Milwaukee Brewers: Could the Brewers land Bryce Harper in 2019?

The principal owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, Mark Attanasio, has preached time and time again about patience.  However, this was said well before the Brewers started to stun everyone and show that they already know how to be competitive.

What is the plan for the future of the Milwaukee Brewers? What will happen when the Brewers show that they have crossed over to the other side of this rebuild?

Could the Brewers pull off a stunning move and hand out the biggest contract in sports history?

Most likely not, but it will be fun to dream a little.

Let’s wildly speculate on if the Brewers could land the best free agent available in the 2019 off season, Bryce Harper.

Now, Harper is looking for a contract in the $300 to 400 million range. The Brewers have only just recently had an entire team cost over $100 million. But what if the Brewers were enticing enough to land the coveted slugger?

Harper has already won the NL Rookie of the Year award and an NL MVP award. He is challenging Mike Trout to be the face of Major League Baseball.

He would easily become the Brewers biggest acquisition in the franchise’s history and he would sell millions of dollars in merchandise over the course of his contract.

How Much Would Harper Cost The Brewers?

What would a contract look like for him to come to Milwaukee? Keep in mind that the big money teams will run the bidding up a lot. In order to make Harper want to come play for the Milwaukee Brewers, they would have to pay him, well, the largest contract anyone has ever seen in professional sports.

A projected contract he could ask for would have to be compared to the current biggest, given to Giancarlo Stanton which was for 13 years at $325 million. Stanton’s career stats include a  .266/.356/.538 slash line, 219 home runs, 570 RBIs, 835 hits and 1,020 Ks. In an 8 year career, Stanton is the richest player in professional sports to date.

Are those numbers worth $14 million for this year alone?  After 2017, Stanton will be making $25 million next year and upwards of $35 million per year in a couple of seasons.  Harper will command double that.

Harper owns a very impressive slash line of .283/.386/.511 with 134 home runs, 371 RBIs, 703 hits and 599 Ks.

He will most likely start the bidding at $400 million for 10-15 years. The Brewers were purchased by Attanasio at $223 million from former owner Bud Selig in 2004. This would mean that the crew would need to pay one player twice as much than they were purchased for by the current owner.

If the Milwaukee Brewers somehow landed Bryce Harper, they would need to offer him a deal worth $450 million, but he would be controlled for the entirety of his career. That would mean the deal would be for a whopping 12-15 years.  He would be 38-41 years old by the end of this contract and would retire a Brewer. He would likely end his career as the greatest player in club history if he stayed consistent throughout the deal.

Next: How Likely Is A Playoff Appearance For The Brewers?

Of course, this is all speculation and there is no way this deal goes down, but if it did would Brewer fans be into it, or would you stay away from this potential franchise destroying contract?