MLB rumors: When will Patrick Corbin, J.A. Happ, Manny Machado, Bryce Harper sign contracts?

by Felix Pantaleón

Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Manny Machado and Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper are the best hitters available in free agency. Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Patrick Corbin, Houston Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel, Boston Red Sox right-hander Nathan Eovaldi and New York Yankees left-hander J.A. Happ are the best available pitchers.

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The first hot stove domino fell on Monday, when the Yankees traded for Seattle Mariners left-hander James Paxton.

However the free agent market has seen little action, with all of the top players, including Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Patrick Corbin and J.A. Happ still available.

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MLB.com’s Jon Morosi explains when players will put pen to paper and sign contracts for 2019:

Every year, industry observers wonder if the No. 1 free-agent starter will set the market’s upper boundary by signing early. That’s not likely to happen with Corbin this autumn.

Two teams with significant capacity to add payroll — the Phillies and White Sox — have interest in Corbin. But they’re also involved in the Harper and Machado pursuits, meaning they may wait for the superstar position players to go off the board before determining exactly how much they can spend on Corbin.

Meanwhile, the markets for Nathan Eovaldi and J.A. Happ are developing more rapidly. The Yankees, Blue Jays, Angels, Brewers, Phillies and Astros are among the teams known to have interest in Happ, sources say.

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Harper and Machado are unlikely to sign with new teams until the Winter Meetings — at the absolute earliest.

Scott Boras, who represents Harper, is known for continuing free-agent negotiations well into the New Year. Of course, Harper is a proud Las Vegas native. The possibility of an extravagant announcement in his hometown during next month’s Winter Meetings may be too much for Hot Stove choreographers to resist.

The fascination with Harper could obscure the rest of the outfield market, with quality free agents Michael Brantley and A.J. Pollock remaining available for the time being. Their representatives may opt to wait until Harper signs and then pursue agreements with teams that fall short in the bidding. But that is likely to require some patience.