(Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
It was a long time coming. After months of speculation, Bryce Harper is officially a Philadelphia Phillie. There will be no more reports on if the Phillies will sign him. You won’t hear any more reports on if the Phillies are the favorites, or if he wants to play in Philly. The process is over, and we can finally get on with the season.
Yesterday, he and the Phillies agreed on a 13-year $330 million dollar deal. If all goes well, this should make him a Phillie for the rest of his life. The excitement is reaching a fever pitch. The Phillies have already sold 100,000 tickets since the Harper signing broke. My two tickets are part of that 100,000.
I vowed to not spend a dime on that time if they didn’t sign Machado or Harper. To my surprise, they made it happen and signed Harper. Owner John Middleton gave his word he would spend stupid money, and he did. I lived up to my word and spent money on a partial season ticket package. The Phillies proved with this signing they are willing to do whatever it takes to win a World Series. That is all I needed to see. A fan base should always hold their team accountable, and in Philly, most fans do that. I got my tickets, and a lot of fans are obviously excited. So, what does this mean on the field?
On the field, this makes the Phillies lineup as good as any in baseball. It certainly makes the Phillies one of the top contenders to win the pennant, if not the World Series. Not only have they added Harper, they also added Segura and Realmuto to the lineup. It is unheard of to add three all-stars to the lineup in one offseason. In addition to those guys, McCutchen will add a great veteran presence in the clubhouse. Gabe Kapler is going to have a lot of fun putting together his lineup. If I had to take a stab at the opening day lineup, I would set it up like this:
Caesar Hernandez
Jean Segura
Rhys Hoskins
Bryce Harper
JT Realmuto
Odubel Herrera
Andrew McCutchen
Maikel Franco
Aaron Nola
I would stick Bryce in between your two right-handed batters and use him to protect Hoskins. Hoskins should have a career year with Harper behind him in the lineup. I suspect Harper will bat fourth behind Hoskins, but I’m sure Kapler has some analytical reason not to do that. Anyway, we have 27 days until opening day to break down the lineups. For now, just enjoy the fact baseball is finally back in Philadelphia.
