The Philadelphia Phillies' offseason has so far been dominated by two names. Third baseman Alec Bohm is rumored to be on the trade block, rumors that seem to be true since the team hasn’t said anything to the contrary. The other name, Juan Soto, has dominated not just the Phillies' offseason but all of Major League Baseball.
The bidding for Soto is now over $600 million (subscription required), according to Ken Rosenthal and Even Drellich of The Athletic. Per The Athletic's Matt Gelb, the Phillies never met with Soto. They never even made an offer.
While some Phillies fans were likely hoping that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and his front office were operating under a ninja-like veil of secrecy, that doesn't appear to be the case.
One connection that previously linked the Phillies to Soto and gave us a glimmer of hope is his ties to former Washington Nationals who now play in Philadelphia. This includes hitting coach Kevin Long, shortstop Trea Turner, designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and, of course, first baseman Bryce Harper.
Was Bryce Harper a help or hindrance in Phillies' approach to Juan Soto?
Those relationships would appear to have given the Phillies an edge where they otherwise might not have one over the presumed favorites in the Soto sweepstakes. However, the thought that Harper might actually be a hindrance to the Phillies making an offer to and signing Soto was raised recently.
Harper is always a proponent of bringing in more star power, as we saw last winter in the Yoshinobu Yamamoto chase. However, he and Soto share the same agent, Scott Boras. As we know, Boras has been public in his desire for an extension for the Phillies superstar dating back a year now. Did this postering by Harper and Boras sabotage the Phillies front office's efforts?
As Todd Zolecki, Jim Salisbury and Ruben Amaro Jr. discussed on a recent episode of The Phillies Show podcast, Harper’s wish for an extension that would raise his annual salary might be a deterrent for the Phillies to make an outrageous offer to Soto.
Even if the Phillies weren’t willing to go that high with an offer, anything in Soto's range might have put them in a tight spot when it comes to dealing with Boras and Harper.
"Do you make a big offer to somebody when you probably know it might come up short?" Salisbury pondered. "How does that affect how another Boras client kind of looks at things, when he might be starting to feel a little bit underpaid?"
Zolecki and former Phillies general manager Amaro Jr. agreed that it's a complicated tightrope to walk.
"It's very complicated," Zolecki said. "I mean, say they throw out $500 million, Bryce Harper is gonna sit there and go, 'This guy's worth $170 million more than me? So you have the money, you offered it, how about throwing a little my way?'"
Any offer the Phillies would have made would go straight to Boras and likely be used as leverage for Harper.
Harper, signed through 2031, is currently making $25.38 million AAV, now six seasons into his 13-year, $330 million deal. He's not even the highest-paid player on the Phillies. Next year Zack Wheeler will have that honor, reeling in $42 million, with Harper second at $27.53 million.
We already know Boras is like a dog with a bone when it comes to getting his clients the most money possible. It's unlikely he'll rest in trying to get Harper his extension, even without the Phillies throwing hundreds of millions of dollars out in an offer to Soto.