Philadelphia Phillies potentially paying $400 million for Bryce Harper sounds ridiculous

The rumors continue to swirl in regards to the possibility of Bryce Harper joining the Philadelphia Phillies for the 2019 season.

By now, the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans were hoping to know whether Bryce Harper would be part of the team for the 2019 season, especially after the big news from Tuesday in which Manny Machado announced his plans to join the San Diego Padres.

For months, the Phillies were viewed as a top landing spot for both Harper and Machado since unlike most teams across the league, they would be willing to offer the kind of money both superstars were looking for.

Now that Machado is officially off the table, at least Philadelphia can focus all of their attention on continuing to try convincing Harper to come on board, with some reports even claiming a deal could happen as soon as this week.

With the news that Machado would receive $300 million over the course of 10 years from the Padres, there has been plenty of speculation surrounding what kind of money the Phillies could now be offering Harper.

All due respect to Machado, but when comparing the two stars on paper, most baseball fans knew deep down that Harper would most likely be the one who earned the better contract, although nothing is official until something is actually signed.

Shortly after the Machado deal was announced, one of the early predictions was that Harper would top the $325 million contract Giancarlo Stanton signed a few years back. However, could the Phillies actually pull the unthinkable by rewarding Harper with a whopping $400 million deal before the start of the regular season?

This may sound crazy, but according to ESPN’s Buster Olney, if this were to happen, he wouldn’t be surprised one bit.

Keep in mind this is only the opinion of one analyst, but also Olney is one of the best in the business, and Harper potentially receiving a $400 million deal had previously been discussed on numerous occasions throughout the offseason, which sounds insane just to think about.

There’s no question the addition of a power hitter like Harper would help take expectations surrounding the Phillies to a whole new level heading into the 2019 season, but also doesn’t the thought of $400 million seem like a little too much?

Spending that kind of money on a player who has hit below .300 in five of seven MLB seasons seems like a bit much for a team like Philadelphia. Not to mention, as great as Harper has been knocking home runs out of the park, it should also be noted that he’s only hit 30 or more in a single season twice so far in his career.

Anything over $300 million would seem like plenty for a player like Harper when taking a closer look at the statistics throughout his career, and while the Phillies will have to spend big no matter what just to land the star outfielder, here’s to hoping it doesn’t get as high as $400 million.