If Bryce Harper really is close to making a decision, the Phillies aren't going to go down without a fight.
Speaking Wednesday on 94WIP, MLB Netwok's Steve Phillips -- who spent the day in Phillies camp and met with general manager Matt Klentak --
"The Phillies are aggressively going after him, they've made that clear," Phillips said, "...but Harper's preference really is the west coast. Philly was an option, only if the other options weren't there for him as well."
The bad news for the Phillies is that the other options are indeed there for Harper, as it is now a three-team race between the Phillies, Dodgers, and Giants, who reportedly met with Harper in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Multiple reports suggests that both the Dodgers and Giants might be willing to go to 10-years.
On Tuesday, Angelo Cataldi reported that the Phillies and Scott Boras were in a staredown over a three-year opt-out.
"Boras said we have to have an opt out and it has to be after year three," Cataldi said on Tuesday. "Three years guaranteed and then we get the chance to leave. If we don't, then we get the other seven years and he's here for the full ten. He gets the one opt out after the three. They (the Phillies) say, not only does that not work for us, but we can't sell that to Philadelphia. We're gonna poison the well before he gets here. He's basically saying, we're not sure about Philadelphia. The opt out clause is what's holding up an agreement with the Philadelphia Phillies and I can tell you, Scott Boras insists that it be three years."
You can check out the full inteview with Phillips below: