MLB free agency: Nationals’ Bryce Harper focused on Yankees when asking for reps at 1st base?

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper will be a free agent after the 2018 MLB season. He recently asked to take some reps at first base. Is that a precursor to hoping the Yankees will try to sign him? Harper is hitting a career-worst .213 this season, but is second in the National League with 21 home runs.

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Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported that Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper asked to take some reps at first base.

On the surface, it seems like an odd request for the 2015 National League MVP, who’s hitting a career-worst .213 this season for an underachieving team that is one game under .500 and seven games out of first place in the National League East.

But Harper will be a free agent after the 2018 MLB season. Despite struggling this year, he’s expected to receive a ridiculous contract from a deep-pocketed team like the Yankees or Phillies. Problem is, the Yankees don’t need an outfielder. But they could need a first baseman if the Yankees pull the plug on the Greg Bird experiment.

When you put all that together, it doesn’t paint a pretty picture, according to an MLB executive who spoke to John Harper of the New York Daily News:

“The timing makes it a really bad look,” the exec said. “As it is, everyone asks why that team can’t get over the hump in the postseason. They’ve changed managers more than once, and now they’re underachieving during the regular season.”

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“I don’t know what their other players think of Harper, but they don’t need another first baseman, so I can’t imagine they thought he was doing that for the good of the ballclub.

“If he’s having an MVP year, nobody cares, right? But if he’s having an MVP year, his team isn’t struggling like they are and he’s not taking ground balls at first base.”

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Harper’s agent, Scott Boras, doesn’t expect the 2018 slump to affect how big his next contract will be, in part because Harper still displays power at the plate. Harper’s 21 home runs this season are second-best in the National League.

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.