Scott Boras says he has already talked with Phillies owner John Middleton and baseball operations president Dave Dombrowski about Bryce Harper’s place in Philadelphia long after the current contract ends. Harper is 33 and eight seasons into a 13-year, $330 million deal that runs through his age-38 season.
Boras said on this week’s episode of Phillies Extra that the club understands Harper wants more than a contract that simply expires when the deal is over. “In my discussions with John and Dave, they’re fully aware that Bryce has a legacy that he wants to fulfill in Philadelphia beyond the current contract,” Boras said. “And we’ve already had discussions about that as we go forward.”
The conversation matters now because the Phillies recently reworked Cristopher Sánchez’s deal by picking up two club options and adding two more seasons, a move that inevitably invited questions about whether Harper could someday receive a similar adjustment. Harper has repeatedly said he wants to play into his 40s, but his current contract does not include an opt-out, which limits how much leverage he has to push for a new arrangement without help from the team.
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That is the backdrop to Boras’ comments, even if the immediate subject of his appearance was not Harper alone. He also talked about Andrew Painter’s debut against the Nationals on Tuesday, and he said Harper remains a force at first base despite the wear that comes with a long season and a long career. “Bryce is a remarkable athlete,” Boras said. “And I think a lot of things about his game is that now, Bryce is defensively one of the top first basemen.”
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Boras also noted that Harper missed a month last year because of injury, a reminder that any discussion about the next phase of his Phillies tenure will have to account for health as much as reputation. For now, the important point is that Philadelphia has already opened the door to a bigger conversation about Harper’s future, and Boras says the talks have started before the current contract is even halfway done.
