Oddsmakers list Yankees as favorite to sign Bryce Harper
His free agency may still be a couple seasons away but that is not stopping people around baseball, fans and ownerships to talk about the possibility of the games best player, Bryce Harper, hitting the free agency market. Assuming Harper hits the open market after the 2018 season, many teams will be in position to try to sign him. Those teams include but are not limited to the Yankees, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Boston Red Sox, the Philadelphia Phillies and his current team the Washington Nationals. One oddsmaker already has the odds for teams to land Harper. You can find the link here. And who else but the New York Yankees are sitting as the favorite to sign the outfielder. OnlineGambling.Iv gives the Yankees a 10/3 odds which is better than the Dodgers at 4/1, the Nationals at 7/1 and the Red Sox at 9/1. It is also important to keep in mind that Harper is represented by super agent Scott Boras. Boras is known to let his players test free agency and the feeling around the league is that Harper will be no different. The belief is that Harper might be the first player to sign not only a $400 million contract but that talks could escalate to half a billion dollars for the will-be 26-year-old. The over-under odds on Harper's contract are set at 12 years and $450 million. That will easily be the highest annual contract in baseball history ($37.5 per year). Harper has long desired to be a Yankee and all signs point to him coming to the Bronx. Obviously, a lot can happen between now and then but look at the writing on the wall. The Yankees decided to sit out on free agency this past offseason even with needs and big name free agents like David Price and Zack Greinke on the open market. They did not spend a single dollar on major league free agent contracts, something unthinkable for the Yankees. However, they might have their sights set on Harper in 2018. The contracts of Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran come off the books after this season and the massive deals for Alex Rodriguez and CC Sabathia will be finished after the 2017 season. That will be over $130 million off the books between the four of them. The Yankees will have plenty of wiggle room to sign Harper, especially if their young talent proves to be as good as the team hopes. With minor leaguers Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Greg Bird waiting in the wings, the team will have very cost effective and controllable players at premium positions. This all but opens the door for the Yankees to make Harper's dream come true: manning the outfield at Yankee Stadium, hitting home runs over the short porch in right field and ending up next to his idle Mickey Mantle in Monument Park.