We all woke up this morning in a brand new world.
One where Bryce Harper is a free agent.
The 2018 Major League Baseball season is officially over. Commence the offseason.
That means it's time for Harper Watch to really get going.
After Harper's agent, Scott Boras, stirred stuff up Sunday with his joke on the radio, Bovada released its latest odds for signing the superstar outfielder this winter...and the Cubs are no longer the favorites:
Yep, the Philadelphia Phillies now have "EVEN" odds of signing Harper and keeping him in the NL East for the foreseeable future.
The Phillies currently have just shy of $69 million committed to their payroll for 2019, which ranks 19th in baseball. The Cubs have more than $179 million committed to 33 players in 2019, tops in the majors at the moment.
MLB
It's still hard to see the Nationals handing out over $200 million to retain Harper for next year and beyond, but the Cubs would have to get creative in order to make the money work with Harper and the rest of the roster.
It's also funny to see the Yankees and Red Sox on the list of frontrunners for Harper's services, but for different reasons.
Boston just won the World Series Sunday night and boasts one of the best young outfields in the game in Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi and ALCS MVP Jackie Bradley Jr. plus J.D. Martinez as the DH.
The Yankees actually have a ton of money to work with (which is a scary thought), but they also have a packed outfield that includes Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks, plus Jacoby Ellsbury is slated to make over $21 million.
Then again, the Cubs currently have Jason Heyward, Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora Jr. and Ian Happ in the outfield, plus Kris Bryant and Ben Zobrist that can move out there, so there would obviously be challenges on the roster to make Harper fit in Chicago, too.
Harper can officially sign with another team Friday and can negotiate exclusively with the Nationals until then.
Bovada also lists the Phillies as favorites (3/2) to sign Manny Machado, the second-best odds (behind the Diamondbacks) to sign A.J. Pollock and the third-best odds (behind the Cardinals and Indians) to sign Josh Donaldson. So yeah, the Phillies are going to be linked to the top hitters all winter as they look to bolster an offense that contributed to a late-season fade in 2018.