The Nationals Have Moved On From Bryce, Haven't Talked To Him Or Boras In Months
NBC - The Washington Nationals are officially moving on from Bryce Harper.
“Nothing’s certainly changed on our end,” owner Mark Lerner told NBC Sports Washington’s Todd Dybas Friday. “We’ve moved on. As I said back then and we had to. There was no way we could wait around. Bryce, I’m sure will make his decision hopefully in the next few days, but we’ve filled out our roster and like I said, we wish him nothing but the best.”
There have been reports that multiple teams have been in on the Harper sweepstakes, most notably the Phillies, Padres and Giants. As far as recent talks with the Nationals? There haven’t been any.
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Here’s your daily Bryce Harper update- Mark Lerner has doubled down on last month’s statement that the Nats have moved on from him. Kinda weird how under-reported that went. The owner of the team, the guy that signs the checks, was like “we are moving on, good luck to Bryce” and everyone was like “Wow, guess the Nats are still in pursuit for Bryce!”
Of course the common denominator is Scott Boras. It doesn’t matter what Lerner says, because Boras will send off one text to one beat writer and spin the narrative however he wants. Lerner could burn a Bryce Harper jersey on the National Mall and Boras will somehow spin that in a way to make the price for Bryce go up. “Wow, your move, Phillies, the Nats pursuit for Bryce is really….heating up”.
It is really weird he hasn’t signed in Philly yet. Really, really weird. You would think that if they were that much of a favorite it would have gotten done by now. Is Boras hoping a superstar elsewhere gets hurt and it drives up the price? Is Bryce that against playing in Philly? Or are the Giants and Padres really making substantial offers? It’s really hard to tell at this point.
But at least we know one thing, the Nats are out of it, and the door is shut on Bryce, there’s no chance he comes….oh god dammit
“But there’s always that, the door’s cracked a little bit,” Lerner added.
At this point Bryce might not sign til opening day.