Phillies' Superstar Harper Involved in Free Agency Pitch to Japanese Phenom

Bryce Harper is doing what it takes for the Philadelphia Phillies to potentially land a Japanese superstar this offseason after being involved in the free agency pitch.

When Bryce Harper signed his megadeal with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2019, he expressed how he wants to bring home a championship to the city and be part of this franchise until he retires.

He's constantly worked with the front office in pitching players to join him with the Phillies to bring home that elusive title. Because of that, they've been able to land prized free agents Trea Turner, Zack Wheeler, Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos, among others.

Now, Harper has his sites set on another high-profile free agent.

According to MLB insider, Jon Morosi, the superstar was involved in Philadelphia's pitch to Japanese phenom starting pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

"Bryce Harper, 2-time NL MVP, spoke with Yoshinobu Yamamoto over FaceTime as part of the Phillies' presentation to him," Morosi posted on his social media account.

For what it's worth, the Phillies are not expected to sign the 25-year-old star. Speculation has put his potential contract into the $300 million range, something that is seemingly out of their price range.

However, before they re-signed Aaron Nola, it was reported that Yamamoto was the pitcher they were most interested in adding to their roster. If they are able to get both Nola and Yamamoto, that would be a dream scenario.

Even though Philadelphia's pitch is likely not to land the phenom, there is still a lot of value that can be gained from getting in front of this Japanese star.

With the Phillies ramping up their overseas operations, this allows them to at least put themselves on the radar of talented Japanese players who have been posted by their NPB teams.

The lack of interest from overseas players in joining their franchise was something that came to light during the original Shohei Ohtani free agency in 2017.

So, even if this pitch doesn't land Yamamoto, it allows Philadelphia to put together something that can be used in the future, or to be tweaked and ensure they have a better chance of landing the next great overseas player.