Let’s get this out of the way: The Yankees don’t need a single individual player in baseball.
Depth and waves of talent is what makes the franchise so good, and such a lasting force. Add intrusive resources that could add to the striving for a Gerrit Cole as an opportunistic trade for a Giancarlo Stanton.
But any decision to pursue or not pursue a big-name (and often expensive) star is a gamble by the Yankees. And the early return on Bryce Harper’s term with the Phillies suggests that Yankees general manager Brian Cashman made a mistake by not prosecuting a player who once seemed destined for pinstripes in the Bronx.
Harper, no crushing a three run home run vs. of the Red Sox on Monday night, introduced on play on August 19 with a rolling .367 / .486 / .700 slash line. Among qualified hitters, no one has a higher OPS this season. Harper’s 219 OPS + (adjusted for average league and park) is the best in the sport, and far better than its 2015 NL MVP season. For context, Aaron Judge placed a 171 OPS + in 2017 and Alex Rodriguez’s best Yankees season (2007) presented a 176 OPS +.
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Harper is hit in eight straight games. He has been on base in every game the Phillies have played in 2020. He has more walks than strikeouts. No current Yankees can claim all those feats. We’re watching a special attacking player listen.
Yes, it’s early. And yes, Harper will probably not be that good all year. But we’re talking about a player who has a .911 OPS since signing a 13-year, $ 330M mega-deal in Philadelphia prior to the 2019 season. At the age of 27, Harper is entering 225 home games. We see a future member of the 500 home club in his prime.
And he could have been a Yankees star. In fact, he may have always hoped for that outcome. However, the Yankees, coming off a 100-win season in 2018 and ALCS trip in 2017, did not seem to sign Harper’s idea. Manny Machado was the free agent who interested the team two winters ago.
On the surface, it was ridiculous. The Yankees already had Aaron Judge and Stanton. They were probably looking for future free agent classes and thinking about sharing money with Cole. The front office wanted to avoid scandalous long-term deals that experienced financial flexibility with aging, past-their-prime stars.
But it’s hard to look at Harper and see what the Yankees did not think they needed. He has become a sustainable player, which is neither a referee nor Stanton. He has a flair for the dramatic and loves the bright lights, something Stanton has never shown. He is a left-handed slider, who misses the line-up. He was even ready to move to the first base to meet the current roster of the Yankees, which could continue a strain of the first baseman in the Bronx spanning from Don Mattingly to Tino Martinez to Jason Giambi to Mark Teixeira .
Stanton was able to make the choice after this season. Judge’s damaging injury history could force the Yankees to deal with the hulking slugger in the long run. Cleveland’s Francisco Lindor could end up becoming the first $ 300M position player to cut the Yankees’ control.
Instead of anticipating Harper signing and targeting the judge for a cost-controlled starter (would the Mets have listened to a judge for Jacob deGrom deal prior to the 2019 season?), The Yankees were risk averse a moment when she had a big swing would have been the right thing to do.
Meanwhile, Harper will likely do his thing in Philadelphia, moving to a second NL MVP and placing Jim Thome-ish career numbers on the road to Cooperstown. If the Yankees win consistently, few seconds will guess what Cashman is doing or not doing. But for as good as the Yankees are, your guess is as good as mine where they will spend and who will earn the bulk of the team’s at-bats in left field, right field, first base and designated hitter for the next five-plus years. It could have been Harper, and it would have been the smart move for a franchise that rarely passes on special left-handed thugs.
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