Yankees Rumors: Bombers discussed signing Bryce Harper to play first base

Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports that the Yankees have had internal discussions this offseason about whether they should sign Bryce Harper to play first base.

This is becoming very interesting. First, it was reported that six-time All-Star Bryce Harper was seeking at least 10-years, $350 million deal. Then two weeks ago, it was reported that the Yankees aren’t in pursuit of Harper, and now Jon Morosi reports this:

However, it appears that one source says it’s unrealistic, at least for now. So as they say, never say never. The rumor mill is no doubt going to swirl this offseason, especially with big free agent names on the market such as Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Patrick Corbin, Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel.

The amount of money Bryce is seeking is too much for a player, at least in my view. The Yankees’ may be trying to bring Harper’s price tag down to pursue him. At the end of July 2018, the Yanks acquired first baseman Luke Voit from the Cardinals’ for LHP Chasen Shreve, No. 26 prospect Giovanny Gallegos and international bonus pool money. They did this to get some insurance because of Greg Bird’s injuries and offensive struggles.

After the Yankees’ acquired Voit, he surprised fans by going on a tear in 39 games by hitting 14 home runs and 33 RBIs while slashing .405/.689/1.094. However, it remains to be seen if Voit can replicate those numbers again in 2019. Voit is under team control for two more years until 2021.

If Luke can’t replicate his 2019, and Bird isn’t productive again in the 2019 season (11 HRs, 38 RBIs in 2018), the Bombers may regret not signing Bryce to first base. In the case,

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both struggled Miguel Andujar could move from third to first and Gleyber Torres could move from second to third base and they could put Ronald Torreyes’ to second base

Torreyes’ played second base for the Yanks in the 2016, 2017 and 2018 season for a total of 88 games, so he is experienced there. He is known as a versatile player as he played a variety of positions throughout his career with the Yankees. He’s a clutch hitter with RISP as well. This could help out when it comes to saving the Yanks a hefty amount of money and long contracts.

However, we can’t compare slugger Bryce to Torreyes’ because that’s totally unfair. The one thing that I admire about Torreyes’ and I’m sure we can all agree on: His personality is infectious, and he brings great chemistry to the clubhouse. Chemistry is an important factor that can bring a team together and I’m not sure Bryce brings that.

Will the Yankees’ sign Harper? We’ll have to watch and see what develops. It will be very intriguing to observe what happens in next month’s Winter Meetings. One thing is for sure: Harper needs to have his ego checked out at the door if he wants to become a Yankee.