Bryce Harper wanting to play for the Cubs isn’t anything new. The first mention of his preference actually came back in 2017, but that storyline has really picked up this offseason. Harper is still unsigned and once again there’s a report that he’d prefer to sign with either the Cubs or Dodgers.
Unlike the Dodgers, who have now jumped back into the Harper pursuit, the Cubs remain on the outside looking in just twiddling their thumbs.
For what it’s worth, my source who is close to Bryce Harper tells me #Dodgers and #Cubs were 1st choices all along and he prefers not to sign with #Phillies. I’ve been hearing all winter that Harper does not want to play for Gabe Kapler due to analytics and quirky personality
— Randy Miller (@RandyJMiller) February 26, 2019
Randy Miller, a Yankees beat writer, isn’t the first to report this. The following was back from December.
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Source: Harper Would Like to Play for Cubs, Front Office Would Need to Move Money First https://t.co/gWM44ZDMFJ #Cubs Insider
— Cubs Insider (@realcubsinsider) December 11, 2018
Again, this concept isn’t new. Bryce Harper wants to be in the spotlight. He wants to be on a winner after falling short year after year with the Nationals. The Cubs, who have the most wins in MLB since the start of 2015, give him that opportunity.
.@MLBBruceLevine on what he believes Bryce Harper desires in picking his next team: "Harper wants to be the big fish in the big city. He wants to play for a team that has a chance to win a championship."https://t.co/6pC174BHJJ
— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) December 11, 2018
We’ve known about Harper’s interest in playing for the Cubs since the middle of the 2017 season.
Bryce Harper wanting to play for the Cubs isn't anything new. Peter Gammons said it back in June 2017.pic.twitter.com/ZoN53s4lax
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) February 27, 2019
That following offseason the Cubs signed Yu Darvish to a six-year, $126 million deal. Did Theo Epstein sign Darvish, knowing it automatically took them out of the running for Harper this offseason? Here’s what he said after the Darvish deal was official in 2018.
“[The plan for next year] remains to be seen, but look, I think anytime you sign a multi-year contract, you’re taking away a little bit of flexibility in the future in exchange for talent now and in the future,” Epstein explained. “That’s not just the case with Darvish, but with the other investments we made.
“We would never put ourselves in a position to be completely inflexible going forward, but yes, when you commit $126 million to someone it does take a way a little bit from future flexibility.”
“We have some work to do to make sure we’re in a position to pounce if a certain great fit or just the right special player happens to become available. Or somebody wants to be in Chicago and something becomes too good to turn down, it’s just too impactful, or too good a deal (and) would mean too much to the team, we just need to be in a position to do that.”
So, Epstein does admit that there would be some work to be done to get into a position to pursuit another big free agent. However, he also says that while the Darvish deal, along with other big contracts, does take away a little flexibility, Epstein also said, “we would never put ourselves in a position to be completely inflexible going forward.”
Bottom line, Bryce Harper wants to sign with the Cubs and even though the front office hasn’t been able to shed any of their bad contracts this offseason Tom Ricketts has the money to sign him and signing him makes the Cubs better.
Everyone knows the money is there. The willingness to spend it and increase the chances of winning more World Series titles isn’t there from Ricketts.
Bryant on ‘small-market’ Padres mega-signing of Machado; Rox megadeal with Arenado: “Everybody has money. We’re not stupid. We see the prices of the tickets, the price of memorabilia, everything – TV deals. There’s a lot of money in this game.”
— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) February 27, 2019
Bryce Harper, the top free agent of this class, wants to be with the Cubs, but too bad because Tom Ricketts is out of money.
Cubs owner Tom Ricketts on why the Cubs didn't spend more money this offseason on the free-agent market: "Pretty easy. We don’t have any more.''
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 18, 2019
