Bryce Harper felt 'hurt' by Nationals' offer during his free agency
While Bryce Harper admitted that he had wanted to stay with the Washington Nationals, the offer his former club made did not make the superstar outfielder sense that the feeling was mutual.
"I thought we had a pretty good meeting," Harper said during his appearance on the "Starting 9" podcast, sharing conversations he had with the Lerner family prior to Christmas. "Actually, I thought we had a really good meeting. And I walked out of there and I said 'Scott (Boras), get it done. I know you will, if they are willing to do this, like, get it done.'"
Eventually, the offer came in and, while no numbers were given, the 2015 MVP admitted that "it hurt."
Later that offseason, Harper signed a record-breaking 13-year, $330-million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.
The 27-year-old Harper, spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Nationals after being selected first overall in the 2010 draft and breaking into the majors as a teenager in 2012. Harper slugged 22 home runs with 59 RBI's over 137 games in his debut campaign, claiming NL Rookie of the Year. He later won an unanimous NL MVP award, hitting .330 with 42 homers over 153 games in 2015.
Harper also admitted that he had no jealousy for his former teammates on the Nationals, who won the 2019 World Series the first championship in the franchise's history. The outfielder even told his agent during the off-season that after the Nationals signed pitcher Patrick Corbin in 2019, that he believed they would win the World Series.
The entire Harper interview can be found through the Starting9 podcast on Twitter or any podcast app.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 16, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jack Quinn | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zach Metsa | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Arber Xhekaj | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Bowen Byram | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Michael Matheson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan McLeod | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
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