Harper figures to draw significant interest from big-market teams like the Yankees, Dodgers and PhilliesGETTY IMAGES
Bryce Harper's free agency is baseball's biggest story as the MLB Winter Meetings begin today in Las Vegas, and Harper has "already met with a handful of teams" since the offseason began, according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY. Some team execs, like a White Sox contingent, "flew into Las Vegas three weeks ago" to meet with Harper, while others, like the Dodgers, met him in L.A. a month ago. Harper's agent Scott Boras gave teams a 118-page handbook, telling them everything they "want to know about Harper and more." Boras said, “My goal in this thing is to let teams know what they’re getting, that’s why we brought in the LeBron comparisons." Nightengale notes teams that meet with Harper are "provided a room number and time to meet in a Las Vegas hotel suite," where no one is "ever seen together." Harper and his wife, Kayla, "arrive to the suite first." The team "shows up next with its front office contingent, sometimes including" the owner. The team "presents its sales pitch for the first two hours, most times accompanied by video." It is Harper and his wife’s turn next to "ask questions." Then, it is Boras’ turn to "do the talking, staying as late as the team desires" (USA TODAY, 12/10). In Philadelphia, Matt Breen writes the Winter Meetings "will belong" to Harper and Manny Machado, and the Phillies "will be in the thick of it." The market "seems to be lining up for the Phillies, who are waiting to dip into" the $5B TV contract they "signed four years ago with Comcast." The Phillies' "stiffest competition" for Harper and Machado "will come from teams that play in the two biggest markets" in the Yankees and Dodgers (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 12/10).
BEST OF THE REST: In L.A., Andy McCullough writes for the majority of free agents, the "once-expected market of riches is not expected to materialize." The "expectation is only Harper and Machado" are "guaranteed to cash in." The "rest of the labor force is not expected to be so lucky" as it is the "middle class of players who are being squeezed under the current alignment." The "prestige of this year’s free-agent class faded for reasons both understandable and unforeseen." The philosophies of front offices have "mutated from extravagance to austerity" (L.A. TIMES, 12/10). In San Diego, Jeff Sanders notes team owners "have already committed" more than $300M to this year’s free agents (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 12/10). THE ATHLETIC's Ken Rosenthal wrote it is "not just Bryce Harper vs. Manny Machado in the Battle for Biggest Baseball Contract Ever." It is also "Scott Boras vs. Dan Lozano in the latest installment of Agent Wars, a rarely discussed subtext in every offseason." The two agents "have a history," including Boras representing Machado before he "switched to Loranzo" in '11 (THEATHLETIC.com, 12/9).
SENSITIVE LOCATION: In Chicago, Wittenmyer & Schouwen note the Winter Meetings -- baseball's "largest off-the-field event of the year, its industry-wide convention and trade show" -- are taking place at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, where the Las Vegas mass shooting took place. The sites for baseball’s winter meetings are "chosen years in advance, with a commitment made in this case long before the massacre." In the "aftermath of the shooting baseball officials sensitive to having the meetings on the site so relatively soon after the shooting sent an MLB delegation to meet with hotel execs to discuss concerns, receiving assurances about such things as security." Security in general "has been increased at the property, including a change in programming electronic room keys that now allow elevator access only to a guest’s specific floor." The floor where the shooter was located "has reopened, but the wing where room No. 32-135 is remains closed" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 12/10).
