, more than $300 million always seemed plausible.
(2) Bowden includes just four teams as in on Harper, and it’s probably the four you’d guess: the Nationals, the Phillies, the Dodgers, and the Cubs. You could put an asterisk by the Cubs there, as we tend to believe they won’t go over-and-above to sign Harper until and unless they move a big contract, but there’s always a chance – as with the other clubs – that ownership will make a special commitment for a special player.
And, of course, there could be MYSTERY TEAMS.