Why Yankees have a better shot at adding Mike Trout than Bryce Harper

Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals will play two games against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium beginning on Tuesday, June 12, 2018 (6/12/18).

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There probably will be a lot of good-natured back and forth between Yankees fans on social media this week with the Washington Nationals playing interleague games at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

The biggest sidebar to this potential World Series preview is Bryce Harper visiting the Bronx in the walk year of his contract.

Harper will be testing the free agent market next winter and, of course, the Yankees are being listed as a possible landing spot even though they already are stocked up in superstar slugging outfielders.

Why?

Because people link every star headed for free agency to the Yankees.

Why Nationals won’t trade Harper to Yankees (or anyone else)

The guess here is there’s no chance Harper signs with the Yankees for a bunch of reasons.

Here’s a few:

— The Yankees need starting pitching more than they need another big bat.

— Harper will be too pricy.

— Harper’s a corner outfielder and the Yanks are set there with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Clint Frazier, Brett Gardner to cover left, right and DH.

— Harper’s not worth Mike Trout money.

Speaking of …

The Yankees trading for Trout over the winter is more realistic than Harper signing with them.

How can the Yankees pull this off?

They’d have to make the Angels an offer that they can’t refuse, which means they’d have to put together a return package that would sting some.

The Yankees have the means to do this, and they probably could pull it off without giving up Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres, Miguel Andujar or Luis Severino.

We’ll get to a trade proposal that we think would be fair for both franchises, but first here’s why Trout to the Yankees could benefit both clubs.

First off, while the Angels surely want Trout to be a franchise lifer, he’ll have just two years (and $67 million) remaining on a six-year, $144-million contract after this season and there’s no assurance the South Jersey product will re-sign with them. Trout still lives in Millville and there’s been speculation for years that the diehard Philadelphia Eagles fan will sign with the Phillies, who won’t be outbid with hungry-to-win billionaire managing partner John Middleton calling the shots.

If the Angels trade Trout this winter, they can go all-in on trying to sign Harper. Trout will make $33.5 million the next two years. Harper probably will get a deal that will average around $30 million per.

And if the Angels lose Harper to the Phillies or Dodgers, then they can go for Manny Machado or smaller fish such as J.A. Happ and David Robertson.

OK, from the Yankees’ side of things, they’d get Trout for two prime seasons by working out a deal next winter, his age 27-28 and 28-29 seasons.

They’d also get a great natural center fielder to play between Judge and Stanton.

And they’d also give Trout two seasons to fall in love with being a great Yankee in a great era of Yankees baseball, which presumably would give the Yankees a better shot at re-signing him instead of a jump to the Phillies when his contract runs out.

So what would it take to get Trout?

The Angels would start out demanding a return package that includes Yankees untouchables Judge, Torres and Severino, and close-to-untouchables Andujar and Sanchez.

The Yankees could keep all of them and still could put together a very good proposal because they have one of baseball’s best and deepest farm systems.

Here’s a six-player offer that Yankees GM Brian Cashman could offer to Angels GM Billy Eppler:

— Center fielder prospect Estevan Florial, the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect (according to MLB Pipeline).

— Triple-A left fielder Clint Frazier OR center fielder Aaron Hicks.

— Left-hander Justus Sheffield OR right-hander Albert Abreu, the Yankees’ No. 1 and No. 2 ranked pitching prospects, respectively.

— Right-hander Chance Adams, the Yankees’ No. 3 pitching prospect.

— Triple-A third baseman Brandon Drury.

— Triple-A infielder/outfielder Tyler Wade OR Triple-A shortstop Thairo Estrada.

That’s a lot to give up.

A whole lot.

Mike Trout is the only player in baseball who is worth it.

We’ll still thinking Trout to the Yankees is farfetched because the Angels likely will keep him at least through 2019, but it’s more likely than Bryce Harper playing home games at Yankee Stadium next season.

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.