Chicago Cubs: Reasons to believe the Cubs will land Bryce Harper

Fear not, Chicago Cubs faithful. There is still cause for optimism when it comes to the team’s very quiet, maybe imaginary pursuit of free agent Bryce Harper.

After years of Bryce Harper subversively suggesting that he might sign with the Chicago Cubs, he is a free agent at long last. Except things aren’t playing out as planned. Instead of readying the number 34 jerseys with ‘HARPER’ across the back, rumors are suggesting a very different idea.

That idea? The Cubs lack the financial assets to land the highly coveted outfielder.

But as the offseason has progressed there have been some signs that the stars might align for Harper to call Wrigley Field home – at least to some degree – moving forward.

Despite what might be a smaller payroll than was once expected for 2019, “the Ricketts family (owners of the Chicago Cubs) has signed off on the possibility of a big expenditure for a star like Harper,” according to Bruce Levine.

That could be gigantic. That could mean the front office was told going into this offseason that they have to keep player salaries below X amount. Then, the front office told the Ricketts family that X means that they won’t be able to sign Harper. The Ricketts family might have come back and then said, you can go over X specifically to get Harper.

Chicago Cubs: New York Yankees definitely don’t need Harper

Before the Yankees traded for Giancarlo Stanton last off season, I think  many pundits thought that the Yankees would make a serious run at Harper this off season. But now the Yankees are going out of their way to say that they aren’t interested in Harper.

Perhaps the Yankees don’t want to commit to one of Harper, Stanton or Aaron Judge being the DH while the other two are the corner outfielders. There has been some talk of Harper playing first base, but again the Yankees are quick to squash that rumor too.

Asked about Bryce Harper, Brian Cashman rattled off the names of his six outfielders and said there’s no spot. Reiterated that playing Harper at first base isn’t an option for the Yankees.

If the Yankees are going to pursue one of the mega free agents this off season, a lot of experts think it is going to be Manny Machado. Machado fills a need in the New York infield and could potentially bring a similar level of star power to the Bronx.

Chicago Cubs: Would Harper actually go back to the Washington Nationals?

The Washington Nationals didn’t trade away Haper at the trade deadline to keep alive their chances of re-signing Harper. However, Harper rejected a ten year $300 million dollar offer to stay in Washington D.C.

Then the Nationals signed starting pitcher Patrick Corbin to a six-year, $140 million dollar deal. Since then the Nationals owner Mark Lerner has said, “don’t expect him to come back.” These comments come even as the Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo is trying to keep hope alive.

Somehow bringing back the face of the franchise would be an understandably monumental move for the Nats, who lack that type of star power – at least in terms of position players. Anthony Rendon is nice, but far from that caliber of marketing asset – and the team’s young studs haven’t quite captured the game like their Braves counterparts.

Chicago Cubs: Do the Phillies or White Sox have a chance?

Coming into this offseason, the Phillies were the team with gigantic piles of cash. Their owner said that they might spend stupid amounts of money. Yet that’s yet to happen. I’m sorry, but what they’ve done isn’t stupid.

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The Phillies did just sign Andrew McCutchen to a three-year, $50 million pact and made some moves, bringing in Jean Segura from Seattle. They also appear to favor signing Machado over Harper. There has even been some rumblings that Harper might not love the city of Philadelphia nor their notorious fanbase.

South Siders ready to make some noise

Harper’s name was seen on a display at the United Center, which sent some White Sox fans hearts soaring. Jerry Reinsdorf owns both the Chicago Bulls, who play in the United Center, and the White Sox.

There has been some evidence that the White Sox may make some moves this off season to try and compete in the AL Central this year. Last year the Indians won the division easily. This offseason the Indians are subtracting from their playoff roster.

The White Sox want, “a seat at the table,” for large impactful moves However, the White Sox aren’t looking like a serious contender for Harper. They appear to have more of an eye on Machado with some creative moves of their own.

Chicago Cubs: Brewers, Red Sox, Cardinals, Astros, Giants, Braves, Mets, etc.

Of course there are many more teams in Major League Baseball than just the ones listed above, but lets face it. The Marlins and many other teams are not serious contenders for Harper. Several teams such as the Brewers barely have enough money to put together a playoff team without paying one player over $30 million dollars a year.

After just winning the World Series this year, the Red Sox either don’t have room in their outfield for Harper or they are trying to trim their payroll by trading away some of those outfielders. Either way, the Red Sox just aren’t coming up as a team that is trying to get Harper.

The Cardinals already got their big bat in the Paul Goldschmidt trade. Since then they may be motivated to add more to their roster, but the Cardinals seem to be headed in different directions rather than signing Harper.

Other potential landing spots such as the Astros, Giants, Braves, Mets and Angels just don’t have much momentum in the way for signing Harper.

Just as there are times when a player falls in the draft, so that an unexpected team can draft a player that they thought might be off the board by the time that they got to their pick. There is a chance that Harper might, ‘fall’ to the Cubs in free agency.

I admit that this might be a reach. I’m looking at all of these bits of information through the lens of a Cubs fan who is hoping that Harper will end up on the North Side. And a lot of things could still happen this winter. But if you want to wish the Cubs get Harper for Christmas here are some reasons to believe in that Christmas miracle.