Bryce Harper isn't going anywhere anytime soon. He's still under contract with the Philadelphia Phillies for eight more seasons with no opt-outs and a no-trade clause.
Harper doesn't have to worry about his next contract for nearly a decade, but he's already thinking ahead. He wants an extension so that he can retire with the Phillies, rather than finish out his career somewhere else.
Harper will be almost 39 by the time his contract expires, but he wants to stay with Philadelphia into his 40s.
He revealed at Spring Training on Sunday that he and his agent, Scott Boras, have already approached president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski about a possible contract extension.
In an article for MLB.com, team beat writer Todd Zolecki wrote that Harper and Boras have not had any extension talks with team owner John Middleton, who would ultimately need to sign off on such a deal, so there does not appear to be much progress at this time.
Dombrowski has a track record of extending star players, locking up Miguel Cabrera and Chris Sale to big extensions with the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox, respectively (both of which ended disastrously).
However, there should be absolutely no rush to extend Harper right now.
He's still almost a decade away from free agency, and a lot will change between now and then.
Who knows if he'll even still be a functional baseball player at that point?
Harper has already undergone Tommy John surgery and moved from outfield to first base. He'll likely move to designated hitter at some point before his current contract ends.
It's great that Harper wants to stay with Philadelphia, but it's pretty ridiculous that he's already looking for a contract extension. The Phillies have bigger priorities right now (like extending Zack Wheeler), and this is a conversation that doesn't need to happen for another six or seven years.
If Harper's still playing at a high level in 2030, then he and the front office can talk.
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