Heading into the 2018-19 offseason, Phillies owner John Middleton confirmed what everyone had been speculating: His team was ready to spend "and maybe even be a little bit stupid about it." The Phillies have already met with prized free agent slugger Manny Machado face-to-face at Citizens Bank Park and are awaiting his decision, and on Monday we learned from USA Today's Bob Nightengale that the Phillies have a face-to-face meeting with superstar free-agent slugger Bryce Harper this Saturday in Harper's hometown of Las Vegas.
Here's more from Nightengale:
The Philadelphia Phillies front office – including owner John Middleton – is flying to Las Vegas on Saturday to meet with prized free agent Bryce Harper and his agent, Scott Boras, in their first face-to-face talks, a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations told USA TODAY Sports.
Last month, Phillies officials met with Harper's agent, Scott Boras, at the winter meetings in Las Vegas.
Harper's market has been pretty foggy this offseason, even more so when the Nationals came back in the picture with a reportedly larger offer than their first of $300 million. But, it seems to be taking better shape now as we wrap up the first week of the calendar year. The Phillies are now the fourth team that Harper has spoken with directly; the others being the Nationals, White Sox and Dodgers.
It's notable that Middleton will be making the trip to Vegas because Boras bypassing general managers to get deals done with owners isn't something new. He managed deals for big-name clients like Prince Fielder and Max Scherzer the same way.
The Phillies have been linked to both Harper and Machado this offseason and already splashed some cash this winter with big signings totaling $73 million, for outfielder Andrew McCutchen and relief pitcher David Robertson.
