Let the record show that if Bryce Harper never plays another game for the Washington Nationals, his last plate appearance resulted in a double off the Rockies' Chris Rusin, in Harper's 3,306th at-bat for the franchise that drafted him -- his 922nd hit and 385th extra-base hit. Hopefully, Harper set aside his jersey from that moment as a keepsake, for children and grandchildren.
Mark Lerner, the managing principal owner of the Nationals, acknowledged in an interview that Harper's time with the club might be over, and that the offer made to the slugger at season's end would stand as the team's best offer. To date, there has never been a counter from Harper's agent, Scott Boras, which is understandable, given the six-season wait that players must endure before reaching the open market of free agency.
It might be that the Philadelphia Phillies or the Chicago White Sox or some other team is prepared to blow past the offer made by the Nationals, and in that case, Harper probably is gone. Washington general manager Mike Rizzo has been going about the business of reshaping a contender under the assumption that Harper has departed.
But before anyone completely slams the door shut, it's worth remembering: Stuff happens. Negotiations take many twists and turns, and if there is one lasting tether between any organization and a particular agent right now, it's between Harper's representative, Scott Boras, and the Nationals.
Stuff happens.
For decades, owners tended to get heavily involved in the process of signing big-name free agents, shoving aside the executives they otherwise entrusted to the business of selecting players, and then negotiating. But as the spawn of Moneyball have multiplied across the baseball landscape and filled front offices, that tends to happen less and less. Boras used to have an island on which he could place high-priced free agents in Detroit, where Mike Ilitch doled out big contracts. But since Ilitch passed away, that hasn't happened.
But there have been times when about half of the Washington roster has been populated with Boras clients, including Harper, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon, and Jayson Werth before any of those others.
Two decades ago, Boras represented a high-profile outfielder prepared to go into free agency: Bernie Williams, who appeared poised to leave the team that had signed and developed him. Williams had a complicated relationship with the Yankees, because it had taken some time for him to evolve as a player, and owner George Steinbrenner was never very patient. Gene Michael, the general manager of the Yankees in most of Williams' early years with the team, liked to tell the story of how Steinbrenner, frustrated by the inconsistency of the quiet Williams, called and ordered him to take the best offers from all other teams for Williams and trade him.
Michael -- who, like current Yankees GM Brian Cashman, learned to artfully deflect the whims of his impetuous boss -- recalled that he called general managers with other teams and talked about everyone and everything other than Williams. Then he called Steinbrenner and reported that he had spoken to other clubs and hadn't received a single offer for Williams. Steinbrenner moved on.
But the question of Williams' preeminence as a player had been debated within the organization as he neared free agency in the fall of 1998, and Cashman presented an offer of $60 million over five years. Not enough in the eyes of Boras, who then shopped Williams around. The Diamondbacks talked about an offer that included a lot of deferred money in a $100 million package. The Reds presented a seven-year offer ... for a total of $7 million. But it was the Red Sox who stepped up big-time: Boston dangled $91 million over seven years.
Williams and Boras met with Steinbrenner in what was designed to be a final presentation, and Williams spoke of the doubts that he had sensed from within the Yankees organization -- but now the offers from other clubs, including the archrival Red Sox, had demonstrated how good he really was.
The meeting ended without any alteration in the Yankees' position, and Williams and Boras departed assuming this was it, that Williams' time with the Yankees was over and he was on his way to the Red Sox.
But then Boras' phone rang. It was Steinbrenner. And The Boss capitulated, increasing his offer by almost 50 percent in an instant, to $87.5 million. As Steinbrenner and Boras worked through the final details of the deal, Boras reflexively asked about an awards package, the very minor incentives attached to a lot of big contracts, and Steinbrenner, a little angry and a little humiliated, barked at Boras: There would be no incentive awards.
Williams played his whole career with the Yankees.
Maybe Bryce Harper will play for another team; at the moment, it seems probable that he'll land with the Phillies or some other club. But remember: Stuff happens.