MLB Rumors: Is There Still a Place for Bryce Harper With the New York Yankees?
Harper is set to become a free agent at the end of the 2018 season
Bryce Harper is about to embark on what will be one of the most closely monitored campaigns in baseball history.
The 25-year-old, multi-time All-Star and former National League MVP is going to be a free agent at the end of the 2018 season, and he will be able to sign with a team of his choosing by then.
As the Washington Post's Chelsea Janes pointed out previously, for a long time, it seemed like the New York Yankees could end up as the team Harper signed with. But then, something surprising happened.
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The Yankees acquired outfielder and reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton from the Miami Marlins and are poised to pair him up with fellow hulking slugger Aaron Judge.
The Yankees are now set in the outfield corners with Stanton and Judge. That is also not even taking into account the possibility that the team could re-sign Brett Gardner once his contract expires later this year and that they have a former top prospect in Clint Frazier currently expected to spend plenty of time on the bench because he has All-Stars playing in front of him.
To put it simply, the Yankees are not lacking in corner outfielders, and that would suggest that the franchise should no longer feel compelled to pursue Harper next winter.
Interestingly enough, however, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports still regards the Yankees as one of the "likely landing spots" for Harper, though they are not number one, for what that is worth.
Is it really possible that the Yankees could still try to sign Harper even knowing just how loaded their outfield is already?
Should Stanton build on his MVP year and Judge prove that last year's stellar rookie season was no fluke, then it just becomes too difficult to imagine the Yankees handing a big-money deal to another corner outfielder, even to someone as good as Harper.
If Stanton should struggle to adjust to New York or Judge regress, however, then maybe the Yankees could take a longer look at Harper. But even then, the more prudent move for the team may be to give their incumbent outfielders another year.
The Yankees are young and possess immense potential. They do not need to throw all sound team building principles out the window just because they have not won the World Series since 2009.
Trading for Stanton made a fearsome lineup downright terrifying, and it is now good enough that it no longer needs a player like Harper to make it feel complete.
