Remember last year when the talk about the Cubs signing Bryce Harper first popped up and was immediately met with a, “that’s crazy, you’re stupid,” response? Well, let’s see what the odds makers over at Bovada think about the Cubs’ chances to do just that this offseason.
Updated odds for which team Bryce Harper will be on for the first game of 2019 (@BovadaOfficial):
Cubs EVEN
LAD +500
PHI +550
NYY +600
WSH +700
BOS +1100
LAA +1200
SF +1600— OddsShark (@OddsShark) October 4, 2018
That’s right, the Cubs are not only favored to sign Harper in free agency, but it’s at even money right now, way ahead of the Dodgers at 5:1.
Several players were put on notice during Theo Epstein’s 70-minute press conference on Wednesday and although no one was directly called out it was pretty easy to know that Theo was talking about some of the young guys on the team that will be re-evaluated during the offseason.
That group is basically the trio of outfielders in Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora Jr. and Ian Happ. As Theo said, it’s time to look beyond the talent and start evaluating players on the results.
So, if the Cubs are getting prepared to trade a few of their young players, who happen to be outfielders, that would leave a spot open for Bryce Harper.
Speaking of Harper, it sure does seem like he’s getting ready to move on from the Nationals.
That was from his Instagram page with the caption, “To the fans and the city of DC, thank you!📍”
Yup, safe bet he’s signing somewhere else in the offseason.
And what better team than the Cubs, who happen to have his best friend, Kris Bryant, one of his favorite players in all of baseball, Javier Baez and a team that will be willing to write him a big check.
Yeah, there’s a reason the Cubs are the favorites to sign him. There’s a reason the Cubs avoided the luxury tax this season.
So yeah, the front office that has signed several big free agent deals with Jon Lester, John Lackey, Ben Zobrist, Jason Heyward and Yu Darvish will probably be right in the middle of the Harper talks in free agency.
By the way, 2018 was a “bad” year for Harper and look at his numbers compared to Javier Baez, who will finish in the top-5 for MVP voting.
2018
.290/.326/.554, 34 HR, 111 RBI, 29 BB, 167 K, 131 wRC+
.249/.393/.496, 34 HR, 100 RBI, 130 BB, 169 K, 135 wRC+Cubs already have player A and are favored to sign player B.
Yes, they're exactly who you think they are and it's still crazy that some fans don't want Harper.
— Aldo Soto (@AldoSoto21) October 4, 2018
Yes, you’re crazy if you don’t want Bryce Harper on the North Side and you’re crazy if you think the Cubs won’t go in hard to try and sign him.
