They can boo him. They can even hate him. But there's absolutely no way Washington Nationals fans can fault Bryce Harper.
Sportswriters instructed Nats fans not to show up to the stadium unless they plan to boo Harper. Metro TV personalities smashed a pinata with the six-time All-Star's photograph. Fans destroyed their No. 34 jerseys and showed up to the ballpark with signs that read "traitor." The mayor of Washington D.C. took to social media to compare a baseball player to Benedict Arnold.
And yet, on Monday it was revealed in The Washington Post that the Nationals didn't just offer Harper less money and fewer years than the Phillies. The structure of the 10-year, $300 million contract proposed in September would've deferred payment on $100 million – 33 percent of the total value – until 2052. Then, in January, the club followed up with an even worse deal: 12 years, $250 million that wouldn't be fully paid until the year 2072.
Harper would be 79 in 2072, assuming he lived that long.
There's loyalty and hometown discounts. Then there's situations that just don't make sense.
Now seems like a good time to point out the Nationals are owned by Ted Lerner, whose own net worth is estimated to be in the multi billions. The team has done pretty well for itself at the gate, finishing 11th in Major League Baseball in average attendance in 2018 despite some of the highest ticket prices in the game. And while the TV contract is in dispute, the organization will eventually claim hundreds of millions of dollars in right fees dating back to 2012.
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The money was there. Even without Harper, the Nationals have the seventh-largest payroll in baseball this season – never mind management's inability to construct a winning team with that checkbook.
Why is this coming back on the player?
It's one thing for fans to suggest a professional athlete should consider taking less money. It's quite another to argue the athlete should sign a contract where a sizable portion of the cash might be paid when he's living in a nursing home.
On some level, this is all reminiscent of when Jayson Werth pulled a reverse-Harper and left the Phillies to sign with the NL East rival Nationals in in 2011. The Phillies chose to allocate finances in such a way the club decided it would only retain Werth for below-market value, so he left. Fans weren't happy, and he was booed every time he came to town.
But Werth wasn't a generational talent. He was a cog, people ultimately understood he got a better deal, plus letting him go meant the Phillies could re-sign Cliff Lee, for example.
The Nationals let the face of baseball leave D.C. without a serious offer, and all they got was the money to sign Patrick Corbin.
Hey, it happens, and Nats fans should boo Harper for all 13 years in red pinstripes, the same as any Philly fan would in their shoes.
Just don't cry Harper is a traitor. He's in a Phils uniform because the Nationals screwed up, and the only place fingers need to be pointed is directly at the front office.
