Washington Nationals: 3 Black Friday bargains they should consider

Letting Bryce Harper walk

Bryce Harper is currently the face of the franchise, and possibly even the face of baseball. After being featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a 16-year-old, he has gone on to become one of the most dynamic and exciting players in the league.

However, the Nats should not re-sign Harper when his contract expires after the 2018 season. It has been rumored that he is seeking to top Giancarlo Stanton‘s $325 million deal, and will sign for $400-500 million.

The deal will also likely be for about ten years, meaning Harper will make $40-50 million per season. While he is a generational talent and has undoubtedly helped the Nats, no player is worth that much money.

With the new luxury tax threshold, that would mean one player is getting paid nearly a quarter of the team’s payroll. No player, no matter how talented, is realistically worth this much.

Money is also fungible, which means that the same money that would be used to re-sign Harper can sign several solid free agents or re-sign other Nats. Whatever the Nats end up doing with the extra money, it would almost certainly be more productive than re-signing Harper.

Enormous contracts have also historically failed miserably. The Nats are a bad team to say this for, since Max Scherzer has been worth every penny of his $210 million contract, but they typically do not work out. Take Barry Zito, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, and Miguel Cabrera for example.

While Harper is a fantastic player, he is not worth the $400-500 million that he will demand in any contract discussions. If he is willing to sign for $350 million, he may be worth it. However, he is not likely to sign for that little. If the Nats give Harper what he reportedly wants, it could hinder them for years to come.