© Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sport
Just when you thought you were done hearing the name Bryce Harper.
The person you wanted to be with that ultimately chose somebody else, is now talking about why they chose somebody else. It may be rubbing salt in some of your wounds, but Harper talked to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal about why he chose the Phillies over the Giants.
The Giants (to their credit), made a very serious play for Harper, offering him a massive 12-year, $310 million contract. The difference in money and state taxes did play a part in Harper’s decision, but ultimately, he just wanted to be a Phillie.
“I had just met with Larry and Farhan about two days before,” Harper says in the piece. “The next day was Thursday. Scott (Boras) called me at like 9 a.m. I was still sleeping, still laying in bed. He says, ‘Hey, we have an offer from the Phillies. Here’s what they’re willing to do.’ I said, ‘Hey, have you heard back from San Fran?’ He said he hadn’t heard back from them yet. I said, ‘OK, once you hear back from San Fran, let me know.’”
Harper has made his love for the city of San Francisco well known on social media. Although the Giants are not on the same level as the Phillies talent-wise, the team and the city of San Francisco will always be an attractive place to play because of the area, the stadium, and the fans. Ultimately, Harper’s decision came down to just two teams.
“He (Boras) said, ‘All right. Talk about this. Make a decision with Kayla. Figure out, do we want to hear from San Fran?’ Me and Kayla had already kind of decided, ‘We’re going to go to Philly, or we’re going to go to San Fran. What works best for us? What works best for our family? Where do we feel like we could build a family and be around a city we felt really cared about us as individuals and not just Bryce the baseball player?’”
Ultimately, Harper and his wife were already set on Philly and made the decision before hearing back from the Giants one last time.
“We sat there and talked for a little bit. And I remember standing there, me hugging her and saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to Philly.’ That was before we even heard from San Fran. San Fran called back, offered whatever it was. By that point, it was kind of like, ‘I’m already a Philadelphia Phillie.’ In my heart, I was already a Philadelphia Phillie. It was nothing against San Francisco. They’re a great organization. It’s a great city. It just came down to what I felt. And by that point, it was Philly.”
With the Giants’ recent struggles in landing top-tier free-agents, it’s encouraging to know Harper strongly considered the Giants and the city of San Francisco. Unfortunately, the Giants continue to be the bridesmaid and not the bride, but at least we can finally have some closure.