Does Bryce Harper Make Sense for the Yankees?

You truly have to love the MLB offseason — you never know whose name is going to pop up as potentially being available. The latest is a pretty unexpected one: Bryce Harper.

Now, how did we get here? On one of his recent shows, Joel Sherman said in reference to Bryce Harper, “Harper staying in Philly is not a given.” He also went on to say that he would not be “shocked” if Harper was moved. This is interesting on a number of levels — Harper is on a fairly reasonable deal for a superstar-caliber player, and the Phillies are a team that looks to compete every single year. You have to ask yourself: what might the Phillies be looking for to give up a player like Harper?

After taking a glance at their current roster, the Phillies are in desperate need of MLB starting pitching. As of this writing, the Phillies only have three starters who will be healthy and ready for Opening Day in 2026 (Christopher Sánchez, Aaron Nola, and Jesús Luzardo). If the Phillies are after more starting pitching, the Yankees and Phillies match up quite well. Here’s a proposed trade that could make sense for both sides:

The Phillies would be getting two controllable starters with upside. Warren is a pre-arb player, and Gil is entering Arb 1, so both are extremely affordable. They’d also get some salary relief by moving Harper, who has six years and $153 million remaining on his deal.

Harper played a mostly healthy season, appearing in 132 games and slashing .261/.357/.487 with 27 home runs and 72 RBI — good for a 131 wRC+. His batted-ball data was excellent once again (see below).

The entire basis for the Yankees being interested in Harper comes down to the same question I raised when discussing Pete Alonso and Kazuma Okamoto: are the Yankees comfortable going with Ben Rice as their primary catcher in 2026?

I believe they could be — and having the opportunity to add an impact bat like Harper might sway them toward making that decision. Harper is a proven playoff performer (something the Yankees desperately need) and would be a great fit breaking up Judge and Stanton in the lineup.

Final Thoughts

The Yankees have a chance to get “the one that got away.” Yankees fans have long been critical that Harper was never seriously pursued in the 2019 offseason, even though he had a strong desire to become a Yankee. If Harper is truly available, my only hesitation is his $25 million luxury tax hit, which would likely hinder their ability to pursue my ideal target for the Yankees — Kyle Tucker.

I would prefer trading for Harper over signing Alonso, as Harper is a better defender, baserunner, and a comparable offensive player (Harper 131 wRC+ vs. Alonso 141 wRC+). I may slightly prefer signing Okamoto over Harper since it wouldn’t require giving up assets, and I believe Okamoto has the potential to be a comparable player in terms of WAR.

Overall, I wouldn’t be against the Yankees trading for Harper — however, I do think there are better paths to constructing a stronger roster for 2026 and beyond.

As always, let me know your thoughts — do you think trading for Harper would be the optimal move for the Yankees?

Follow me on X (@JosephEsposito0) to continue the discussion!