UPDATE: Rosenthal says it’s a two-year deal. Bob Nightengale says it’s for $7.5 million total. Which isn’t big, obviously, but it’s probably a bit of a savings over what Harper could expect from a couple of years of arbitration. Especially if he has the sort of healthy, breakout year many people expect he’s capable of.
8:30 AM: As we’ve noted before, the Nationals and Bryce Harper were scheduled for a grievance hearing tomorrow regarding whether or not Harper can be eligible for arbitration this year. This due to confusion over an opt-out provision Scott Boras and Harper claim was in his original contract with the Nats, allowing him to hit arbitration and which the Nats claim they never agreed to.
Now, however, it’s moot: the sides have reached a settlement:Source: Harper not eligible for arbitration in 2015 under settlement with #Nationals. Per @AdamKilgoreWP, two sides settled last night.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 15, 2014Rosenthal speculates that Harper would’ve been slated to get around $2.5 million if he had hit arbitration, and that the settlement could run in that area or it could involve a short multi-year deal which avoids this dance again in the future.