Former Philadelphia Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is in lockstep with the current front office in terms of how they're handling Bryce Harper's desire for a contract extension.
"I think they're doing exactly what they should be doing and I think Dave Dombrowski handled it perfectly," Amaro Jr. said on Thursday's 94WIP Morning Show with Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie.
"He could not have been more perfect with how he handled it. They have other fish to fry. This guy is a signed player. They did not put a gun to his head to sign the contract. Boras does a lot of different things with the contracts. He wanted to figure out a way to maximize the dollars, they spread it out, they made it a 13-year deal—which at the time I think was probably unprecedented. He wants to make unprecedented deals. Now the AAV on that becomes sort of obsolete, the average annual value, because other guys are signing different contracts. It's a different market place, it happens year to year, the market changes. The man is a signed player. He signed for a ton of money, he got what he wanted at the time and that's it. Done."
What if he's not happy?
"That's not the front office's issue. That's where Scott Boras has to step in and say, 'Hey, we made this deal, we have to live with this deal.'"
On February 7th, Phillies president Dave Dombrowski was asked about a potential Harper extension on 94WIP.
"He's in a situation where you can always desire or want—anybody can—anything that they like," Dombrowski said. "One way I would just say it...we're thrilled that he's on board. We know that he's a Phillie for eight more years."
Harper has eight years remaining on his deal, set to make $26 million per season through 2028 and then $22 million per season for the final three years. Harper currently makes less, on an annual average basis, than Trea Turner, who makes $27.272 million per season.
