Brian Cashman can amend his biggest Yankees mistake with Bryce Harper rumors

If Brian Cashman wants to right arguably his biggest wrong of the modern era, he'd get Dave Dombrowski and the Philadelphia Phillies front office on the phone right now. Even though it's far from a guarantee, the New York Yankees must read in between the lines in regard to what's happening with Bryce Harper at the moment.

Following another early playoff exit, the Phillies seem to be at a bit of a crossroads. It couldn't be more evident that the organization views Kyle Schwarber as their "guy" based on Dombrowski's end-of-season comments. The president of baseball operations also took what some over-exaggerated to be a slight shot at Harper, suggesting it's unclear if he has "elite" seasons remaining ahead.

After all of this, trade rumors started to swirl, especially with speculation suggesting the Phillies need to shed some payroll in order to re-sign Schwarber, accommodate other additions, and absorb rising arbitration costs. Nick Castellanos is already one name expected to be on the way out.

But could Harper be another? He has a full no-trade clause, but ... he loves the Yankees. He wanted to be a Yankee. And at this rate, the Yankees need another impact bat with a penchant for stepping up in big moments. Not to mention, there's a vacancy at first base with Paul Goldschmidt hitting free agency as well as questions about Ben Rice's long-term position (catcher, first base, both?).

Harper has six years and $150 million remaining on his $330 million contract. We understand it's for his age-33 through -38 seasons ... but isn't one of the alternatives 30-year-old Cody Bellinger? Or $400 million for Kyle Tucker? How bad could Harper's ~$25 million AAV be at this stage of his career? We've been able to stomach Giancarlo Stanton making that much since 2019 with injuries largely hampering his production.

Yankees Rumors: Could Bryce Harper trade actually be on the table?

It's unclear what a trade would even look like in terms of assets on the Yankees' side of things. After all, they'd be inheriting a sizable contract of a player ostensibly on the decline. Harper is still a top talent, but he's not what he used to be (even Dombrowski said as much). And believe it or not, the former MVP has played in more than 145 games just once with the Phillies since 2019. The health issues are very real.

Now, do the Yankees want to add another such redundancy to their roster? Harper isn't a great defender. He also strikes out over 20% of the time. Then again, he's an on-base machine and sports a career .280 average. Those are upgrades for the Yankees. Plus, he's a lefty who hits to all fields but ... the short porch. The short porch is right there.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post said he wouldn't necessarily be shocked if Harper was traded this offseason. But we don't know. It could all be a bunch of hoopla that we laugh about in a few months when Harper is taking the field for the Phillies on Opening Day.

Nonetheless, with another early playoff exit and some real payroll concerns, moving off of Harper could be the Phillies' best bet to open up the most amount of avenues at once, and we know he'd be willing to accept a trade to the Bronx. It'd make for a nice full circle moment after Cashman and the Yankees ignored him in free agency after the 2018 season.