St. Louis Cardinals: Time to face reality with Bryce Harper

That’s right, one more Bryce Harper piece. There have been plenty of rumors to come out of the Winter Meetings, and not many of them point towards Bryce Harper. As disappointing as it may be, it’s time for St. Louis Cardinals fans to move on and forget about Harper being a Cardinal.

Okay, I want St. Louis Cardinals to read this, and read it slow. Make sure you take it all in, because it’s a reality you need to face.

Are you ready? Okay, here we go.

BRYCE HARPER IS NOT GOING TO BE A ST. LOUIS CARDINAL! 

Have you got that?  I hope so, because there is no way it’s going to happen.  It doesn’t matter if should or not, it’s just not going to be. Andy Cohen, you and Nelly need to move on.

How do we know this?  It starts with what St. Louis Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak keeps telling the media. On Monday, during baseball’s winter meetings, he told the media, “Dex has a lot of pride. He certainly wants to come back and show what he’s capable of doing. Obviously, we’ve invested heavily in that, so we are very hopeful that will be the outcome.”

Okay, I know that statement is talking about Dexter Fowler, but you don’t need a Ph.D. in Classics to decipher ‘Mo speak’  and understand he’s talking about Fowler starting in right field in 2019.  Not Bryce Harper, but Dexter Fowler.

Dexter Fowler will be the starting in right field on opening day.

As unfortunate as the reality is, St. Louis Cardinals fans need to come to grips with this. It won’t be Bryce Harper running out to right on Opening Day, it will be Dexter Fowler.  The 32-year-old switch hitter isn’t going anywhere, unless he falls through some sort of Star Trek alternate universe time hole where he can be traded. In this universe, he will be a Cardinal to start 2019.

You see, the St. Louis Cardinals still owe Fowler $49.5 million of his five-year, $82.5 million dollar contract signed in December 2016.  They will not be able to unload on it on anyone, and they won’t DFA Fowler.  John Mozeliak has too much invested in Dexter Fowler and seems hellbent on making it work.

So get used to the idea of Fowler being in right field on Opening Day.  It is possible it could be Jose Martinez or Tyler O’Neill, but there’s no doubt that Dexter will be on the opening day roster. Bryce Harper too will be on someone’s opening day lineup in right field, just not the Cardinals.

It’s not Dexter’s fault…entirely

Many fans like to blame Dexter for this conundrum, but it’s not all his fault.  Even without being hung with Fowler’s contract, I don’t see the Cardinals spending $400 million on any one player.  Even a player like Bryce Harper, it’s just not their style.  They are not the New York Yankees, they are the St. Louis Cardinals.

Besides, what makes us think Harper wants to come to St. Louis.  I’ve never read anything or heard Bryce say anything to indicate he is interested in playing in Busch Stadium.  Yes, it’s a great baseball town, but does that mean anything to Harper?  It didn’t mean anything to Giancarlo Stanton, David Price, or Jason Heyward.

Yes, it meant something more to guys like Matt Holliday and Mark McGwire, but they are different cats than Bryce Harper. The soon-to-be-richer-than-you type of free agent may not dislike St. Louis, but also may just not as enamored about playing with the birds on the bat on his uniform. All this has nothing to do with Dexter.

In all seriousness..

The Cardinals have their big bat in Paul Goldschmidt and need focus on the bullpen.  They need a closer and help on the left-handed side of the pen.  By all accounts in the media, Mozeliak and company will focus on the bullpen, a backup for Yadier Molina, and possibly a left-handed bat for the bench.

It’s the right decision to move on from Harper, as there are other needs to be addressed. I believe they are not far away from being a true contender, so if the front office seriously addresses those needs, it could propel the Cardinals into the World Series.

So, it’s time, St. Louis Cardinals fans. Time to move on, and to let Bryce Harper go. He’s not going to be a St. Louis Cardinal, and wanting him that much more isn’t going to change that. Save yourself the pain and the trouble, and forget about Bryce Harper playing for St. Louis.