The St. Louis Cardinals should offer Bryce Harper a one year contract

As Scott Boras said, Harper’s Bazaar is open for business. He has been the center of the free-agent market this offseason, and for good reason. It’s not every day that a 25-year-old perennial MVP candidate becomes a free agent. There is not a team in baseball that Bryce Harper would not make better, including the St. Louis Cardinals, but not many can afford him.

Scott Boras is out to break some records on Bryce Harper’s behalf, reportedly seeking 10 years and over $300 million. The record for total dollars on a contract belongs to Giancarlo Stanton, with his monumental 14 year, $325 million contract extension (that the St. Louis Cardinals were willing to take on). The contract that Harper is expected to draw is supposed to shatter those numbers in almost every way.

This is a contract only a select few teams can afford, and even then, these teams are not all “in” on Harper. Of the ten teams with the highest revenue of 2018, only one is dead set on Harper (Phillies) with two others on the brink (Giants and Dodgers). The Cardinals are also on the fringe of the market, ranking 11th in total revenue and 8th in highest total payroll.

With the small number of teams that can commit to both the dollars and the length of time right now, why not take a different approach? The scenario I am proposing will be one that opens more options in terms of destination, while giving Harper the elite earnings that he deserves.

I am suggesting a one-year megadeal. Teams would be talking in the realm of $40 million for just that one year, with Harper betting on himself to have an MVP caliber season.

This is a similar strategy to what LeBron James and Kevin Durant do in the NBA, which allows them to essentially control what team they play for. The beauty of the solution is this: if Harper has a mediocre year, he can do it all over again year after year until he has the long term offer that Scott Boras deems satisfactory.

Enter the St. Louis Cardinals. They spent $169 million on a third-place team in 2018. The payroll is projected to be even lower in 2019, at $116 million before arbitration numbers come back. A safe place to assume is $140 million for the 2019 season, right in the middle of the pack. The luxury tax threshold is set at a cool $206 million, which gives the Cards $66 million to play with.

Why not spend $40 million of that on Bryce Harper for one year, and try to sell him on the city and the baseball culture? A lineup containing Matt Carpenter, Paul Goldschmidt, and Bryce Harper is a force to be reckoned with. This lineup would also allow Harper to have protection in the lineup, which was sorely lacking in Washington last year.