January 10, 2019

Live free agency updates: What's the latest on Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and the Phillies?

By Matt Mullin
PhillyVoice Staff

It's January 10, 2019, and the entire baseball world continues to wait on Manny Machado and/or Bryce Harper to make their decisions. Not just the teams in contention to sign either player — like the Phillies, White Sox, Yankees and Nationals — but the whole league, as many secondary and tertiary players have yet to land deals while teams wait for the two players in a tier of their own to set the market.

How quiet has this winter been so far? Well, the biggest deal (for a position player) up to this point has been given out by the Phillies, but that's about it.

You realize that Andrew McCutchen is the only position player in baseball this offseason who's been signed to a deal longer than 2 years with more than $10M per year?
— Corey Seidman (@CSeidmanNBCS) January 10, 2019

Machado, who it appeared would be signing with the Yankees before they reportedly cooled on the idea of inking the shortstop to a $300 million-plus deal, is believed to be the first domino to fall — and the Phillies are still very much a part of those sweepstakes. But with Matt Klentak and Co. reportedly meeting with Harper and his team on Saturday, could the Phillies go the other way and ink Harper, the 2019 MLB The Show cover athlete, to the richest deal in baseball history?

Well, if you like reading tea leaves and finding hidden meanings in video game tweets, this week has been a whirlwind for you.

#TheLiesWeAllTellOurselves https://t.co/1vAHpwKixI
— MLB The Show (@MLBTheShow) January 9, 2019

📍 Bryce Harper named #MLBTheShow cover athlete.
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📍@Bharper3407 picks a team. |
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📍Another "Who will Bryce choose?" post.
— MLB The Show (@MLBTheShow) January 8, 2019

The announcement of Harper's decision will coincide with the release of the game's cover, showing Harper in his new uniform. But is The Show trying to tell us that Harper's already made his decision? Do they know something we don't? It certainly seems like it...