Yankees fans are ready for their Bryce Harper era to begin, as Scott Allen writes.
Every time there is a great young star with another club, the New York Yankees are linked to said player because of the team’s well-established history of spending on great stars. They landed Reggie Jackson and Dave Winfield and Rickey Henderson. They bid heavily on Greg Maddux, perhaps offering the most money before he signed with Atlanta. They traded for Alex Rodriguez after the Rangers realized they couldn’t really afford Rodriguez’s record-setting contract and signed CC Sabathia to a $161 million deal, crushing all bidders.
In a lot of cases, the speculation linking the Yankees to someone like Joe Mauer or Ryan Howard or Albert Pujols has turned out to be ridiculous, especially with players so young and so far from reaching free agency.
But Harper-to-the-Yankees is like baseball’s version of a Bush or Clinton running for president: The possibility seems inevitable.
By the end of this season, Harper will have three years, 159 days of service time, meaning that he would be eligible for free agency after the 2018 season, when he’ll be an old man of … 26 years old.
Between now and then, the Yankees will have just a few dollars coming off their payroll.
Rodriguez’s 10-year, $275 million deal expires after the 2017 season.
Mark Teixeira’s eight-year, $180 million deal expires after the 2016 season.
Sabathia’s contract -- including the extension agreed to after the 2011 season -- will have fully played out, one way or another, by the end of the 2017 season. (He has a complicated vesting option for ’17.)
Additionally: Carlos Beltran’s three-year, $45 million deal will be over after 2016. Brian McCann’s five-year, $85 million will conclude after 2018, unless the Yankees pick up his 2019 option. Chase Headley’s four-year, $52 million deal will end in 2018. Brett Gardner’s four-year, $52 million deal will end in 2018, unless the team picks up an option for 2019. Andrew Miller’s four-year, $36 million deal ends in 2018.
Assuming that owner Hal Steinbrenner doesn’t dive back into the market for three or four A-Rod type contracts between now and 2018, the Yankees should finally have control of their credit card debt by the time Harper hits the market. By then, Harper’s price could be north of $40 million a year, so long as he stays healthy, and there may not be a player since Jackson more perfectly built for Yankee Stadium – a left-handed slugger who could damage record books driving balls to right field.
Like Jackson, Harper is incredibly marketable because, whether you like his swagger or not, he’s a player you cannot stop watching, which is something the Yankees need in the post-Derek Jeter era.
Harper to the Yankees? Is it possible?
Let’s put it this way: The Washington Nationals, who might have the wealthiest ownership in the sport, will do what they can to keep Harper. Other teams will be interested in talking with Harper if and when he reaches free agency (and almost all Scott Boras clients test the open market).
But any forecaster with any sense of the player and the franchise would tell you: It would be shocking if Harper isn’t wearing a Yankees uniform on Opening Day in 2019.
Notables
• On Wednesday’s podcast, Jerry Crasnick explained why Scott Boras is angry with the draft coverage and looked back at Chris Heston’s no-hitter; Derrick Goold explained how the St. Louis Cardinals will miss Matt Holliday.
Holliday explained Wednesday that his injury is not as serious as initially believed.
• Torii Hunter was ejected for arguing balls and strikes, and so was Paul Molitor; Hunter went all out in tossing stuff after he was tossed.
Frustration led to the Hunter meltdown, writes Jim Souhan. Hunter explained what happened with him. The Twins were swept.
• Scott Copeland stepped into the Toronto Blue Jays rotation and extended the Blue Jays’ winning streak to eight. The Jays are feeling good, writes John Lott.
• Joc Pederson robbed a homer.
• There is a lot of conversation in Philly and Boston about a couple of struggling stars, Chase Utley and David Ortiz. Big Papi was benched again against a left-hander for Wednesday’s game, which the Red Sox lost. Ortiz’s struggles raise old questions, writes Dan Shaughnessy.
Ortiz was asked if he’s washed up.
• Matt Harvey was hit hard by the San Francisco Giants. From Lee Singer of ESPN Stats & Info: What hurt Harvey most was that he missed his spots when he was ahead in the count.
"Check the counts they had when they hit the ball," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He was 0-2, 1-2, 0-2, and those balls are around the plate. With his stuff, you don't get hit that hard unless the ball's in the middle of the plate."
In pitcher’s counts (0-1, 0-2, 1-2, 2-2), Harvey threw 48 percent of his pitches in the middle of the plate vertically (think at the belt), the highest percentage of his career. He allowed six hits in those counts, tying his career high, including all three home runs.
In Harvey's first 11 starts, he gave up just three extra-base hits with his changeup. The Giants were 3-for-4 with two home runs against that pitch Wednesday.
The Mets are in deep trouble if Harvey can’t turn it around, writes John Harper.
Andrew Susac has been a teammate of Joe Panik dating back to their days in the minor leagues, and in conversation before Wednesday’s game, he mentioned that Panik has always had a knack for playing well when family members showed up to watch him.
In keeping with that tradition, Panik -- who grew up about an hour from Citi Field -- had another big night Wednesday, blasting a home run on an 0-2 pitch from Harvey. Power and patience were key for the Giants, writes Henry Schulman.
• Chris Sale and Paul Goldschmidt continue to be the two players who probably aren’t talked about enough -- although Goldschmidt is in danger of veering out of the underappreciated and underrated category.
The Arizona first baseman had another four-hit game Wednesday, and at his current pace, he would finish the season with these numbers.
Hits: 203
Walks: 132
Runs: 126
Home runs: 47
RBIs: 135
Extra-base hits: 88
Stolen bases: 25
• Andrew Miller landed on the Yankees’ disabled list. The Yankees’ greatest strength threatens to be their undoing. They will feel this loss, writes Bob Klapisch.
Ivan Nova says he’s ready to go.
Moves, deals and decisions
1. The Red Sox face a decision with Justin Masterson, writes Brian MacPherson.
2. The Royals have a decision to make about their backup catchers.
3. Scooter Gennett returned to the Milwaukee roster.
4. Jedd Gyorko was sent to the minors.
Dings and dents
1. Zack Cozart’s knee injury looked terrible.
2. Wil Myers could be activated Thursday.
3. A couple of other Reds are dinged up.
4. The Rays keep getting hammered with injuries: Desmond Jennings will miss at least eight more weeks.
5. Nelson Cruz rested his troublesome back.
6. Gregor Blanco went on the disabled list, and Hunter Pence is likely to follow.
7. Jarrod Parker will not be back anytime soon.
Wednesday’s games
1. Charlie Morton helped the Pirates avoid a sweep.
2. Yasiel Puig had a great night.
3. An Angels rookie made costly mental mistakes.
4. The Mets made mistakes on the bases.
5. Rick Porcello had another rough outing.
6. The Royals completed a sweep.
7. Carlos Martinez was outstanding again, as Derrick Goold writes.
8. Trevor Bauer had a rough outing.
9. The Cubs are returning home after a winning road trip.
10. The White Sox turned on the power.
11. The Braves’ bullpen saved the day.
12. The Marlins were swept.
13. The Rangers’ offense went off track.
14. For the Astros, the losing continues.
15. Kyle Seager helped the Mariners break out, writes Matt Pentz.
16. The Rockies missed a chance at a sweep.
17. Oakland walked it off.
NL East
• Maikel Franco extended his hitting streak.
• Williams Perez was outstanding.
NL Central
• David Price would be a great fit for the Cubs.
NL West
• Yasiel Puig continues to flip his bat, but no one seems to care in the same way, writes Zach Helfand.
• The Padres continue to have problems versus right-handed pitching.
• Robbie Ray is learning from the past.
AL East
• There is word that Matt Moore could rejoin the Rays’ rotation by June 26 -- within this Marc Topkin notebook.
AL West
• Jered Weaver had an up-and-down outing.
• An infielder is getting reps in the outfield for Houston.
• From ESPN Stats & Info: The Athletics recorded their first walk-off victory of 2015 on Wednesday when Josh Reddick hit a ground ball, Rangers second baseman Adam Rosales tried to relay it home to cut down Sam Fuld, but Fuld beat the play for a 5-4 win. It was the first time Oakland won a game on a fielder's choice since the Angels employed a five-man infield on May 16, 2011, but Kurt Suzuki still beat the play at the plate with the winning run.
Oakland's victory leaves four teams still without a walk-off win in 2015: Cleveland, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and the Yankees.
• Houston’s George Springer went 5-for-5 and didn’t score a run. From the Elias Sports Bureau: Only one other player in franchise history has had a five-hit game with zero runs and zero driven in: Geoff Blum, who went 5-for-7 in a 14-inning game against Milwaukee on April 19, 2003.
Springer had five of the Astros' seven hits in Wednesday's loss to the White Sox. It's the second time in Astros history that one player has had five or more hits and outhit the rest of the team combined. On May 12, 2000, against Cincinnati, outfielder Roger Cedeno went 5-for-6 (and stole three bases), while the rest of the team went 4-for-33 (and stole zero bases) in a 7-3, 11-inning loss.
According to Elias, it's the first time in baseball's modern era (1900) that any one batter had at least five hits, while the rest of his team combined for two hits or fewer.
Lastly
• More draft stuff:
1. The Pirates landed a lot of shortstops, as Bill Brink writes.
2. The Cardinals took chances on Day 3 of the draft.
3. The Indians dealt in bloodlines on the last day of the draft.
4. The Rangers took a bunch of large pitchers.
5. The Mariners loaded up on pitching.
6. The Dodgers took a bunch of pitching.
• A Braves minor leaguer was suspended for PEDs, as Nick Groke writes.
• The Rangers dedicated a pick to one of their scouts, who is dealing with tragedy.
And today will be better than yesterday.