Is Bryce Harper Worth It?

Its all baseball has heard about for the last three months, where is Bryce Harper going? He rejected a contract with the Nationals at the end of last season that would of paid him well into retirement, but that wasn't enough for the 27 year old from the Sin City. ESPN has ignored all of the prospects making a name for themselves in Spring Training in order to focus on Bryce Harper. Eventually Bryce Harper landed where everyone expected him to land, Philadelphia. The Phillies locked Harper down with a massive 13 year, 330 million dollar contract. No trade clause, no opt out, no safety net. The Phillies are all in on Bryce Harper.

The 26 year old has been relatively healthy, playing in an average of 132 games a season over the span of his seven year career. But health can change drastically, in an instant, especially in a period spanning as long as 13 years. This enormous contract would have Harper on the field until the age of 39. There are currently only 9 players in Major League Baseball that are still active over the age of 39, and it can be argued for all of them that they are not 60 percent of the player they were in their twenties.

Let's talk about the stats, Bryce Harper batted .249 last season, which is the 97th best batting average in the league. Not a stellar average by any means, especially for the player with the largest contract in north american professional sports. Bryce Harper knocked 34 long balls last year, which put him at 16th in the league. Bryce Harper knocked in 100 RBI's last season, which would place him at 16th in the League. Bryce Harper was a top ten performer in one batting category, strike outs. So is he good enough to be the highest paid player ever? Absolutely not.