The idea of the Phillies trading Bryce Harper might get clicks, but it still feels like the wrong conversation.
Philadelphia has spent the past couple of seasons looking like one of the most frustrating teams in baseball, and the roster construction has a lot to do with that. Bad contracts have put the club in a tough spot, and the path back to contention is not exactly clean. But Harper is not the piece that should be pushed out.
He’s been one of the sport’s top players for more than a decade, and the logic here is pretty simple: if the Phillies are trying to fix this thing, they should be moving other parts around him, not shipping out the star.
Still, not everyone sees it that way. One recent suggestion had the Toronto Blue Jays as a possible landing spot if Harper ever became available.
“How aggressive will the Blue Jays be after missing the postseason? Great question,” Jake Elman wrote.
“They’re possibly already regretting the Vladimir Guerrero contract given both his regression and the recent work ethic concerns. As of now, he’s the newest poster boy of why you don’t give players contracts exceeding six or seven years.
“So should that scare Toronto into passing on Harper? Not necessarily. If the goal is to keep up with the other four AL East teams, and especially the Yankees and Rays, then Harper is worth the risk - so long as he’s willing to play right field on the Rogers Centre turf.”
If Harper were ever on the market, there would be no shortage of teams interested. That much is obvious. And from Philadelphia’s side, that interest could at least create a strong bidding environment.
But even then, the return for a player like Harper, at this stage of his career, would not match what it might have a few years ago. That’s another reason the Phillies are better off keeping him and trying to build a championship-level core around him, even if that remains a difficult job.
In Other News...
Blue Jays Mourn A Voice Who Helped Shape Franchise History
Larry Millson, whose name was woven into Blue Jays coverage for more than three decades, has died, the team announced Oct. 7. A longtime Toronto writer and recipient of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fames Jack Graney Award, Millson became one of the most respected voices in baseball journalism, filing stories for numerous outlets while helping chronicle the franchises rise and its place in the Canadian game.
The Blue Jays responded with condolences for his family and a tribute that reflected just how deeply he was connected to the organizations history. For readers who followed the team year after year, Millson was part of the steady backdrop of the sport in this country, one of those reporters whose work outlived the days score and helped shape the way Canadian baseball was covered. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Youth Movement Just Changed Toronto's Offseason Pressure
Brett Batemans quick adjustment after arriving at the trade deadline gave the Blue Jays a real jolt, and his mix of contact at the plate and steady work in the field helped push him into the conversation for a longer look. Charles McAdoo followed a similar path, making the kind of in-season adjustments that can turn a depth piece into a useful utility option, while Spencer Miles emerged as one of the bigger bright spots on the pitching side with the kind of rookie season Toronto can build around.
The bigger picture for Toronto is that the youth movement is no longer just a talking point, it is starting to shape how the roster gets built. Sean Keys and Piango still look like players who need more seasoning before they can be counted on every day, which leaves the Blue Jays with some real decisions to make about how much pressure to place on the kids and how aggressively to chase outside help this winter. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Offseason Plan Could Force A Tough Ernie Clement Decision
Ernie Clement has become one of the more appealing pieces on the Blue Jays roster because he can handle so many jobs and has a style fans have come to appreciate. His value has grown not just from versatility, but from the simple fact that Toronto can use him in a lot of different ways, which is part of why any offseason roster planning around him gets complicated fast.
The complication comes if the Blue Jays follow through on a bigger infield-and-outfield shuffle and add players such as Seiya Suzuki and Brandon Lowe. In that kind of setup, Clement could still matter, but his role would likely shrink into more of a utility lane than the everyday run he has carved out, leaving Toronto with a familiar front-office question: how much do you preserve a player like Clement when the pursuit of higher-end talent starts changing the shape of the lineup? [Read more 🡒]