Manny Machado isn’t going to sign until after the new year and other than Corey Kluber trade rumors the hot stove is kind of cold. So of course whenever anyone talks about Bryce Harper it’s going to get attention.
Here’s what Jon Heyamn said Wednesday when he was asked who had a better shot at signing Harper between the Cubs and Dodgers.
"At this point I'm kind of leaning toward maybe #Cubs maybe more likely than #Dodgers" Jon Heyman on who's more likely to sign Bryce Harper pic.twitter.com/ZhVGa2fV07
— Pinwheels and Ivy Podcast (@PinwheelsIvyPod) December 26, 2018
All right. So, between the Cubs and Dodgers, Heyman said that at this point he’s leaning toward the Cubs. It’s just his opinion. No reporting and fine, if you want to go ahead and say he’s just using the Cubs as leverage being Scott Boras mouthpiece, OK.
Anyway, later in the day 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine tweeted out that Heyman thought the Cubs were more likely to signing Harper than the Dodgers. However, Bruce didn’t add any context, so if this was the first time seeing the tweet you’d think the Harper sweepstakes are only down to two teams.
@JonHeyman on MLB TV Weds said that he is leaning toward the Cubs more likey than Dodgers to sign Bryce Harper.
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) December 26, 2018
Heyman then clarified Bruce’s tweet on Thursday, saying he was only responding to the question about the Cubs and Dodgers.
Just to put this into context, I was ONLY answering a question about which of THESE 2 big market teams that may be lurking — dodgers or cubs — is more likely to sign harper. I suggested maybe cubs more likely than LA mostly based on the 2 teams’ recent history w/ big free agents https://t.co/Q1WLpqBrGZ
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 27, 2018
All right, so Heyman is still leaning toward the Cubs signing Harper over the Dodgers. And sure, the Phillies and White Sox remain in the mix, but I guess we’ll have to wait for another segment until Heyman is asked who he thinks is more likely to sign Bryce Harper between all the teams involved.
Basically nothing’s really changed since the start of the offseason in my eyes. The only difference is that now the national media and even some local reporters are giving the Cubs somewhat of a chance at signing Harper, when back in November it was at zero percent.
Anyway, if the Cubs do end up getting Harper, there’s probably going to be a trade announced soon after just like in 2015, when they signed Ben Zobrist and then traded Starlin Castro. The big question still remains, how much money do the Cubs have to get rid of in order to go after Harper?
Or will Tom Ricketts really say no if Theo Epstein asks him one last time before Harper makes a final decision?
Oh by the way, I know Bruce’s tweet had no context at all, but wasn’t everyone freaking out last week that the Dodgers were now the favorites to sign Harper? So yeah, when an analyst then says the Cubs are more likely than the “favorites” to sign him, fans are going to get excited.
