Philadelphia Phillies would be better holding off on trying to land Bryce Harper

With the Washington Nationals making it known that Bryce Harper is available via trade, the Philadelphia Phillies could be one of the teams expressing interest, but hopefully at the right price.

The Philadelphia Phillies have been relatively quiet leading up the MLB trade deadline, with their only acquisition coming in the form of New York Mets infielder Asdrubal Cabrera.

It was thought that the Phillies would be in the mix to acquire players at several positions of need, but at this point, it looks like the club might be content to stand pat.

Heading into the final day of July, it appeared as though most teams were done acquiring players.

The Washington Nationals, however, made headlines last night when Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported that the Nationals are making Bryce Harper available at the deadline.

This news is not all that surprising considering Harper’s projected free agent status was one of the worst-kept secrets heading into the season. But the timing of this is curious, to say the least.

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For one, several teams have already made moves involving prospects and current players. Those teams are probably not in a position to offer anything to the Nationals. The Los Angeles Dodgers, for example, gave up multiple prospects in order to acquire Manny Machado, so they most likely will not be inquiring about Harper.

Some are suggesting that the Phillies could and should be buyers, considering they have continued to look at the outfield as an area of need and that they have considerable cap space. And while both of those points are true, there are reasons why this Philadelphia team would be wise to avoid a last-minute deadline deal of this magnitude.

For starters, the Phillies are still in first place. The team just called up Roman Quinn, who could find himself playing in September due to a nice combination of speed and hitting. This was an internal move that could really help the club.

The Phillies may be currently on a four-game skid, but that is no reason for major concern. Eventually, they will figure it out.

I am perfectly fine with the Phillies making more small moves that would improve the team, but beyond that, I am not sure it would be worth it in the long run. They don’t need to hit the panic button and make a record-breaking deal.

As I stated earlier, the timing of the statement by the Nationals is odd. If they truly wanted to get a solid return for Harper, it might have made more sense to do so at the beginning of July or earlier.

Its quite possible they are trying to cash in on Harper while they still can, with the team continuing to perform below expectation.

The Nationals are still in good position to leverage other teams for players, picks and prospects considering what Los Angeles gave away for Machado. But this is where I draw pause as a Phillies fan. Matt Klentak has done a good job not giving away top prospects like Sixto Sanchez and Adam Hasley in a trade, and I think that line of thinking should continue.

The Phillies are a first-place team, but the future is bright, and Klentak would be wise to stick with the plan. This brings me to my second point, in that this last minute price for Harper would likely cost the Phillies a good chunk of the farm system. Harper is a star, and despite hitting below average this season is still worth the asking price for the majority of teams.

Much like the Machado deal, there is too much risk involved with acquiring a player that is about to hit free agency. The better plan would be to wait until the offseason to try and lure Harper away from Washington, rather than falling prey to a deal that could be damaging to the team in the near future.