The Philadelphia Phillies are upping the ante in an attempt to land one of the most high-profile free agents this offseason, and their most recent move may be the most aggressive one yet.
According to a new report by USA Today, most of the Phillies front office is planning on flying out to Las Vegas — Bryce Harper’s hometown — in order to convince him to make the move to Philadelphia. (RELATED: Relive The Night Osama Bin Laden Was Killed With This Patriotic Phillies Footage)
And there will reportedly be a lot of heavy hitters in attendance, including Phillies owner John Middleton, team president Andy MacPhail, GM Matt Klentak and Manager Gabe Kapler.
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This isn’t the first time the Phillies have courted Bryce Harper. The two parties met during the winter meetings back in December, however, Harper was not present at the meeting. He was represented by his agent, Scott Boras, who also represents free-agent pitcher Zach Britton.
But something about this meeting seems far more serious. Not only will Harper be in attendance, but the Phillies have expressed very blatant interest in the former Nats superstar. He’s not going to come cheap, and Philadelphia seems to be aware of that. Back in November, Phillies president John Middleton announced he was prepared to spend a “stupid” amount of money to land a superstar like Bryce Harper.
It’s worth noting that the Phillies also met with former Dodgers phenom Manny Machado right before Christmas. It was Machado, however, who made the trip to Philly — not the other way around.
Phillies welcoming Manny Machado and his wife Yainee!
This is what he sees at Citizens Bank Park right now#Phillies pic.twitter.com/wcr5EBd5ok
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) December 20, 2018
It sounds like the Phillies are rolling out the red carpet for Bryce Harper, and you can bet this upcoming Saturday meeting will produce something concrete. We’ll keep you posted.