Staying at first shows Bryce Harper’s commitment to Phillies — and an expectation they will pay him back

Harper’s willingness to play first spoke to his self-confidence and selflessness to help deliver a World Series. Eventually, though, the receipt will come due.

Bryce Harper told the Phillies he would "do whatever’s good for the club." They decided that meant him playing first base full-time.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

by Scott Lauber

Published Nov. 9, 2023, 5:00 a.m. ET

Bryce Harper dropped by the Phillies’ offices at Citizens Bank Park last Friday to answer a question.

First base or outfield?

Oh, there were “a lot of different things” on the agenda, according to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who described the meeting with Harper as “lengthy.” But two days after the World Series ended, with the offseason about to begin, team officials mostly wanted to know if the face of the franchise preferred to stay at his adopted position next season or return to the one that he played for the previous 10 years in the majors.

“He’s happy to do whatever we want him to do,” Dombrowski told reporters Wednesday at the general managers’ meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz. “He said he’d play first or the outfield. He said, ‘I’ll do whatever’s good for the club.’ ”

Of course he did.

All Harper has wanted since he put down roots in Philadelphia five years ago is to win the World Series. He stretched the term of his club-record $330 million contract to 13 years to give the Phillies flexibility to add other All-Stars. He lobbied for the re-signing of J.T. Realmuto and the additions of Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, and Trea Turner. He volunteered to learn first base, while rehabbing from elbow surgery, because Rhys Hoskins went down in March with a season-ending knee injury.

So, when Dombrowski said the Phillies believe they’re better in 2024 and beyond with Harper at first base — and only first base — Schwarber at DH, and someone else — Johan Rojas? Cristian Pache? Someone not currently in the organization? — in the outfield with Castellanos and Brandon Marsh, the two-time MVP was all-in.

“The more we talked about it internally, we like the idea of him playing [first base],” Dombrowski said. “We think he’ll develop into a Gold Glove first baseman. He’s committed to doing that. He’d be glad to go to the outfield, but he’s committed to being that type of guy over there at first base.

“We like the way it sets our infield up. We think it makes us more athletic. It opens up one of the outfield spots. It really puts us in a position for the future that we’re in a good spot.”

Harper’s willingness to play either position spoke to his self-confidence. There’s also a level of selflessness and a desire to follow through on his pledge to do whatever he and the team agree is most helpful to deliver his first World Series title and the Phillies’ first since 2008.

Eventually, though, the receipt will come due. The Phillies want Harper to play first base in 2024 and beyond? No problem. But at some point — ideally after he rides in a parade down Broad Street, but perhaps sooner — Harper will want to talk about a contract extension.

Quid pro quo? That’s the idea.

In March, Harper casually mentioned wanting to play beyond the 2031 expiration of his contract. His agent, Scott Boras, invented the opt-out clause 20 years ago for Alex Rodríguez, but couldn’t convince Harper to go for it. Manny Machado, meanwhile, had just leveraged an opt-out to get a new 11-year, $350 million contract with the Padres.

“I made the decision to stay with this team for a long time,” Harper said in spring training. “That was my main thing. I wanted this team to know, and I wanted the fans to know, that I was going to be here for the long haul no matter what.

“But at the same time, you’re going to give this organization all you [can] and all you need. I want to play well into my 40s. That’s always been the dream and the goal. Well, I’m here until I’m 38, so we’ll see what happens.”

Harper reiterated that desire in August after hitting his 300th career home run, saying then that he wanted to continue to produce “for even longer than what my contract looks like right now.”

Playing first base will probably help. There should be less toll on Harper’s cranky back because he no longer has to run around the outfield and less strain on his surgically repaired right elbow because the throws from first base are shorter and less frequent.

Harper could also burnish his Hall of Fame resumé. Hank Greenberg, Stan Musial, Robin Yount, and A-Rod are the only players who have won an MVP award at multiple positions. Harper has already won two as an outfielder. At age 31, there’s plenty of runway for him to do it at first base.

After Harper’s pennant-clinching homer in the 2022 playoffs, Phillies owner John Middleton half-kidded that the star might be underpaid. (In five seasons with the Phillies, Harper has a .931 OPS, 122 homers, 18.4 wins above replacement, and has been 49% more productive than league average.)

Last month, Middleton compared his relationship with Harper to a marriage.

“I think he and I see the world the same way competitively,” Middleton said. “We’re both committed equally to winning. But until you go through some time together, the experience of going through that time, you get to see the other person. I got to see him when he got injured, how he worked hard to come back way before everybody thought he could. And he looked at me and said, ‘This guy actually does want to win. He puts his money where his mouth is.’

“He and I have a great relationship because we’re absolutely on the same page.”

Indeed, Harper’s desire to learn a new position stemmed from wanting to help the team, specifically to spare third baseman Alec Bohm from having to pinball between corner infield positions. And his interest in staying at first base has to do with the Phillies’ all-around defensive improvement after he started playing first base in July.

And when the time comes, Harper will expect the Phillies to pay him back.