Bryce Harper and The Nationals are having yet another good season, now the Star outfielder has agreed with the ballclub on a $21 million deal for 2018.
Yesterday afternoon the Washington Nationals officially announced that they have reached a contract agreement with the team’s star player, Bryce Harper, which will pay him $21.625 million for the 2018 season. Next year will mark his final season before the twenty-four-year-old outfielder becomes a free agent. While the future is uncertain beyond next year, the Nationals may reach a long-term deal that keeps the right fielder in Washington for an extended period beyond 2018. Harper is currently under a one-year arbitrary contract for the 2017 season, which he signed in January. The outfielder’s 2017 season deal will pay him $13.625 million. The generous new contract is seen by some as a show of good faith to the 2010 number one draft pick; Harper has expressed his love of playing for the Nationals and many expect that the 2018 contract will help to ensure that he will remain in Washington in the long term. The Nationals still can offer a contract before Harper becomes a free agent; however, it is very possible that successful teams such as the New York Yankees may be able to lure the star into an enormously lucrative contract. Bryce Harper is a four-time All-Star and the MVP of the 2015 season. This year he is batting .372 so far, up from .243 last year and only teammate Ryan Zimmerman has a better batting percentage in the entire league thus far. Harper also has 10 home runs and 29 RBI’s, well on his way to finishing with better than average season stats. If Harper were to win the MVP again in 2018, he would earn an additional one million dollars. His 2018 season salary tops what was the previously the largest arbitration salary in the league; Harper is guaranteed almost six million more than Jake Arrieta’s salary of $15.637
The 2018 contract deal is great news for DC Baseball fans, now The Nationals can focus more on the 2017 and 2018 seasons and winning the pennant race. A cozy relationship between Harper and the Club in the next year and a half very may well result in what Nationals fans hope will be many more years of greatness and success by both.
