Bryce Harper, Scott Boras and the Cubs: Attempting to read between the lines

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LAS VEGAS — Superagent Scott Boras held court at his annual Winter Meetings press conference Wednesday afternoon, standing on a box in front of the large Christmas tree at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

His meet-ups with press are always entertaining and while Boras griped about the amount of teams rebuilding/retooling, he did not call out specific clubs for being unwilling to spend money, as he has done in the past. 

So with the Cubs' payroll a huge storyline (and mystery) this winter, let's look at the comments from Boras about the market for his star client, Bryce Harper:

"This is not a race where every car is labeled."

"There's a lot of people that want to keep what they're doing very private, which is usually practice with a major free agent."

"Some clubs are more open and direct about what they're doing and some clubs really want a very private process for them."

Well he may as well have just labeled the Cubs here. I mean, this is as obvious as it gets. (sarcasm font)

In all seriousness, this is the second time Boras has hinted at more teams being in on Harper than the public knows about. He shared a similar sentiment at the GM Meetings in southern California last month:

It makes sense. If a team truly wanted to try to depress the market for Harper and avoid paying him mind-bending money, they would play their cards close to the vest. It's also a competitive disadvantage to let your rivals know you're in on a guy like Harper.

That doesn't mean the Cubs are one of those "mystery teams" but if they had already closed the door on signing Harper, you can be sure Boras would've called them out for it. He's done it in the past whenever big market teams publicly claim they don't have the resources to pursue Boras' top clients.

Of course, this could also be Boras' way of acting like the market is bigger for his client than it really is. If he can place doubt in the minds of owners that there are a lot more suitors that aren't publicly known, that could also help drive the market up.

When asked specifically about the Cubs' financial situation this winter, Boras responded with:

"I'm not gonna address every team specifically, but in today's game, the franchise value of these clubs has gone up in the last three or four years and how these clubs are successfully operated. Give the owners a lot of credit, because their valuations have gone from $4 and $500 million to over $2 billion. For a club that bought themselves at $20 million, $80 million, $300 million, they're enjoying franchise values of a billion-and-a-half to  in some instances, $4 or $5 billion."

In the same vein, when Boras was asked about Kris Bryant's future with the Cubs (he's a free agent in three years and has already reportedly turned down an extension from the team), the slick agent once again mentioned the valuations of MLB clubs without singling out the Cubs:

"Those are things I can't answer. You got franchises that are as successful as many of them are, they have the potential and ability to [spend money]. I mean, these franchises are worth billions of dollars more than when they purchased them. So their decision-making power and what they choose to do, they just have the wealth to do whatever they feel is best for their club."

Again, Boras is not calling out the Cubs in specific, but he's also clearly pushing his agenda that teams should not be as worried about the luxury tax as they appear to be.

Baseball is the only major American sport without a salary cap, though the new luxury tax restrictions is sort of acting like one with all the penalties in place for crossing that barrier.

The Cubs, meanwhile, are on pace to have the highest payroll in franchise history in 2019 and should soar well past the $206 million luxury tax threshold by the time they're done adding to their roster this winter. It's possible Theo Epstein and Co. will somehow find a way to shed salary this offseason, but could they open up enough room for Harper's $30+ million projected annual average salary while still adding a veteran backup catcher, middle infield depth and a couple relievers?

We're still not sure when Harper will sign, but it's looking less and less likely a decision will come down while the entire league is in his hometown this week.

Boras confirmed he and Harper have met with every club they needed to on the free agency tour, but wouldn't state which clubs. While Manny Machado is set to embark on a free agency tour where he visits each franchise, teams have come to Harper and Boras over the last month either in Las Vegas or at Boras' offices in Los Angeles.

At this point, Boras said it's more about negotiating terms and details than initial meet-and-greet stuff.

As for timing, Boras certainly doesn't seem to be in any rush.

"In the end, all organizations are going to look back on this opportunity," Boras said. "They're gonna look back on it and they're gonna say, 'What should I have done?' 'How should I have done it?' 'What steps should I have taken?'

"These are pivotal moments. There's a lot of organizations and general managers will be evaluated by what they did do or didn't do when you have the availability of a player like this."

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