Will Bryce Harper Be a Yankee in 2019?

On Thursday night, 23-year old Bryce Harper became the youngest player in major league history to unanimously be named the National League MVP. After having a monster season in 2015, one in which he batted .330 with 42 home runs and 99 RBIs, Harper was officially awarded the hardware that put him in the category of household names in baseball today, including Mike Trout and Giancarlo Stanton.

His 42 home runs were tied with Nolan Arenado for the most in the National League. He also led the league in runs (118), on-base percentage (.460), slugging percentage (.649) and OPS (1.109).

Not only was this breakout season the coming out party for Bryce Harper, but as WFAN beat reporter Sweeny Murti put it, it was also the start of the countdown to the day Harper becomes a New York Yankee.

Two years ago the Yankees stood firm and refused to go higher than $175 million over seven years for Robinson Cano, an above average 30-year old second baseman who crushed the ball in Yankee Stadium. Yes, Cano was homegrown, but he didn’t have any of the ‘shiny trophies’ the Yankess wanted to see if they were going to commit an Alex Rodriguez-esque mega contract to keep him in pinstripes for the duration of his career. Now he’s the Seattle Mariners problem, and we’ve all seen how quickly that has gone down hill.

Anyway, Harper on the other hand already has a Rookie of the Year award on his resume and he now will have at least one MVP award, with a chance to add a few more while under Washington Nationals control through 2018 before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2019 for the first time in his young career.

And 2019 is exactly where the Yankees come into play.

"“How long are we supposed to believe they [Yankees] will shop in the bargain aisle? This is a match made in money’, said Murti. ‘Always remember what 16-year-old Harper said about his career ambitions as a Sports Illustrated cover boy in 2009:‘Be in the Hall of Fame, definitely. Play in Yankee Stadium. Play in the pinstripes. Be considered the greatest baseball player who ever lived. I can’t wait,” he told the magazine.‘”"

Murti added;

"Can you see this guy packing up his trophies in two years and going anywhere except New York? Come on. That’s a clown question, bro"

Harper is everything the current state of the New York Yankees needs and more. A younger generation super star, someone who will put fans in the seats and someone who the Yankees can build around for the next 10 years. Sure they have an upcoming core of Luis Severino, Gregory Bird, Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge, but Bryce Harper is undoubtedly the final piece of that puzzle.

As a matter of fact, Harper, who only turned 23 last month, is actually six months younger than the Yankees top hitting prospect Aaron Judge.

According to Murti, he recently asked a major league exec who had a better chance of playing right field for the Yankees in 2019, Judge or Harper, and the response he got was ‘Judge in left, Harper in right.’

Now Bryce Harper, the prize client of Boras Corporation is set to be a free agent when he’s 26-year old. According to many around the industry, they believe Bryce Harper will command a deal north of $350 MM over ten years, and some even insist it’ll be closer to the $400 MM range.

Will the Yankees commit to such a financial risk?

The answer is yes. They’ve already started the process of ‘saving up.’

In recent years, Brian Cashman and the Steinbrenner’s have been very strategic when it comes to spending money, waiting for the financial burden of the Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and Carlos Beltran contracts to come off the books before reinvesting.

Interestingly enough, if the Yankees play their cards right they’ll eventually have a loop hole in 2018 when Alex Rodriguez is officially off the books and a year before they pay close to $40 MM per year for Bryce Harper staring in 2019 where the New York Yankees might actually be under the luxury tax!

Bryce Harper to the Yankees in three years. It’s a lock.

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