‘Phillies Extra’ Q&A: Scott Boras on extending Bryce Harper’s ‘legacy’ in Philly, and more

A few weeks ago, the Phillies reworked ace lefty Cristopher Sánchez’s contract. In addition to picking up two club options, they tacked on two additional seasons, turning a four-year guarantee into an eight-year pact with deferred money.

Could a similar arrangement be in the works for Bryce Harper?

“In my discussions with [owner] John [Middleton] and [president of baseball operations] Dave [Dombrowski], they’re fully aware that Bryce has a legacy that he wants to fulfill in Philadelphia beyond the current contract,” agent Scott Boras said in this week’s episode of Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast.

» READ MORE: Winning a World Series ‘changes everything.’ And the Phillies legacies for this veteran core are riding on it.

“And we’ve already had discussions about that as we go forward.”

Harper, 33, has repeatedly expressed a desire to play into his 40s. He’s eight seasons into a 13-year, $330 million contract with the Phillies that runs through his age-38 season.

Boras has previously conveyed Harper’s interest in revising the contract. But the deal doesn’t include an opt-out provision that would give Harper leverage to renegotiate.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Boras discussed Harper’s future, the long-awaited smashing debut of rookie righty Andrew Painter, the looming labor fight between baseball’s players and owners, and more.

Here are a few excerpts from the conversation. Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Phillies Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

A: Yeah, certainly our data says that when you follow the patterns of our most recent successful veteran players — Gerrit Cole or Max Scherzer — this is along the path that they started their major league careers at 22, 23 because their bodies are more mature. They may weigh 20 or 30 pounds more than they did at 19, and the frame and the ability to transfer the energy generated down to the earth, rather than up to the shoulder and the elbow. And when you have that core strength and leg strength to do that, obviously it creates longevity, durability. It allows your command to be better. And in Andy’s case, you can see that he commanded his fastball [in his debut against the Nationals on Tuesday], his off-speed in situations out of the stretch, going in after 70 or so pitches you saw him still command the baseball and do well. And so it was quite a day for the Painter family, for Andy, and we’re very excited about his future.

A: Bryce is a remarkable athlete. And I think a lot of things about his game is that now, Bryce is defensively one of the top first basemen. And when you talk about elite athletes, that means that they go from one position to another and become even better defensively. And so, he’s positioned himself to be at a position where he’s providing a contribution to the club at a top four or five, league-wise, defensive calibration. No one talks about that.

And I think when you go through your career and you examine it, and you talk about what it takes to do things — people forget that Bryce lost a month last year due to injury — and when you do those things as an athlete, your numbers are obviously going to reflect it.

All of these numbers that we use as metrics are often volume-based, but the key thing is, we discuss it — and Bryce and I have talked about his performance — is that all the skill is in place. It’s really now refinement because the league is fully aware of who Bryce Harper is. The league is fully aware that we are obviously not wanting to take a great hitter who has power and [trying to] avoid him. Pitch around him.

» READ MORE: Fans are ‘entertained’ by ABS. Here’s how the Phillies feel about the new pitch-challenge system after one week.

And this sequencing is becoming more and more real. That is the way to approach the Phillies and Bryce Harper. And so, the adjustment is one where you have to be more refined about what you [swing] at, and that’s clearly Bryce’s goal. I don’t think there’s any question in his mind [that] he’s in the best shape of his life.

He is a true two-way player at his position, one of the best players in the league, and he has all that skill, and there’s nothing that I can see — and we have so many metrics to look to — there’s nothing that I could see that in any way suggests that he’s not anything but ready for another premium season from what we expect from Bryce Harper.

A: I’m a very blessed guy. I’ve had the opportunity to represent great players. Greg Maddux had one of the most remarkable careers. He won 15 games 17 years in a row. I think someone will break Joe DiMaggio’s [56-game hitting streak] record before [Maddux’s] record is broken. Three hundred fifty-four wins, and how many world championships did he get? He got one. One. And the fight of it was that I had to get him to throw less innings during the season, so his ERA could be better in the postseason, because he was always going so deep in games.

Adrian Beltre was a Hall of Fame player, brilliant career, played until he was 40. He was twice within one pitch of winning a World Series. One pitch in Texas, and he didn’t win. And so, when you look at these careers, and you talk about greatness, you can talk about that one championship is something that goes something well beyond the individual. It takes something that is good fortune, a great team, great ownership, to surround a team with talent.

» READ MORE: ‘Phillies Extra’ Q&A: Brian Barber on the paths to the majors for Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter

And in Philadelphia, one of the reasons that Bryce went there — and remember, I created the opt-out; I did that in Alex Rodriguez’s contract, right? I advised Bryce on it five times, and Bryce said, ‘No, I want to be in Philadelphia, in one city. I want to win a championship, and to do that, I want to show the fans, and I want to show the organization, and I want to be able to recruit players to Philadelphia and let them know that I’m going to be here for the duration. That’s my best chance at winning a World Series.

‘And as far as my contract and valuation, I know it’s going to change. I hear all your caution, but I trust that I’ll perform well and that the ownership will understand that my motivation is a championship motivation, and we share that common dimension. And I’m sure they’ll treat me fairly down the road.’

A: … In my discussions with John and Dave, they’re fully aware that Bryce has a legacy that he wants to fulfill in Philadelphia beyond the current contract. And we’ve already had discussions about that as we go forward.

Is Major League Baseball headed for a work stoppage in 2027? Watch Boras discuss what is ahead for labor talks with the CBA expiring on Dec. 1.