Should the Nationals Trade Bryce Harper?

By Zane Robidoux

Twitter: @zrobidoeee

One of the biggest things to happen before yesterday’s trade deadline wasn’t a trade at all. Rather, it was the Nationals making it known that Bryce Harper would be available in trade talks. Even though Nationals General Manger Mike Rizzo eventually redacted the statement, stating that Harper wasn’t going anywhere, for a few hours it seemed quite possible he could be moved. Of course, the deadline has since come and gone, making it a bit more difficult for the Nationals, if they so choose, to trade Harper. But does that mean they shouldn’t? 

It’s no surprise that Washington has had a disappointing season in 2018. They are currently 54-53, and have been hovering just around the .500 mark all season. They sit 5 games back of the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East, and are 4.5 games back of the second Wild Card spot. 

After winning the NL East last year by 20 games, many thought this year was going to be just as much of a breeze. They even started the year at 9/1 World Series odds, which was 6^thbest in baseball.  But they started slow, and had a measly 13-16 record at the end of April. Even with a hot stretch in May where they went 20-7, they came crashing back down to Earth, and have only managed a 21-30 record since. 

Simply put, it doesn’t look like it’s the Nationals year. And barring a collapse by the Phillies or Atlanta Braves, which I wouldn’t hold your breath for, they’ll more than likely miss the playoffs too.

So, is it time to trade Bryce?

With free agency looming and no extension in sight, hanging onto Bryce only really made sense if the Nationals were in the hunt for a World Series. But with that out of the question, why wouldn’t they green light a trade? 

Maybe they foresee him resigning in free agency, which is entirely possibly. Bryce probably avoided signing an extension so he could drive up his price tag on the open market, gathering a higher number than the Nationals probably would’ve given him in a contract extension. With the likes of Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson and possibly Clayton Kershaw also becoming free agents, Harper could wait to see what they sign for, then decide what to set his price at. 

Even with the season he’s having, which is well below par for his standards, Harper is young and has an astronomical amount of potential. Like, first ballot Hall of Fame potential. So he’s set to make well over $200 million (some even think $400 million…) when he eventually does strike a deal. And it really isn’t that ridiculous to think that the Nationals would give him that kind of money. Harper is the face of their franchise and has had a ton of success in his short career there, even gathering an MVP award. Plus, the Nationals and GM Mike Rizzo have the money to spend, and wouldn’t be afraid to, seeing as they signed Max Scherzer to a 7 year, $210 million deal back in 2015.

But it doesn’t look likely that Harper will be back. There has been a lot of speculation around baseball saying that Harper is going to end up away from Washington. A few of the more probable spots are the Phillies, the Chicago Cubs and the New York Yankees. Those are three teams with a ton of upside, who have the money and will spend the money, to bring in a franchise guy like Harper. I’m not so sure Harper is looking to take a hometown discount, so once free agency hits if I were the Nationals, try as they might, I would assume Harper will be gone. 

If that’s the case, why not get something in return for him now? If he walks in free agency, then the Nationals will get nothing in return. Sure, they’ll make him a qualifying offer, which he would reject. But even with that offer, because they’re over the luxury tax, the compensation pick would only fall after the 4^thround of the draft. 

With all that said, doesn’t trading him just make sense? The Nationals would get an absolute haul prospect wise in return for him. So even though their star player would be gone, they would be bettering themselves for the future. Of course, because the trade deadline has passed, Bryce would have to go through waivers for a trade to occur. But it’s not unheard of with star players, seeing as the exact situation played out that way for the Justin Verlander trade between the Tigers and Astros last season. 

For Washington in this situation, it can either hurt just a little bit now, or it can hurt a lot worse in a few months. Theres no question that a contender would take a chance on a rental like Bryce, and it was even rumored that the Nationals and Indians were discussing a trade for a bit. If I were Mike Rizzo, I would make Bryce available again and trade him for what I can now while hopefully getting some top end prospects in return. If not, he’s going to have a lot of angry fans and a lot of confused minds around baseball wondering why he would let Bryce Harper, who could bring the Nationals so much in a trade, walk for next to nothing.