High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - The High Hopes Phillies Podcast: Getting Closer to Harper Time

Episode Date: February 21, 2019

James Seltzer is back as the guys feel like Harper is getting closer and closer to becoming a Phillie. They get on their soapbox to talk about misconceptions they've heard about Harper, Jon Marks tries to dampen the mood and they talk about some Spring Training news and notes.  Subscribe, rate and review on iTunes!  See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Yo, it is another edition of the High Hopes Podcast. As we are back together. Jack Fritz and the guy he does the podcast with. Here to talk to you. Yep. Who are you? Who am I? Ah, you know.

Jackie Big Time. Let me start off this podcast with an apology. I made that podcast and HarperLennon about me. I didn't know how to handle the spotlight for the first time in my life. And I completely threw James under the national media bus. It is all on me. Welcome back, James. A one-week hiatus.

I feel a little hurt, but I'm okay. I'm moving forward. Well, I mean, as with everything that's podcast, it's the most loving podcast in podcast history. And I think we both know that it was not meant to be malicious. It was not intentional. I did enjoy people going after you for it, though. Yeah, well, you know, eventually people were going to turn on the kid.

It was only about time. And this was the start. This was the start of it. Would you say, kid? Yeah. Dude, honestly, so I felt like... I have a theory about that, too. I felt like I had to be the young guy in the room. Like, sup is like sup, basically. And he's just saying, suh, kid. It's not like he's saying, people are probably saying soon, kid.

People are probably saying suck it. No, it's very clearly suh. Suh, kid. You know, come on. Be cooler, Philly's Twitter. Like, what are we doing? What are we doing? So, Jays, let me ask you a question.

Yes. Let me ask you a question. What paragraph do you think Bryce is on in his Players Tribune article? I think he's on the fourth paragraph. I think he's starting to get it out there. So let's get into this. He's definitely typing it up, right? I mean, well, no.

Whoever works for him that is hired to write the article is typing it up. But yes, yes. You think he's talking about cheesesteak spots? Probably, yeah. You think he's talking about running the Rocky Steps? I've been a Pat and Gino's guy my whole life, even if I never lived there. I'm telling you one thing.

He's going to write about the Broad Street Bullies and that. He loves the Broad Street Bullies. Really? Yeah. He's talked about that in the past. All right. Yeah.

Remember last... I feel like no one talks about this. Remember last year? So they had an off day on Thursday and the Nationals were in town Friday and Bryce went to the ballpark on that Thursday by himself, pretty much,

and was in a box talking about the Broad Street Bullies and stuff. He hates Philadelphia, obviously. Well, how about that? Jim Salisbury, on the Midday Show today, says, quote unquote, I spoke to people very, very close to Bryce Harper. Not true. Shocking. Crazy.

Oh my god! I believed Andy Martino. All right, let's dive into this because it has been like the last two weeks it felt like look we've been you and i literally every podcast we do is talking about this when is bryce harper gonna say can i just say something to bryce sure bryce first off i could really use a beer um and second off i just want you to understand something about me and james is that first off, James already isn't sleeping well. He has a newborn daughter. It's not great, guys.

It's not great. I consistently look incredibly tired. People will come up to me, just people who don't even know me and be like, wow, you look tired. And I'm like, thanks. Do you want to ask if you're doing okay? Yeah, it's great. I feel like I always have to pick you up every time I come in here. Well, I'm just the guy you do the podcast with. Not in that way.

I'm not going to pick you up emotionally because you're so down. But I'm just saying that, do the podcast not in that way I'm gonna pick you up emotionally because you're so down but I'm just saying that like Bryce listen me and you like I wake up every morning and I don't I usually never roll out of bed I usually sleep and sleep and sleep the only reason I roll over in the morning is to check my phone just in case you sign 100% you are same thing you are completely messing with our sleep schedules. Messing with my life. Literally, if I'm at home, sometimes you have a daughter, you have to hold your daughter.

Believe it or not, yes. Crazy thought. Holding my daughter so I'll be away from my phone for 15 minutes, half an hour. Every freaking time I go to my phone expecting, knowing that he didn't, but expecting that that's the moment it finally happened. And then I get mad at myself.

I get mad at myself. I'm like, well, it's never going to happen. We're never going to have an emergency podcast. That is what Philadelphia Phillies Twitter would have you believe, that it's never going to happen. But, Jack, I do think that, and again, let's get into it, because again, a lot has happened. And it does feel at least, and obviously Machado signing, and we'll get into that, does make it feel like, all right, it's got to be coming. But outside of that, it does feel like things are starting to coalesce.

The more you hear, the more you're like, who the hell are these bidding against? Is there even another team with an offer on the table for Rice-Harbert? Because it feels like there's no one in the ballpark. What is your read over the last couple weeks? We've had a lot of stuff the last couple days. Matt B today saying they're confident they're gonna get him john marosi comes out yesterday with the they're gonna uh release the news three minutes before the machado presser and which is tomorrow folks so uh he was he was joking around joking but marosi he did say today he said they're heavy yeah he said he felt really confident in philly so where are you at right i

mean we've never changed this podcast has said uh not even this offseason, for like a year and a half since the podcast was incepted that Bryce Harper will be a Philly, nothing has changed for me. Where are you at? I mean, nothing has changed. I think we were the first ones that said, I'm not sure Machado is really their main target. Oh, yeah. And that turned out to be true.

So good call by us. Machado is really their main target. And that turned out to be true. So good call by us. But yeah, I'm literally just, everything now is just when and not if. And people melt down every day like, oh, the Padres, maybe they'll get both of them. And I'm like, can we just think for five seconds? First off, Manny Machado's going to trade off that team in what, three years? Do you think he makes it to the fourth year of that contract?

Here's the thing. Manny Machado's going to trade it off that team in, what, three years? Do you think he makes it to the fourth year of that contract? Here's the thing. I don't know if I trust the Padres to build it up the right way, but to everyone saying that, the Padres have the best farm system in baseball easily. They have no question about it, the best farm system in the sport. Which they do.

I don't disagree. So I can understand the idea of getting in on a guy like Machado who's young enough to build that future with. So I'm not going to say, I know that's been a big joke, I think he could actually stay there and they could be a decent team. I don't trust A.J. Preller to build it up yet, because all we've seen him do is try and build it up, fail, tear it down, and try and do it again.

And he's done a good job with the rebuild. Obviously, I know they have a great farm system. Regardless, the point is Manny Machado went somewhere where no one will care about him. No one cares about the Padres. I know. They could be the best team in baseball in five years and no one's going to care. So I guess it fits his personality. And look, I'm not going to kill the guy.

$300 million to go live in San Diego? Yeah, I'd do it. Sign me up. Sounds cool. We're not knocking him. But you cannot sit there and tell me that that guy, like, you think he's breaking down the farm system? No, I don't think anything. They gave him $300 million guaranteed.

It had nothing to do with his valuation of what they'd be in the future. That guy didn't care. That guy wanted money. And good for the Padres and good for their fans. I'm happy that they got him after the Chargers left. But you can't tell me that guy's like, oh, we're going to put pennant fever. I can't wait to win World Series

after World Series in San Diego. Yeah, that's not happening. Yeah. And let's get back to Bryce Harper for a second. They've only been to the World Series one time. Let's not forget this. One time. Going off of that. Going off of that. Bryce. Bryce. If you are as serious about your

seriousness to win, apparently, and if you are— Which is all you hear. Tom Verducci just wrote a big piece about how it's all he's ever cared about. Tom Verducci asked Bryce Harper, what is the most fun you've ever had playing baseball? And he said Team USA because they won. And if you care about putting up record numbers and putting up 600-plus home runs

and you care about being a first ballot Hall of Famer, Philadelphia is your best chance to do that. Enough with the, well, I don't know if he wants to play there, which I think is ridiculous. Enough with his speculation of the White Sox, which would be a horrible hitter's ballpark, the Giants, which would be a horrible hitter's ballpark, and they're not signing him anyway,

or the Padres, which is another horrible hitter's ballpark. We are the place right now that is going to give Bryce Harper the most money, the best chance to win, and the chance to put up records. We are everything. Everything is right there for him. I'm not sure if he wants to play in the spotlight thing. This guy lives in the spotlight. Since he was 16 years old, what are we talking about here?

He's going to come here with expectations to win a World Series, and I think he wants to deliver on that thing. I just think everything that has come out recently has really just not been the Bryce Harper we've grown to know a little bit. There's been no indication he doesn't like playing here. I mean, literally the last thing we ever heard about Bryce Harper talking about Philadelphia was when he said that Phillies fans are nicer than Braves and Mets fans.

Oh, man, must hate it here. Hates it. Like, it's just, everything that's come out recently is just nothing that coincides with what we know about Bryce Harper. You think he's going to the Giants? Do you really think he wants to play there? First of all, the Giants, top five worst team in baseball right now, and top five worst farm system.

I mean, that is, they are going to be a wasteland for five years minimum. And Bruce Boach is retiring. Yeah, exactly. The one reason you might want to go there is the Hall of Fame manager. He's retiring at the end of the year. And oh, by the way, they're not giving him a long-term contract. There is no chance.

Unless Bryce Harper gets offered $300 million for three years or something like that. There's no way that he is signing a short-term contract. It's just not happening. That's where you come down to this, is when you look at everything that's come out. There have only been five teams that have been connected to Bryce Harper through this whole thing. The Phillies, the Nationals, the White Sox, the Padres, the Giants. That's it. No other team has been mentioned. Unless there's some

team... Unless there's some team has the best, tightest front office in the history of sports, that it has not leaked at any point throughout this 112-day process or whatever it is. They have the greatest, like, they're Fort Knox, if that's the case. And that is so unlikely it's the case. None of these teams are getting Bryce Harper. The Nationals made it very clear he's not coming.

You might say. And look, I mean. I will say, though. I will say. I know the Nationals. But it's just that Ted Lerner is 92 years old, and he's not going to live around it. And I think that's the best argument,

is that the last minute he comes back in. But I think it's highly unlikely, especially when you look at the offer just came out, the $300 million they offered him. It was $100 million deferred money. That's like $250 million. That's not even close in real-day dollars. And if you're Bryce Harper,

if you're Bryce Harper, don't you kind of view that as a bit of a slap in the face like for the team that you grew up with absolutely you do they basically lowballed you and then the teammates are kicking you on the way out like i'm just saying that and and a step further they go sign patrick corbin like they will be in luxury tax hell for years and years and years and years if they sign Bryce Harper. Is Patrick Corbin our Cliff Lee signing? Well, how about this? Patrick Corbin looks like the biggest winner of this offseason. Patrick Corbin's contract to get it done when he got it done, to get what he got.

I mean, Dallas Keuchel, look, Patrick Corbin is younger and better than Dallas Keuchel, but Dallas Keuchel is going to get a two, three-year deal for $15, $20 million a year, best case. Patrick Corbin got $140 million. Patrick Corbin struck at the exact right time with the exact right team. That contract is not going to age well, and he's the winner of this offseason. Patrick Corbin is going to get paid

$35 million a year when he's 36 years old. That's what I'm talking about. I mean, it's insanity. So I really, I think it's unlikely, Washington. We mentioned the Giants, the Padres, as you said. I love how John Heyman's like, the Padres still might be willing to. Everybody who covers the team, Kevin Acey, like Dennis Lynn, like all these Padres reporters are like, yeah, they're not signed. They're out.

They're out on Harper. Let me ask you something. Do you think that Scott Boris owns John Heyman's phone and has his login? Oh, I don't even know if there is a John Heyman. I think it's just a Scott Boris burner account. So John Heyman may not be a real person. May not be a real person. We cannot confirm. It's a Scott Boris burner account. Well, Scott's got a lot of burner accounts anymore. T Boras' burner account. So John Heyman may not be a real person. May not be a real person. We cannot confirm.

It's a Scott Boras burner account. Well, Scott's got a lot of burner accounts. Andy Martino's a burner account. He's got his burner accounts out there. Andy Martino. How about Andy Martino putting out the whole, he doesn't want to be your thing, and then people dig and find the tweet where he put out a few days before Machado signs, word is Machado doesn't want to go to the Padres, doesn't like San Diego.

Whoa, really? He's officially that guy. That worked out. That's the official guy. I do have a theory, though, because I agree with you. And I think that we've, throughout this whole process, there are a few narratives that I hate. And I'm going to get into one later about the asinine idea that some people all of a sudden feel like Bryce Harper's not that good a player. We'll get into that.

Because that has been a narrative that has been driving me crazy. But I want to get to this one first. Sports Talk Radio. Yes. Scott Boris. First and foremost, when a player signs on with Scott Boris, Scott Boris says to them, you're going to let me do my job and you're going to stay in the background. That's the way I do things. And Scott Boris, clearly the best who has ever done it.

Bryce Harper has nothing to do with this stuff. Bryce Harper is not the one calling Andy Martino and saying, hey, bro, put this out for me. Or picking up his own John Heyman phone and tweeting out John Heyman. Like, Bryce Harper. And here's my theory. Back to the suck, kid, and all that. Okay. And the liking of Hoskins' tweet and all that.

I think that Harper has known it's the Phillies. I think they're working out the details. Boris is trying to push them up, whatever. And I think that is Harper's way of saying to fans, to the team, whatever, I'm psyched, guys. I want to be there. This isn't me. This process is going on.

Suck, kid. Let's go. I'm ready. This will be done soon. That's my little pet theory on it. It's a good one, right? I like it. Because I do believe that Harper, this is not Bryce Harper doing all this stuff.

No, I agree. And I think, I don't, I never bought the Hoskins and Hartberg and a troll Philadelphia. Why would Reese do that? He's here for a long time, no matter what. I mean, it's crazy talk. And he's the face of the team. Yes. And he's the face of the team.

And actually seems like a great guy, too. Yeah. I'm very excited. I agree with you. I think that's an interesting theory. And everything that is being put out right now, it's just all Boris. It's like blatant Boris. It's annoying.

I am not enjoying my Scott Boris experience. We've never been in this spot before. Well, J.D. Drew was the last one. Right. But that was a different situation because we frigging drafted the guy. And it was like, oh, not playing there. I'm so glad I wasn't alive for that. This is a different thing in the sense that we have not been a part of.

It was awful. I was there. It was terrible. I still hate J.D. Drew. To this day, I hate that guy just because of that. Senior year of college? To my point, we have not been a part of this going after a bit like J.D. Martinez for Boston last year.

I guarantee you Boston fans hate Scott Boras after that. This is an awful process. It is the worst. Speaking of J.D. Martinez, someone brought back up the old things around this time last year. When he was putting out, J.D. Martinez is fed up with the Red Sox, and he's looking to sign elsewhere.

Well, it is amazing if you go back and look at what Boris does year after year after year after year. It is very consistent. And yet, he always wins. And I do think, alright, interesting thought I had. I want to get your thoughts on this. Because I think that it seems that so far Matt Klintak and John Middleton have done a very good job of holding their ground in this situation.

Might have misread the Machado market. Might have just not wanted to be in the Machado market. I don't know. But with this Harper situation, it does seem like they're playing hardball they're playing it tough although i think today today the matt brain yes where he said hey they know public perception is a part of it and that's where you kind of my i think they might have blinked i think so too and that's where i'm going because like ultimately i'm almost okay with it in the sense that look you don't want to let scott boris win and you certainly don't want to let scott boris that, look, you don't want to let Scott Boris win, and you certainly don't want to let Scott Boris win big,

but you also don't want to piss Scott Boris off, right? And you also don't want to piss off Bryce. Yeah, well, that too. You don't want to be like— You want him to be happy coming here. You want him to be like, this team cheaped me out of what I deserved. Right, and that's where I think Arrieta—I think he came in last year like, I'm excited to be here.

You know what I mean? And he clearly was not. And Klintak kind of beat Boris in that one too. I know the contract doesn't look it, but when what Boris was looking for at the start of that offseason, that Jay Garriotta contract was nowhere near what he expected to get him. No, not at all. So, you know,

honestly, I can't get this out of my head. This is all I've been thinking about the last 24 hours, is that right now, doesn't it feel like the last poker scene in Rounders between Teddy KGB and Mike McDermott? Pay him. Yeah, that's what it looks like.

Pay that man his money. But that's exactly, I mean, it's the same exact thing. Hold on, I just got to bust out my Oreos. One sec. I know, but look at this gif. You go gif, I go jif. I say gif. But look at that.

He starts throwing it at Clint's ex-face. Throws a chip to Clint's ex-face because Clint's ex is going to win. But I think, listen, ultimately, this is the best thing for both sides. They're going to get the most money from the Phillies, and the Phillies need Bryce Harper the most. So can we just come together and say 10 years, 340, or something like that? Well, look, I think you can even go 10 years 346 or whatever and you get past the cranky AAV. Keep both

sides happy. The most ever and the highest AAV ever and it's done. And here's the thing. Here's the thing. With the new CBA coming, which is something's absolutely going to happen as we can see by this whole process, that baseball is not going to continue on the way it's been. Although Machado got 300 million. He did. But at the same time, there's

still a lot of really talented players out on the market and it's not even the whole, like, it's that this process, and it's been. Although Machado got $300 million. He did. But at the same time, there's still a lot of really talented players out on the market and it's not even the whole, like, it's this process, and it's not just free agency. There are a lot of issues that the Players Union has with baseball and baseball has with the Players Union beside the point. This contract will age well. This contract in five years,

Bryce Harper's not going to be the highest paid player in baseball anymore. And obviously Mike Trout will be at some point along there. But this contract, when you look at the numbers, again, Zach Greinke makes $34 million a year. Zach Greinke. And we're freaking out about giving Harper $35 million? I know. You know what I mean, though?

I feel like people get so flummoxed by the sticker price, by the, ho, ho, look at how many hundreds of millions of dollars that is, when in actuality, in baseball terms, and where the game is headed, it's the right price. Yeah, and in a couple years, I mean, what, Mookie's going to get 40. Mookie will get more. Trout will get more. I mean, who knows?

I don't think the whole— Lindor. And I love Nolan Arenado. As you know, I've had Nolan Arenado on my Keeper Fantasy League team since he was a rookie. I'm as big a Nolan Arenado fan as you're going to find. The whole Nolan Arenado was way better than Bryce Harper thing is crazy to me. Nolan Arenado is a great player.

And yes, the best defensive third baseman in baseball, very likely. Bryce Harper is a better bet. Bryce Harper is two years younger. Bryce Harper is also not playing his games. You look at the home road splits for Nolan Arenado. He's a 787 road OPS. He's a 787 road OPS. He's a 787 road OPS. He's got well over 1,000 home OPS.

I mean, this is a drastic thing. It matters. Bryce Harper is a better free agent. He is a better bet long-term than Nolan Aranato. And people make it out like, oh, just wait for Aranato and you can get him next year. The whole wait for everybody thing. The whole like, oh, just wait for Arenado and you can get him next year. The whole wait for everybody thing. The whole like, oh, just and look, you and I are the kings of the bring Mike Trout to Philadelphia bandwagon.

That is our thing. But the whole like, oh, don't sign Harper because you're going to get Trout in two years is also asinine. You can get both. It's a bad narrative. Yes. You're allowed to do that. And again, Mike Trout is a specific example that we both agree we think he wants to be here

and will someday be here. Well, did he see his thing this week? People don't know. What if he re-signs? What if he this? What if he that? There's so many things that could happen. And yes, you mean I'm an Eagles fan.

I'm a Phillies. Yeah. So I just think that there have been so many. What if he told his Roy Halladay story in that moment? Well, did you notice this, by the way? What? Guess how many players on Twitter that Bryce Harper follows. Follows one.

Just one. I know. They're best friends. I know. Listen, this may sound rash, and this may sound overreactive. Okay. I don't care about an Eagles Super Bowl. If Carson Wentz sucks the rest of his career, I don't care.

All I want in the rest of my life is a Trout Harper. I know I'm 24. I know I have a lot to live. It's the only thing I want for the rest of my sports life. Wow. It's a little rash. Mike Trout and Bryce Harper. I get where you're coming from.

I would take that over a Super Bowl. The Eagles. Another. No other sports team in this town could win for the next 60 years, except for the Phillies. Bring me Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. For as big of a Carson Wentz guy as I am, he could be RG3 for all I care. Oh, man. You love Carson, but what is going on here?

This is the only thing I care about. The thing that also cracked me up, I didn't realize how thick Mike Trout's Philly accent was. Oh, yeah. He sounds like a Philly dude. Yeah. It's like, I just saw you at Wawa. Yeah. Who are you? What's up, bro? It was like, oh, man. It's literally, feed me that. Feed me that. I need it

like I need oxygen. All right. Machado. We didn't really kind of get into the Machado signing itself. 10 years, $300 million. Looks like no deferred money, all guaranteed. Manny Machado did pretty well for himself here. I'm shocked he got the $300 million. Yeah, me too. I can't believe it. Great job by Dan Lozano. Do you have any misgivings or sadness?

Was there anything like, obviously we both wanted Harper, we said that, we would have taken Machado too, whatever. But when you saw the news, did it scare you at all? Did it make you feel better? Are you okay with it? Where do you come down the whole Machado signing? Well, I just wish Harper signed first, just to get it out of the way. And I think it gives him more leverage.

I really do. I think that you said this to me before, but I think that Boris would have preferred. The whole narrative in the offseason was, you don't want to be the one to sign first. Well, guess what? Manny Machado signed first. Bryce Harper's out there. He has the leverage. Yeah, and I think Klintak did a nice job toning that down,

the leverage a little bit with his walking away comment. Maybe a little clinical, but I got what he was saying. Look, I think that people are not ready for the way that Matt Klintak talks and Gabe Tabler talks and all these people talk in this city, that the new regime of Phillies baseball, they're more analytically inclined and they're going to talk that way. And I think it drives people away. Not us, but I think it drives people away.

I got it. I think this is what happened this offseason. I think the Phillies came into this offseason. I think Middleton, McPhail, Klintak got together. And I think McPhail and Klintak said to John Middleton, we think think my child is a better player and i think middleton said okay try to get him but i think they had a walking away point for manny machado and i think middleton loves bryce harper so much that he doesn't have a walking play yeah i don't know the whole like front office was split i could see look mcphail drafted machado i could see that there's some sort of

bias there but i also think that when you're a baseball organization and you're signing someone to this type of contract. No, but what I mean is that I think Middleton wasn't enthralled with Machado. Oh, I agree with that. And I think that he had a, he said, if you can get him for under this price, I'm not going over this price where he will go over and above and beyond for Bryce Harper. And I agree with the, he will go above and beyond. And I think part of it too is we both think Harper, the better player,

the better long-term bet, the higher ceiling. Well, better offensive player. It's a good way to put it. But still, I think the better long-term bet, the higher ceiling, all that. But, I mean, you can't discount, if you were the owner of a franchise, what that guy does for your team from a face-to-the-team perspective as well. That goes into it. Machado or Harper?

Harper, I'm talking about. My name is Machado and I know they said this and I don't know if I love the comment but they're worried about a signing guy at $300 million

and him coming in and getting booed on opening day. That's listening to us too much. Yeah, that's my point. I don't like that at all and Manny Machado would not have gotten booed

on opening day, let's be real. It would be a golf clap. No, I think it would be louder than that but at the same time what would happen is the first time

he didn't run out of ball everyone would freaking murder him. But I do think that Harper's the face of baseball right now, or one of the two faces of baseball, certainly the most famous player, and I think that that is something you do have to consider when weighing these two guys. From an organizational standpoint, as John Middleton.

And I think Middleton, the business guy, I think he sees the potential of adding Bryce Harper to this stadium, this fan base, getting them re-energized. The Phillies for a long time have seemed tone deaf in listening to the fans and getting what they want. And this is the first time where I'm like, listen, this fan base really wants Bryce Harper. I think Machado and Harper are kind of similar. At the end of the day, I don't think either one's super greater than the other. I think Machado's obviously an unbelievable defensive player and whatnot, but Harper's upside offensively

is crazy. It's a Hall of Fame caliber offensive piece. It's an inner circle Hall of Fame caliber piece. And I think Middleton, the businessman, looked at this and said, he's going to sell, he's going to hit a lot of home runs, and he's going to bring people to the ballpark. People go to watch Bryce Favre play baseball.

They like watching Machado play baseball. But he's a very like, I don't know, it's like, wow, great play by Machado. But I'm not shelling out $150 to go watch Manny Machado play baseball. Although I think all beat writers in this town would do that for Freddie Galvis to play defense. But we won't talk about that. I think I heard someone say he's the best defensive shortstop in baseball one one beat right andrelton simmons one beat writer told me they would take freddie galvis over andrelton simmons well he's not on the beat anymore so we don't talk about that but um and regardless has

clearly never watched andrelton simmons play a game i mean honestly when the machado thing came down i started freaking out not because i never thought they were not going to get Bryce Harper, but from the fact of, like, oh, my God. Like, all the pressure's on them now. Yeah. Like, they need to get this done because, like, this is the play that Boris is waiting for. And so, yeah, there was, of course, a minor freakout. I think, like, I've been confident this whole time, and I still, even when it was all going down,

I just trust John Middleton so much. Like, you don't make the comments of,'m gonna get that trophy uh trophy back or die trying and you don't say we're gonna be stupid about it like everyone's killed him for that comment and look if they don't get anybody rightfully so it's gonna it's gonna haunt him as a comment but I don't think he makes that comment and then doesn't pay Bryce Harper you know what I mean and I'll take it a step further too I don't think when I saw the Manny Machado news one of my first thoughts was no way the Phillies let that dude walk away if they don't feel incredibly confident they're signing Bryce Harper.

They had the opportunity to match, and they said no. Yep, exactly. And that's a big piece of it. Like, that matters. They said no to the guy that they reportedly wanted all offseason. That's why I think that the Phillies, that Middleton had a walking away point. Whereas I don't think there's a walking away point for Bryce Harper

because I think Middleton wants Harper that much. So what do you think it is? What's your guess? What's the contract when it comes out? Saw Buster Olney say there could be a four in it. Yeah, but the way he- I know. I don't think it's $400 million.

I'm just telling people what's out there. No, no. But the way he worded it was like, it was hilarious. He's like, one of Scott's people in the media. I know. Such a shot. He's like, one of Scott's little minions will put this out.

She just said when John Haven puts this out. I could see, realistically, realistically, I could see 10, 340 something, and then two opt-in years, or two opt-out years, then gets it to 400. Oh, I like that. That's a really good call. So 35 a year, 35. 12 for 400, essentially essentially is the sticker price. I agree with you.

I was thinking $10 for $350, but I love that call of the extra couple years. They could be discounted years, gets $400. Yeah, I think there could be opt-in years. I think that's a really strong call for how this could play out. That could be the $400 million he's looking for. Because it's one of those things where you've got to look at it and then you've got to wait for the details. Just because it says $12 for your $400 million doesn't mean it's really a 12 year 400 million. Oh and by the way if what happened with the Machado

stuff happened here. Oh where the team comes in. Oh can you imagine the Philly sign. Alright so let's say Jim Salisbury says hey guys the Philly sign Bryce Harper and then five minutes later Middleton's coming out or Klintak's coming out and being like hey guys we didn't sign him.

We're working on it. I would lose my mind. Then I would curl up in a ball in the side of the studio and just lay there in a fetal position. I know. We're 27 minutes into this podcast. What paragraph do you think Bryce Harper's on in his Players Tribune article?

If Bryce is writing it, it's probably taking a lot longer. If it's the guy who's ghostwriting it. Do you think he's telling the ghostwriter like, alright, mention the Rocky Steps, mention Gabe, mention how the thing, like, do you think that's where he's at right now? I really enjoyed meeting Jack Middleton. Yes. What a great guy. Change his name.

Can't wait to play for that guy. Now, this is going to be very important. I need you to answer this as honest as you possibly can. Well, I try to always be honest, but I will try to be extra honest now, Jack. Is he going to mention Harper Lent? I think he has to, right? I think at his press conference? What I figured, opening line, hey guys.

I'm only here. Harper Lent is over. Boom. Have some beers. Harper Lent is over. Have a beer on me, baby. Do you think that if I showed up to the press conference, he would recognize me? Jackie Big Time is back.

It only took 28 minutes since the beginning of the pod. Jackie Big Time is back. It only took 28 minutes since the beginning of the pod. Jackie Big Time is back. Can I just say something very serious? Just go and be like, hey, me and the guy I did the podcast with want to ask you a question, Bryce.

I have to tell you something that I don't think I've texted you yet. And this is just for us, me, you, and the High Ops listeners. Kayla Harper is aware of the videos. And there was no comment, but I know that she is made aware. They were forwarded to her from someone who we may know.

Who we may know. How about that? How about that? So embarrassing. Kayla's going to come here and be like, what the hell's wrong with you people? Do I get a restraining order? I think she's probably already got one. It's possible. Do I do have to do walk-in videos every week now? By the way, I don't know what I'm going to give up for Trout Lent. I can't even think of something big enough. I don't have anything. My daughter,

maybe? Trout Lent? Shout out to everyone for Ar arbor lamp by the way i mean we had some of the most creative awesome the uh like we had someone who said he was gonna stop taking care of his child that was real respect i feel bad for the mother please take care of the one who sent the video him where he's petting the dog and he's like i'm stopping to pet my dog dog like no that was i thought that was really funny we had some great stuff so yeah you guys are the best uh joe Washflick sent a video to Marks and Reese for the winner. And it was like him yelling about sweet tea and how he's not drinking until Bryce signs. It was all great. It was a lot of fun.

So we'll start working on Trout Letting now. Yes. Hopefully HarperLennon comes to an end someday, ever, at this point. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. I'm excited, though. I don't know. I think we've run out of words for the emergency podcast.

It might just be heavy breathing and yelling. Dude. Okay. So, again, back to the since the inception of this podcast, we've been waiting to do a Bryce Harper podcast. Since we started talking about the Phillies together over a year and a half ago, whatever it was, we have been talking about the Bryce Harper emergency podcast. When it finally comes, I don't even know what to say.

I know. Well, you know what it might be? A lot of yelling excitement. I think we should just do it now. Do you want to just do our soapbox thing about how, all right, 10-year contracts work when the guy's 26? Yes. Should we just like, all right, so let's just do this now, James.

All right, if you have a friend out there who is leery of Bryce Harper, and if you have a friend who's like, I don't know if he's that good, listen, I want you to cut this part of the podcast and send it to him. We're asking you to do a lot of work here. We always ask him to do a lot of work. Listen, if you want to be a listener to this podcast, you've got to put in some of the work.

You've got to hold your weight. Carry your weight here. Jeez. Listen, first narrative we would like to dispel. Yes. Tenure contracts work when the guy is 26 years old. If you mention the name Albert Pujols to me one more freaking time. I'm going to lose my mind.

He was 31. He was 31. He was five years older than Bryce Harper. What are we talking about here? And oh, by the way, the prime five years of a guy's life. So with you. 26. This is such a difference maker. And he's 26 all season.

He has never played a game in Major League Baseball at the age of 26 yet. He's that young. He's a school year older than Scott Kingery, who we're not even sure is good. Jack, I'm old enough to be his father. All right. Almost. Maybe. I don't know. We'll go with it.

We'll go with it. Okay. Let's dispel another miss. I mean, you are what? 37. Alright. Yeah, good. Let's dispel another miss. Oh, Bryce Harper is just not that good. Yes, he is! What are we talking about here? What are we talking about? Did you know he's one of the 12 highest home run totals of anyone through their age?

25 season? Guess what? nine of those other guys high level hall of famers and the other two are alex rodriguez and andrew jones bryce harper a guy this age again alex rodriguez is the only comparable guy no one else this age with this much baseball left in him who has been this good already and has the ceiling this guy has has ever been a free agent before and he is on the market now and he's going to be a bargain for what he is regardless but Bryce Harper is

such a good hitter and also the whole like oh well he hit 243 last year he was injured for the first half of the season and he was awesome after that like can we stop? Can we stop with the Bryce Harper isn't a good player? The funniest part about the batting average truthers is that they round down his numbers. Oh, it's great.

First off, he batted.249 last year. They also, yes. They say he's batted.240. They also love to say two out of the last three years he batted under.250 or whatever when saying, oh, why don't you go back the fourth year when he batted.330 and .319 in between. So he's batted.330 and.319 two of the last four years. Why don't you say that instead of saying, oh, why don't you go back the fourth year when he batted 330 and 319 in between? So he's batted 330 and 319 two of the last four years.

Why don't you say that instead of saying, oh, under 250 two of the last three years? Also, yeah, that was part of my soapbox, is that the one good year or whatever, the 2015 season was an outlier, and they bring up the frickin' he hasn't hit over 100 RBI or 30 home runs, only done that once in his career.

Do some freaking research and look up his year in 2017 where he batted 330 or whatever. Listen, the guy had 29 and 87 RBI. Like, are we kidding me? Oh, here, how about this? I got another thing for you as John Marks walks in the studio. Negative Nancy John Marks. Guess what? Guess what doesn't matter?

RBI. Meaningless stat. It's a useless stat. He missed 50 games. All right? Marks, you going to come in here and crap all over this? Jack and the other guy? What's up, guys?

That's how I opened the podcast. Jack and the other guy. Yeah, I mean, I... So you're out on... The most recent John Marks take is he's done with it. He doesn't even want Bryce Harper anymore. This is a podcast, so you don't have to do what he did over there. A slice of this is that I have a lot of frustration with what's going on here

because I know the best offer on the table right now is the Phillies. I know that there's nobody else out there that's going to offer a better contract, but Scott Boris continues to do what he's doing. Honest to God, the more I think about it, the less I want Bryce Harper. A guy like that that's only interested in the most years and the most money. We're talking about 162-game season. What baseball player who is a big-time free agent is not interested in the most money and the most years? But some guys also say, you know what?

I'm going to sign a contract extension with the team that I'm already playing with. It's not like the Nationals offered them chopped liver. It's not like a Le'Veon Bell situation where they were- It's like $100 million deferred. They offered like $240 million, essentially. $250 million. I had heard $284.

But besides that, yeah. Well, that was when it was originally some deferred money that came out. There was $100 million deferred. So it's essentially like $244 million of real value. I was paying attention to what Bob Nightingale said, which was probably wrong. So you said what Scott Boras said. I got you. Exactly.

Exactly. But here's where I am with Harper. Right now, the best offer on the table right now is the Phillies. And it's probably under $300 million, which Scott Boras will not take. He won't play the entire year if that's the case. But at some point, if you're going to do the 10-year $300 million contract, fine. Do the contract. But I'm not going up to're going to do the 10-year, $300 million contract, fine. Do the contract. But I'm not going up to $330 just because he wants us to.

I'm not going to go up to $330 if John has a radio show to do. All right, see you. See you, John. That's good anyway. We didn't need Marks in here. In the negative Nancy crap. I don't want Bryce Harbour. I don't even know what to say.

You really think that the Phillies haven't offered $10 to $300? Really? I know. Come on, John. Listen, there's a reason why I only came back once. We theoretically, because we love our listeners, should edit that out. But we're not going to. We're going to make that stand on its own.

Okay. So let's get back to the positives. They're not Looney Tunes. So the whole, like, he has over 100 RBI or 30 home runs or whatever. Like, he played 111 games. Do you really think that he played a full season or whatever? He doesn't get one more home run or 13 more RBIs? That's insanity.

And again, RBI, not a meaningless stat, but for the most part, it is a stat that is dependent upon other players. It is not a true representation of a player's skill or ability or whatever. I know they're always like, oh, well, you've got to drive runners in. Like, yeah, sure you've got to drive runners in. Guess what? Runners actually have to be on base for you to drive them in. Like, yeah, sure you've got to drive runners in. Guess what? Runners actually have to be on base for you to drive them in. And you know what he's going to do here?

It's a fact. With Andrew McCutcheon and Gene Segura and Reese Hoskins and JT RealMuto around him? Oh, man. He's going to drive runs in. Like, that's how it's going to work. That is how it's going to work. So let's all, like, relax there for five seconds. Another soapbox thing I want to get on is mentioning Bryce Harper's war last year.

Oh, I wanted to get on this, too. on the fielder part of this as well. Let me just tell you something here. Is that he was playing center field. Jack's a rookie at this. He was playing center field for a lot of the year. And he was also playing right field where he was trying to not get hurt as he's about to get the biggest contract in baseball history. And again, he was playing center field.

Like, what are we talking about here? Guess what? Bryce Harper's not that good at center field. It's like putting Nick Williams in center history. And again, he was playing center field. Like, what are we talking about here? Guess what? Bryce Harper's not that good a center fielder. It's like putting Nick Williams in center field. Exactly! He's a right fielder, and I think you should look at it. It's the fact that he was even able to be like, somewhat okay in center field is a positive for how good a fielder he is, because it's a freaking right

fielder. What are we talking about? People never mention that. People are like, oh, worst fielder in baseball last year. How was our left fielder? True. They don't mention that he was freaking playing another position for like 60 games. It's insane. I'm so tired of it.

It's just, and yes, you're right. It's not our beautiful, wonderful listeners. It's a lot of the people who call sports radio shows and all that stuff. Let's just be honest with the people. James and I are very frustrated with how people talk about Bryce Harper on the station.

Yes. And we are venting to you our personal soapboxes that none of you are on, but you can use this in your arguments against your friends. Yes.

That's what I like doing. I like providing information that you can argue with your friends about. It's very magnanimous of you. Thank you very much. Here's another one that I want to dispel.

Bryce Harper's never done anything in the playoffs. I hate that one too. First off, he had two homers in one game in a playoff game. Not that matters. Bryce Harper's never done anything in the playoffs. I hate that one, too. First off, who gives a... He had two homers in one game in a playoff game. Not that matter. It was a clinching game, but whatever. And, like, baseball is a...

Like, it's not an individual sport. He's played 19 games in the playoffs. So, too. Like, let's not, like, freak out. That's nothing. Also, also, also. If you think he sucks in the playoffs, what do you think about Mike Trout? Do you want to pay him?

Because he's played in three games. He's baded 087. Yeah. So let's calm down. And as a 21-year-old in 2014, does this sound good to you? He batted 294, the 360 WP, an OPS of 1250, and three home runs. Pretty good for a 21-year-old. Yeah, I'll take that.

And again, that point, I don't think you can underrate, overrate, whatever you want to say enough. The fact that he was 21 years old playing in the playoffs. Yeah. I mean, that doesn't happen. It doesn't happen very often. In the LDS last year against the Cubs, his biggest hummer in his life was off of Carl Edwards Jr. to tie the game up in the eighth inning of a, I don't know what game it was.

I like Carl Edwards Jr. too. He's great. It was the eighth inning. It tied the game up in a big moment. He came up big, and he had the dope bat flip. His numbers aren't great in the playoffs, but it's such a... Outside of Jeter, who only had so many opportunities

because he was in the playoffs all the time, it's baseball. Now it's how specialized it is. It's hard to make your mark in the playoffs all the time. It's baseball. Now it's how specialized it is. It's hard to make your mark in the playoffs. Who cares? That's just such a simpleton way to look at and evaluate a player. We're talking about an incredibly small sample size, 19 games. That is the first three weeks of a season.

Let's not get carried away with that. We're also talking about a guy who was playing in the playoffs in his early 20s. This guy's going to be better. He's going to get better. We have not seen the best Bryce Harper yet based on history and the way people age and what ages they have their best season. We haven't seen the best Bryce Harper yet. This was good. I'm driving myself.

I thought this was cathartic. It is literally. There's so many bad narratives out there. Literally. There's so many bad narratives out there. It's almost like all this time has just gotten people to find anything they can to freak out about or to get angry about. That's not what we do here, Jack. No.

And that's not what our awesome listeners do. And let's also factor in that he's played a lot of his career in Nationals Park, and he'll be coming here. He's already on pace to be in the Hall of Fame home run-wise, and he's played in a bad hitter's ballpark. And now he gets to come here. Like, let's just, instead of finding a reason to not like the guy, let's get super excited about the face of baseball. I don't get it. Like, I don't get, like, I know this process sucks.

And I understand how people are mad at Scott Boras or at the Bryce Harper camp or whatever you want to call it. I get it. I understand. Look, this sucks whatever you want to call it. I get it. I understand. Look, this sucks. We've talked about it. We hate this. We hate this waiting process, this whole thing. It is taking years off my life, it feels like.

But that doesn't mean that when this guy comes here, when this guy signs, that you shouldn't be over the moon that the Phillies just got one of the best players in the sport heading into the prime years of his career and oh by the way he's also the face of baseball get excited about it and also as Jack said before and if you read anything about Bryce Harper and actually not just like base it on you know BS things that you just guess or oh I've watched him play and he loafed a ball out or whatever it is everything you read about the guy is that he wants to win, that he's always wanted to win since he was a kid. That's the reason he went to JUCO. He left

high school at 16 so that he could get in the draft a year early just to start his clock, to start his career. This guy is driven. This guy is, his whole life... True. No, no, that's a part, but I'm saying this guy is driven. This is not someone who... You know, there's been a path for Bryce Harper his whole life since he was

a kid. There's been a path that he has followed and he's at the point now where he can maximize on that from a financial perspective, but he still wants to maximize on it from a career perspective, from a winning perspective. He talks about that stuff all the time. And James, I'm going to leave you with one thing. Can't wait.

Highest slugging percentage in Citizens Bank Park history. Oh, I saw this. This is great. Number one, Bryce Harper at 564. Is that good? And number two, Reese Hoskins at 562. Let's go. Go to bed at night and think about a real Muto, Harper, Hoskins, middle of the lineup and just be happy about it.

All right, Jack. Any general other thought i know we we just spent 42 minutes talking just price harper he hasn't even signed yet which is awesome because that's all i want to do and i think that's what people want to hear but any other quick uh philly's notes spring training beginning like things are starting to get going down there yeah it's crazy there's actually baseball going on uh we should talk about a doable looks like not a huge deal you worry a little bit about the hamstring, but not a huge deal, it seems. One second.

Let's talk about Keichel and Kimbrell, which Heyman came out last night. That's what we've expected. It was a not crappy tweet by John Heyman, which was surprising. Sure. Kind of not crappy. Yeah. So he came out last night and said that they're fully focused on Harper. And then said something like...

One of the two essentially. He implied that if either way whether they get Harper or not but that Dallas Keuchel or Craig Kimbrell could be in their sights and he implied that Keuchel probably higher on their list because they've already shored up the bullpen. Yeah and like they just don't

Craig Kimbrell's a Hall of Fame closer and he's good but like He's close to Hall of Fame I don't know if he's a Hall of Fame he's been the best closer in baseball whatever I mean Chapman was better a couple years

Edwin Diaz might have been better last year I don't know track record he's been around I'm not alright let me rephrase this

this discussion from a different point Wagner he's like Wagner I think Mariano Rivera should be the only closer in the Hall of Fame so that's

that's really where I'm coming from okay anyway he's a high level the Hall of Fame. So that's really where I'm coming from. Okay. Anyway. He's a high-level possible Hall of Fame closer. Terrific closer. He's on a Hall of Fame track probably. Probably.

Anyway. Let's not argue about this. We've gone too long already. He is. But here's the problem with Craig Kimbrell is that you're definitely paying for prior success. Oh, absolutely. He's 31. And he's a max effort guy. Fastball's declining.

His curveball, or his strikeout rate's gone down. His walk rate's gone up. Like, all bad signs. Was not good in the postseason last year. It just feels like he's starting to hit his wall. And giving him anything more than three years terrifies me.

I agree with that. I don't, I, listen, I'm good with Craig, I'm good with David Robertson and Serenity next year and Hector Neris. I'm fine with that. And I mean, Pazos and Nicasio. They've done a nice job of getting guys in here.

Jose Alvarez. Jose Alvarez, yeah. Nicasio is the one we haven't talked about enough. I like him as a pitcher. Yeah, his underlying stats were way better than his overall stats. But regardless, I think they've done a nice job at the pen. Keiko is an interesting one. You and I have really, really kind of done an about phase of 180 on Dallas Keiko.

We don't love him, but I think he makes so much sense right now for the situation they're in. They need another starter in our mind if they're really just going for it full on, which it seems they are. This is basically what we did with Arrieta last year. This is the same exact thing we did. So with Keiko,

he's just... I think they need him from the standpoint that he is, I don't really care about the lefty thing, but they seem to like a lefty. He's going to eat 200 plus innings

and he's going to be pretty good at it. Like, that's where he's at at this point in his career. He has postseason success. He's two years removed from a World Series ring.

He's three years removed from a Cy Young. He's had good seasons two out of the last three. Mixed in with bad season. You don't really worry about the velocity because he's been around the same. It's not like he's having massive VLO drops. He's not a VLO guy.

He just doesn't get by on VLO. He gets by on deception. And here's the thing is that the difference between him and Arrieta is that what we saw with Arrieta was a steep decline in strikeouts and ability to find the zone. And velocity, which matters more for a guy like Arrieta than for Keiko. And Keiko has been consistent. He's around the zone. And velocity, which matters more for a guy like Arrieta than for Keiko. And Keiko has been consistent. He's around the zone. He didn't lose his location.

He didn't start walking a lot of guys. He's just not unbelievable. He's fine. And I just have this vision that he can be their fourth starter after they go get another starter next year or whatever. Like if they go get a real number two. So you're talking Pavetta one, Nola two. Pavetta one, Nola two.

Got it, got it, got it. And then one more guy. I don't know where they're going to get him from, but that's where I'm at. So I just think he settles in nicely to the 4-5 in the rotation. If Dallas Keuchel is your fourth or fifth best starter, sign me up. I'm fine with that. He's not great, but I just think they need him at this point.

I don't trust Velasquez and Eflin going into a season. I agree. As much as I love Nick Pavetta, I'm not going to bank on him being unbelievable. We can all agree that Aaron Nola is the only Philly starter that we feel 100% confident in. And we love Nick Pavetta. We believe he's going to break out. But there's only one guy on this staff right now who I feel 100% confidence in. Wow.

Jake Arrieta pitched last year on a torn meniscus. Hey, you know, why not? I'll take it. I'll take some hope there. And that wouldn't make a major difference. I mean, for a pitcher, especially a guy like Arrieta, whose legs are so important in everything he does. I mean, sure.

He did have a 5 ERA after he hit it. He was much better in the first half. He legit was. The FIP was never as good as the ERA, but yes. But also, you know, yeah, he had some bad defensive teams around him, too. You can give him a break here and there. For sure. I think there him a break here and there.

Look, I think there's a solid chance that Jake Arrieta doesn't suck quite as much as he did last year. Hey, don't suck. Don't suck? We're not asking much. For $30 million, don't suck this year. It's a fair ask. $25 million? Don't suck.

Please. Please, for the love of God, Jake. All right, what else you got? Odds and ends. All right, I guess we talk about, so a doable, I guess he had the leg wrapped. He'll be fine. Although I was worried because I started thinking about, well, what if Adam Eaton gets hurt in spring training and the Nats go crazy? I was like, wait, why are you talking about Adam Eaton right now?

No, well, think about it. I mean, Aaron Boone went down. Yeah, but they're so stacked out there. They got Soto. They got Victor Robles coming up. Don't even need Bryce Harper. They really don't, actually, from a youth perspective. They should keep Rendon. Well, I agree. And look,

it's one or the other. They're not keeping both. And again, I don't think they're in on Harper. But go ahead. But I did get worried, like, well, Adubo goes down, but maybe someone else goes down and someone else jumps into the Harper sweepstakes, which is mildly concerning, but I don't think it's going to happen I do have a little birdies down in spring

training saying Nick Favetta looks sharp breakout and he's working on his breakout working on his change up so let's bring that home Nicky I could really use that do it for us or do it for Jack Fritz and the guy who does the podcast yeah yeah yeah it would be so good for the brand if you could

just be a breakout starter next year. That's where I'm at. I mean, anything else going on? I've been watching some live ABs. McCutcheon looks good. Haisley looks good. Like, Haisley, it looks like he kind of changed his approach a little bit. And the word I had yesterday was that he was squaring balls up.

So, Haisleyily a little breakout season hopefully ochar can unlock some power but from the video clip that i saw it looked like his load was way better i know it sounds weird but that's just the term um not load management no no not like not like our our favorite sons the sixers shout out to jason ochart our favorite all right i have one other thing we have not and i just think that we have not mentioned it enough in all the talk we've done about how this team has improved. I don't think we've talked enough about, and I just mentioned it with Arrieta, how

much better this team's going to be defensively to watch this season. I mean, Segura, McCutcheon, Harper and Wright, the addition of Real Muto behind the plate, I think that that has been the... Have we forgotten that JT Real Muto's ours? Dude, that's what I'm saying. Like, it's almost like you forget.

But I think that in all the changes they've made, we've talked a ton about how good this lineup is going to look, how offensively they're going to rake. This team is going to be so much better defensively. It's going to be a pleasure to watch. It's going to be... Really, that's the way I feel. I feel like...

Thank God. Thank God I don't have to talk about some freaking decision to throw to the wrong base or some muffed grounder or some whatever as much. I think that's something we haven't talked about enough. I just want to make sure we highlight it. They're going to be a much better defensive team this year. All right.

And let me just say this. I think we've kind of underrated how unbelievable Sir Anthony is going to be this year. I like that. The article in The Athletic today ran, and he basically ran out of gas. I don't blame him. You would expect it. It's not surprising at all. He was in single A to start the season.

What are we talking about? He was in single A. Single A. How many times have you heard of a guy jump from single A to the majors and just be awesome, period, much less pitch a whole season and be awesome? He was a double A for two weeks. I mean, come on. So Sir Anthony, now he knows his role.

He knows what he has to do. He's going to be the fireman. And when I think about Sir Anthony, 95 to 98 with cut, a hammer slider, and a changeup that he's developing. Hammer slider. He is a dream. Also, this year, Sir Anthony calling it right now. Calling it right now.

Edgar Garcia. They're talking. Remember last year around this time when they got to camp, everyone's whispering, watch out for the Sir Anthony guy. They're going to change him. That's how they're talking about Edgar Garcia. Matt Breen wrote about it. Yes. Some good knowledge out're talking about Edgar Garcia. Matt Breen wrote about it. Yes, some good knowledge out of you, Fritz.

The Athletic wrote about it. Edgar Garcia, for as good as Serenity Slider is, Edgar Garcia is better. But he doesn't have as good of a fastball. So that's the only difference. But he's going to be this year's Serenity. All right, our final thought is a dual final thought here. Write it. Write it. We're going to have some fun with this. We've gotim. All right. Our final thought is a dual final thought here. Write it. Write it.

We're going to have some fun with this. We've got to figure it out. We want to single-handedly bring back CBP South. Yes. We want to get down there. The write it thing was so fake tough guy. Write it. It was so cute by Max Scherzer.

Write the story, man. Yeah, Max. Oh, sure. You're going Max, huh? It was true. I had to open Scherzer. I mean, it would make sense. I mean, fighting in the dugout, all that type of stuff. Yeah. Scher Max. Oh, sure. You're going Max, huh? It was sure. I had to open Scherzer. Yeah, I mean, it would make sense. I mean, fighting in the dugout, all that type of stuff.

Yeah. Scherzer makes so much sense. Scherzer was fighting Strasburg last year. Yeah. I can see this. I think it was Scherzer. I love that guy. The dirty Scherzer.

The dirty Scherzer. So we're trying to figure out, we want to find a way to get a bus to CBP South and like- So first and foremost, let us know if you'd be interested in that. Like, hit us up on Twitter or whatever. So we even know to don't even put the, you know, start the train moving if it's not going to go anywhere type of thing. We'd take a train. Yeah, or a bus. Whatever we want to do here.

But we would love to do something like this if people would be interested. Head down to DC. Have a little fun with Bryce Harper's former team on Bryce Harper's new team. And the way I worded it to James when I called him and left the message was that I want Bryce Harper to know how much we love him. And I think if

we went down there and a bunch of Phillies fans were mocking the write it thing. And then Bryce hits a walk off on run. Yeah. Write it. So we're trying to figure that out. If you would like to go, just let us know.

I think it'd be a lot of fun. Add High Hope spot on Twitter. Yes, so write it. It would be hilarious and it would show Bryce how much we truly, truly love him. We really do. Bryce, we love you. Hopefully, look, hopefully tomorrow, hopefully Monday, hopefully Tuesday, one of these days. We might have back-to-back items. One of these days we will be emergency potting about you, Bryce, and we can't wait.

So before we do the Bryce Harvard Emergency Podcast, because I feel like we're going to do one before our next podcast, I'm going to work this in now. So I started doing my draft research. Oh, brother. Oh, brother. And I watched the whole 2018 Perfect Games showcase. Listen, man. There are just so many arms that I want the Phillies to get their hands on.

I wonder if IOP's listeners know that this is the jump the shark point in the podcast whenever Jack brings up draft prospects. It's like, all right, I'm out. I'm done. Thanks for the podcast, fellas. Let me just say something. Let me just say one thing. I'm just saying one thing, is that the Phillies have basically they've built their farm system of pitching

by finding hidden gems right like six of sanchez thirty five thousand dollars medina less than that uh drafting guys in like the ninth through twelfth rounds and drafting those kind of arms i'm just saying can you just take a guy with a freaking pitcher in the first draft a guy with a special pitcher in the first round like why why a guy with a special. Just draft a pitcher in the first round. Why is this such a hard thing to do? You're so good at developing pitchers. Take a Daniel Espino. Take a Matt Thompson. Take these legit arms.

I'll stop talking. All these guys that no one has ever heard of. I don't care. The people out there have to know about Daniel Espino and his 98 sitting fastball. And that right there is the reason he's the guy that I do the podcast with. All right, for Fritz, I'm Seltzer. All we want to do is talk to you. We'll talk to you tomorrow.

Yeah, exactly. All we want to do is talk to you before next Thursday, so hopefully it'll be soon. We'll talk to you tomorrow. See you guys. All-Star Closer, Kenley Jansen, we have a question. We'll be right back. Passion is a cause I started more than two years ago and is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is. Another fact. So jump aboard the BIB Express.

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