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St. Louis Cardinals: Which team should fans want Harper to sign with?

By Matt Graves

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 01: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals looks on against the New York Mets during the eighth inning at Nationals Park on August 01, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 01: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals looks on against the New York Mets during the eighth inning at Nationals Park on August 01, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 30: The Phillie Phanatic entertains with the help of a young fan during a game against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park on September 30, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Braves 3-1. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 30: The Phillie Phanatic entertains with the help of a young fan during a game against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park on September 30, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Braves 3-1. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

After a disappointing year in 2018, the Phillies are desperate to improve their team. What would they look like with Bryce Harper?

The Phillies owner, John S. Middleton, started the offseason by stating that they were going to spend “crazy money.” They then went out and added Andrew McCutchen (3 years/$50M) and Jean Segura (trade) and are apparently not done yet. After coming off a year where they had young players like Scott Kingery, Aaron Nola and Odubel Herrera continue to step forward and mature, they still finished two games below .500 and third in the NL East.

It came out earlier in the offseason that Philly was the last team on the wish list of both Harper and Machado, which selfishly made me happy for some reason, but everyone has a price. The Phillies have even been reported to want both Machado and Harper. However, the Phillies top brass recently traveled to Las Vegas (Harper’s home) and met with him in a reported “five hour meeting” and emerged as favorites for the slugger.

Whatever the Phillies told Harper in that meeting reportedly worked. These reports very well may be worthless, but it’s the best we have right now.

If the Phillies land Harper, their lineup could look a couple different ways, but here is a loose idea:

  1. Odubel Herrera, CF
  2. Jean Segura, SS
  3. Rhys Hoskins, 1B
  4. Bryce Harper, RF
  5. Andrew McCutchen, LF
  6. Maikel Franco, 3B
  7. Cesar Hernandez, 2B
  8. Jorge Alfaro, C

That lineup definitely looks more formidable than what the Phillies offered in 2018 with the addition of Segura, Harper and McCutchen. The St. Louis Cardinals will play the Phillies six times in 2019. In 2018, the Cardinals went 3-4 against the Phillies and I would argue they would have trouble doing better against the Phillies in 2019, even with their own additions.

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