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Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper is apparently on the market before Tuesday’s trade deadline. According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand the Nationals have told teams that Harper is available for trade.
According to a source, the Nationals are making it known to other teams that Bryce Harper is indeed available.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 31, 2018
Sources confirm: #Nationals sending “feelers” out on Bryce Harper. “I’d be shocked if they do it,” one rival exec says. “They’re seeing if someone wants to go crazy.” First with the news that Harper was available: @chelsea_janes and @Feinsand.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2018
The Cleveland Indians are apparently one of the teams interested in acquiring Harper but the price is steep if they want him.
Via MLB.com
The Indians and Nationals have communicated recently regarding a possible Bryce Harper trade, sources told MLB.com on Monday, but the discussions have yet to gather momentum.
Even as the Nationals began play Monday with a six-game deficit in both the National League East and the NL Wild Card race, the price tag on Harper remains high, the sources said.
In any deal for Harper, the Nationals likely would ask for multiple pitchers to help rebuild a rotation that includes pending free agents Gio Gonzalez and Jeremy Hellickson. And it’s difficult to imagine the Indians trading right-handers Triston McKenzie and Shane Bieber — their No. 1 and No. 2 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline — for a rental player.
The Nationals are currently struggling and their locker room is a mess so it makes that they would look into trading Harper who appears to be on his way out this offseason when he becomes a free agent.