Mike Trout, are you listening?
Bryce Harper wasn’t shy about starting his recruitment of the Angels star, considered baseball’s best player, in his introductory press conference with the Phillies on Saturday. Harper believes his 13-year, $330 million dollar contract leaves room for Philadelphia to add players in the future and made an unprovoked allusion to Trout.
“I’m making $26 [million] a year, something like that,” Harper said. “So I think that’s going to bring some other guys in as well to build up this organization to win. I know there’s another guy in about two years that comes off the books. We’ll see what happens with him.”
Trout has two years and approximately $70 million left on his contract with the Angels. He told reporters Friday he doesn’t want to negotiate an extension while he’s playing during spring training or the regular season over the next two years, meaning any deal would have to be reached during the offseason. Trout expects to be asked a lot about Harper now.
“It’s been brought up a lot,” Trout said.
Harper, who left the Nationals after seven seasons, did have one flub during his introduction to Phillies fans, saying he wanted to win a World Series in his former playing home.
“We want to bring a title back to D.C.,” Harper said. “I want to be Broad Street on a boat, or whatever, a thing or bus or whatever it is and have a trophy over my head.”
Harper will wear No. 3 and not 34, saying Roy Halladay should be the last Phillies player to wear it. Halladay, who was recently elected to the Hall of Fame, died in plane crash in 2017.


