Remember at the outset of the offseason when Bryce Harper’s agent Scott Boras said his client already knew where he was signing? It was an *obvious* joke, but folks nevertheless scrambled to wonder aloud if it could be true.
This, by contrast, is not an obvious joke, but we’ve reached a point in the Siberian baseball winter where any remotely credible whiff out there of some finality is similarly seized upon by every desperate soul:
DC radio host says Bryce Harper has reportedly made his decision. Guesses #SFGiants will be his destinationhttps://t.co/p2tfpK6Lob
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) February 15, 2019
To be sure, we’re coming up on the end of today, and although it sounds like the reporter lent a modicum of credibility to his source on this thanks to previous revelations, it’s hard to read that report and feel like, oh yeah, definitely, this is a done deal.
“Maybe I took a little bit of a leap of faith here based on some indications I got from a real good source,” Russell told 106.7 The Fan. “Bryce and his representatives, (Scott) Boras, his people, his wife Kayla, they’ve been meeting since Monday morning in Vegas. Bryce originally wanted this done, when it took this long, by Valentine’s Day. Obviously, the contract has not been announced, signed, whatever …. But I’m lead to believe by the people that I’ve talked to that are close to the situation—and I have, again, a real good source that has helped me through this process, let’s just leave it at that. That Bryce was in a mood to celebrate yesterday. Now, the source said, ‘I believe it’s done.’ I don’t have concrete, 100 percent proof for you guys. I wish I did, otherwise I would have it and I would be running around with it.”
So, the implication is that Russell has spoken with someone who knows Harper very well, and knows that Harper was giving off a “it’s time to celebrate” vibe this week. Maybe that’s something. Maybe it’s bunk.
Russell went on to guess that the team to sign Harper would be the Giants.
This, from Jon Heyman, who frequently reports closely on Scott Boras clients, certainly seems like a wink to the rumor with a helpful nudge:
Think the #SFGiants are doing well with their opportunistic approach this winter. They’ve enhanced their depth at minimal cost. Big question is how aggressive they will be with Harper, but like what they’re doing so far.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 15, 2019
If Harper did land with the Giants, that would certainly make the NL West even more interesting for this season, joining the NL Central and NL East in being already quite interesting. (The American League, you’ll note, has absolutely no interest in being interesting.)