Phillies continue to see Dodgers as major threat in Bryce Harper sweepstakes

As the Philadelphia Phillies continue to try negotiating a potential deal with Bryce Harper, the Los Angeles Dodgers become a bigger threat by the day.

By now, the Philadelphia Phillies were hoping to have some sort of agreement in place with Bryce Harper when considering how many times the star outfielder appeared to be on the verge of making a decision, only to continue keeping the baseball world waiting.

Even last week after Manny Machado agreed to a 10-year, $300 million deal with the San Diego Padres, it seemed like only a matter of time before Harper finally reached a decision since a new bar had been set.

Instead, the start of March is right around the corner, and no one seems to have any sort of clear idea when Harper will finally reach a decision so Philadelphia and baseball fans in general can move on to a new chapter since this entire situation has dragged on way too long.

With that being said, the Phillies seemed to be clear favorites to land Harper over the last few weeks since they not only had the kind of money to spend the star outfielder would be looking for, but also due to the team potential when it comes to competing in 2019.

Despite Philadelphia seeming to make progress this past weekend after team owner John Middleton flew out to Las Vegas to meet with Harper, it looks like the Los Angeles Dodgers are back in play all of a sudden, which is the last thing the Phillies want to hear right now.

Even more frustrating, the Dodgers seem to have a few advantages over the Phillies at the moment that will leave some fans in the City of Brotherly Love sweating a little more than they already were before.

First off, let’s hope Harper’s decision doesn’t end up coming down to being a Los Angeles Laker since after all the emotions Phillies fans have been through in recent weeks, losing him to something like this would be absolutely devastating to deal with.

Some reports indicated on Tuesday that one of the issues Philadelphia was struggling with had to do with Harper preferring an opt-out in his contract, which if this is the case, the Phillies just need to bite the bullet by allowing it to happen.

A few years from now, Philadelphia would hopefully be considered a serious enough threat in the National League where the possibility of Harper leaving wouldn’t even be considered since he would prefer to stick around, meaning the opt-out wouldn’t be an issue.

But instead of jumping that far ahead, here’s to hoping the Phillies continue to be a strong candidate to land Harper, because of the Dodgers swoop in to prevent this from happening, one can only imagine the reaction that would take place from Philadelphia as a city.