Is Philadelphia Phillies superstar Bryce Harper unhappy with his $330 million contract? One MLB insider believes so.
New York Post MLB reporter Joel Sherman said on the “Pinstripe Post” podcast that he thinks Harper, who signed his 13-year deal ahead of the 2019 season, is “angry” with his current contract.
“I think that this is a player that is angry about the contract he’s currently operating under,” said Sherman. “And therefore, if you trade for him, are you going to be dealing with, ‘Hey, man, you gotta redo this contract along the whole way.’”
Harper is coming off a down 2025 season. He missed 30 games due to a right wrist injury and finished the year with 27 home runs, an .844 OPS, 129 OPS+, 3.2 bWAR and is a Gold Glove finalist at first base. In the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he went 3-for-15 with a .600 OPS and no home runs.
During Dave Dombrowski’s end-of-year press conference after the Phillies were eliminated in the NLDS by the Dodgers, the president of baseball operations questioned if Harper will be an elite player again. Sherman believed Dombrowski was sending a message to Harper.
“I continue to wonder if the meaning is the player is unhappy with his contract and this was a kind of side glance back at, ‘I can take some shots here, too,’” said Sherman.
Sherman added he wouldn’t be surprised if the Phillies traded Harper this offseason, despite him having a no-trade clause.
“Would I be 100 percent shocked if Bryce Harper got traded this offseason? No,” said Sherman.
Harper has the 10th-highest contract in baseball but is 31st in annual average value. His deal goes through 2031 when he’s 39, but he’s already had contract extension talks to play into his 40s.
During his seven seasons in Philadelphia, the 33-year-old Harper has slashed .281/.386/.526 with a 145 OPS+, 179 home runs, 26.4 bWAR and took home the 2021 National League MVP award and was named the 2022 NLCS MVP.
Matt Higgins worked in national and local news for 15 years. He started out as an overnight production assistant … More about Matt Higgins