Would Bryce Harper Restructure Contract, Defer Money to Help Phillies?
Shohei Ohtani's record-setting, ten-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers is the first of its kind.
Not only is Ohtani's deal the richest in the history of professional sports, but it also comes with an unprecedented twist. The two-time American League MVP will defer $680 million of his salary to after the conclusion of the 2033 season. Ohtani will collect $2 million annually for the duration of his ten-year deal. From 2034 through 2043, the Dodgers will pay Ohtani $68 million per year.
Ohtani's decision to defer $680 million will help keep the Dodgers under the luxury tax threshold and give the team more money to play with when it comes to assembling a roster around the Japanese superstar. If Ohtani is no longer living in California when he begins receiving his $68 million annual salary, he will theoretically keep more of his money, as he won't have to pay California state income taxes.
Could other star players follow in Ohtani's footsteps and defer money in order to give their teams a greater chance of winning now?
Ohtani is expected to make somewhere between $40 and $50 million annually in endorsement deals. Very few players can rake in that much in sponsorships, and by proxy, very few players will be willing to defer the bulk of their contract, the way Ohtani is.
Enter Bryce Harper.
USA Today's Bob Nightengale is reporting that Harper and his agent Scott Boras are seeking an extension from the Philadelphia Phillies. Harper, who turned 31 in October, still has eight years remaining on the 13-year, $350 million deal that he signed in March 2019.
Harper's average annual value of $25 million is only the 24th-highest in Major League Baseball. Given inflation and the numbers that free agents are signing for now, he will continue to drop among the league's ranks in annual salary. Over the last three seasons, Harper has surely delivered for Philadelphia, earning National League MVP honors in 2021 and helping the Phillies reach the NLCS in 2022 and 2023. He has fully embraced the city of Philadelphia and quickly become one of the city's most beloved sports figures ever.
Harper's current deal includes no opt-outs and will employ him until he is 39 years-old. Harper's camp has very little leverage. But, what if he took a page out of Ohtani's playbook?
Harper could approach the Phillies about restructuring his contract. In the NFL, very few contracts are fully guaranteed and players restructure their contracts rather frequently. In Major League Baseball, contracts are always fully guaranteed, and thus, restructuring deals is a rarity. But it has happened. In 2010, Ryan Dempster deferred $3 million of his salary to allow the Chicago Cubs more flexibility to make moves.
Now, Harper could offer the same to the Phillies, who are currently on the books for roughly $222.1 million in 2024, the second-highest payroll in the sport. Just barely under the luxury tax threshold, it appears as though the amount of money the Phillies can spend in free agency this winter is stunted.
Harper will be owed close to $28 million in 2024 alone. Harper could offer the Phillies temporary financial relief, while deferring some of his salary to later. In exchange for the deferrals, the Phillies could give Harper more money and years in the long-term.
Harper has eight years and $196 million remaining on his contract. What if he deferred some of the money he is slated to make in the short-term, and in return, the Phillies upped the value and length of his contract?
Harper is one of the select few Major League players that is paid handsomely in endorsement deals. Sportico estimated that in 2022 alone, Harper made $6.5 million in sponsorships.
Imagine if Harper deferred $15 million of his $25 million AAV. It would open up another $15 million annually for the Phillies to spend on players. The Phillies could use that to sign lockdown closer Josh Hader or Japanese sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Or, they could go in an entire different direction.
If both parties would be willing to restructure Harper's deal in this fashion, the Phillies would have more cash to spend now, and Harper would make more money in the long-term.
Is this type of arrangement likely? Certainly not, considering there have been no reports that would indicate that anything like this is even in the works. But if there was any way in which Harper could become an even more beloved figure in the streets of Philadelphia, this would surely be it, especially if it paved the way for the Fightin' Phils to raise the Commissioner's Trophy for the first time since 2008.
For more MLB offseason content, catch the latest episode of the Jack Vita Show, where MLB.com Los Angeles Angels beat writer Rhett Bollinger visited the program to break down Ohtani's trailblazing contract with the Dodgers.
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