The Nats Report Morning Briefing: How are the Nationals looking now by not signing Bryce Harper to a long term contract?

Major League Baseball's Virtual Mettings start today viritually, and yesterday, ESPN droped a major bomb about the Philadelphia Phillies.

by Richard Wachtel

Updated December 07, 2020

Good Monday Morning, Washington Nationals Fans. Thank you for starting the day and the week with us.

Major League Baseball's virtual meetings kick off this week, and there is tons of news happening around baseball. There are also many great free agents available on the market, so could this be the week that we see some movement in the market, or will things be quiet. Buckle up, and let's end 2020 with a bang!

Talking about bangs, over the weekend, there was some major news coming out of South Philly that will not only affect the Phillies but could have an effect on the whole NL East. Yesterday, ESPN insider Buster Olney reported that the "Philadelphia Phillies have communicated to other teams that they are facing a financial crunch and are open to offers for their second-highest-paid player, starting pitcher Zack Wheeler, according to sources.

Slugger Bryce Harper is the team's highest-paid player, but there is no indication yet that the Phillies will look to deal him off their books." With this report dropping, it got us thinking back to the Winter of 2018-2019 when the Nationals and Bryce Harper were in the midst of contract negotiations. We all know how that turned out, and on the Nats Report, we went a step further and wondered how the Nationals are looking now by not signing Bryce Harper to a long term contract? From our article, "by not signing Bryce Harper, it proved to be a good move only a couple of months later when the Nationals on the World Series, now only two years removed from that decision, it even looks better." Our friend Stephen from Talk Nats.com also contributed his thoughts to our article. [Click here to read the full article]

According to the Associated Press, Major League Baseball and all 30 teams are suing their insurance providers in Major League Baseball news, citing billions of dollars in losses during the 2020 season played almost entirely without fans due to the coronavirus pandemic. In October, the suit filed in California Superior Court says that insurance providers AIG, Factory Mutal, and Interstate Fire and Casualty Company have refused to pay MLB claims despite the league's "all-risk" policy purchases. [Click here to read the full article]