Though the Phillies never seriously considered it, Bryce Harper said he was willing to move back to the outfield during the offseason to accommodate a potential free agent first baseman.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Harper spoke about his 14-year big league career, the Juan Soto deal and his love for Philadelphia.
The most interesting nugget from Rosenthal’s conversation with Harper came when the superstar slugger revealed that he told the Phillies that he was willing to move back to the outfield if the Phillies had the chance to pursue an impact first baseman in free agency.
Harper, who learned first base on the fly after Rhys Hoskins went down with a torn ACL in 2023, has been excellent defensively at the position. A finalist for the National League Gold Glove Award in 2024, Harper was in the 92nd percentile among first baseman in Statcast’s outs above average. The Phillies like having him at first not only for the defense, but because it’s less taxing on his body than the outfield. The Phillies likely prefer to keep him at the position long term.
But Harper hasn’t completely ruled out a return to the outfield. Harper mentioned the Phillies signing Pete Alonso, a fellow Scott Boras client, as a scenario where he would be willing to move off of the position. Alonso ended up re-signing with the New York Mets on a two-year, $54 million deal with an opt out after the 2025 season.
I talked to [the Phillies] this offseason about that, just in case a guy was available [at first] that we needed to have, needed to get. I’d be more than open to it if we had a guy like that, who was going to change our lineup or change the demeanor of our team. They like me at first base. But I’d go out there to have a guy who was going to play first base and hit 35 or 40 homers.
When Pete [Alonso] was on the block still, I kind of sat there and was like, ‘Hey, why not?’ When we talked about it, I kind of just reiterated to [the Phillies] and Scott [Boras] that I’m willing to move out there if it’s going to help us. I love playing first base. It’s been great. But if it’s going to help us win, I’d go back out there.
The longtime New York Met is hated in Philadelphia, but Alonso would have been an interesting fit in the lineup as the right-handed cleanup hitter protecting Harper. Harper led the league in each of the last two seasons in percentage of pitches seen outside of the strike zone (min. 2,000 total pitches seen). Part of the reasoning behind that is because Harper is one of the best hitters in baseball, but other sluggers in the league that are on his level see more strikes. Lineup protection could be a part of the issue, and signing a right-handed power bat with patience like Alonso could have alleviated the problem.
But the Phillies were hesitant to dive head first into the deep end of the free agent pool with a luxury tax payroll already nearing $300 million heading into the offseason. They instead signed three players, Max Kepler, Jordan Romano and Joe Ross, to one-year deals for a combined $22.5 million and traded for Jesús Luzardo.
The Phillies were not connected to Alonso in the rumor mill at any point during the offseason, and Rosenthal reiterated that the Phillies “never got serious about Alonso.”
This could be something to file away for later. The big free agent next offseason Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He could cost $400 to over $500 million to sign, and the Phillies, even if they are interested, will probably not be considered one of the favorites to land him heading into the offseason. But if Philadelphia is looking to once again be big spenders in free agency, let it be known that Harper is willing to go back to the outfield to bring in another superstar.
