One of the most famous and legendary baseball players in the history of the Washington Nationals was Bryce Harper. He decided to quit Washington in 2018. The news stunned all his fans to great grief. Bryce played for Washington since 2012 and suddenly quit in 2018, soon after he announced his engagement and joined with Philadelphia Phillies.
Even though People all around social media were thinking about the real reason why so sudden Bryce, who was at the peak of his sports career, decided to quit Washington? Recently, the real reasons behind the quit have come to light.
Who is Bryce Harper?
Bryce Harper is one of the most iconic and legendary baseball players in the present era. Known for his superb gaming techniques and practice, Bryce has won millions of hearts around the globe with his Iconic and Trendy hairstyles and fitness routines. Bryce was born on October 16, 1992. Hailing from Las Vegas, Nevada. His real name is Bryce Aaron Max Harper. The player turns to be 30 years old in 2022.
His talent for a baseball games was very first seen when he was in High School. That was the time when Harper got a chance to be featured in the magazine Sports Illustrated in 2009, where his comparison was made to One of the biggest Baseball Icons, LeBron James. Very young Harper got his GED, and soon he was eligible to play in the Major Baseball League.
Harper started his sports career as a Catcher in the year 2010 when he was a member of the Scenic West Argeletic Conference(SWAC)in the National Junior College Athletic Association. With numerous awards like- SWAC Player of the Year 2010, and Golden Spikes Award 2010, He kept flourishing with every passing day, and in the years, his game came into the spotlight.
And he got the biggest chance to play for Washington as its player. It was the same year in which Washington Nationals selected him in the first overall selection as an Outfielder with a contract of the five-year worth $9.9 million, including a $6.25 million signing bonus and eight semesters of college tuition.
His selection to Washington was a major turn in his sports career. With his selection in Washington, he made some amazing records and played brilliantly, which made him popular around the globe.
Some of his biggest achievements that he has achieved so far are as follows:
He is one of the Brightest Catchers and Right Outfielders, and he has won All-star seven times. He also was able to make it to NL MVP two times and won Silver Slugger, NL Hank, and Aaron Awards two times. It is expected that he will be joining World Baseball Classic in the upcoming 2023.
It was all going well with Washington till 2019, but suddenly after his knee injury, his exit was declared in public! Was it his injury, or was it something else? Many sources and insiders said that Bryce was totally disappointed and got hurt emotionally, which turned out as his exit from the team he used to play for!
He wanted to stay with the team for a long as he himself mentioned about it in an interview but was unable to continue the same; for some circumstances and situations that arose suddenly, and the end was not sorted out. All of it made him bound to leave the team and switch to Philadelphia Phillies!
Reasons behind his exit from Washington Revealed?
The biggest reason why Harper said Goodbye to Washington, as revealed by him in an Interview earlier in 2019, was- He was unhappy with the lowball offer that was being offered to him, irrespective of the years he played for the team. The free agency process made him rebel to leave the team. Apart from it, as quoted in the words of Harper, he told- He was also badly injured at the time.
He told further- He also had a meeting with the Owner of Washinton Nationals, Mr.Mark Lerner, but things didn’t go well, and he decided to quit. The main issue that led to such frustrating circumstances was the deal of the Bryce Harper Contract.
His Washington Nationals contract was worth 300 Million Dollars for 10, among which 100 Million dollars were to be included as a Deferral amount, all this amount was to be paid in later years, but the loophole was that this contract did not include inflation.
And a contract that has no calculation according to the inflation obviously over the years will have its value decreased, whereas the offer from Philadelphia Phillies didn’t contain anything as such as any Deferral amount. It is said that Harper also got an offer from Houston Astros, but he turned down the offer due to the low money being offered.
Harper quit Washington and signed A 330 Million dollars contract with the Phillies. The player then played his first season with Philadelphia Phillies, which turned out to be fruitful for him. On the other side, Washington continued their game without him.
Backlash and hatred faced by Bryce Harper
The moment when the news of Harper leaving Washington came to light. People started spreading rumors, and he was the target of the trollers. Rumors like- Harper hated Washington, and he hates the team started to surface all around the web. People started their hate comments on the issue, and the situation became worsened. But what was the reality? Did Harper really want to leave Washington?
NO! Haper himself revealed that, If possible, he would have played with Washington Nationals for all his life, but the monetary value that was offered to him was not worth his talents. He stood for himself and firmly believed that he deserved more.
It became very common for fans and people to start throwing their hatred on others so easily without knowing the real reason behind a decision made by their icon star. Still, as a human, we should try to respect what our favorites make. Money is important, too, and with money comes a considerable amount of self-satisfaction and deliverance for the team.
It might have been the reason that Harper was not happy internally, and quitting seemed the best solution for him to do back then. Hoping Bryce Harper is happy with his association with the Phillies, and we wish him years of success and much more big fandom for the upcoming matches and his career.