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Nationals and Bryce Harper reportedly agree on 2-year/$7.5M deal

According to multiple reports this morning, the Washington Nationals and Bryce Harper have avoided the need for a grievance hearing that was scheduled for Tuesday by agreeing on a 2-year/$7.5M contract.

By Patrick Reddington
H.Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Nationals and Bryce Harper have reportedly agreed on a 2-year/$7.5M deal.

Washington Post writer Adam Kilgore was the first to report this morning that the Nats and their 22-year-old, 2010 no.1 overall pick had agreed on a deal that would allow them to avoid a grievance hearing that was scheduled for Tuesday in New York.

The dispute dated back to August of 2010 when Harper and the Nationals agreed on a 5-year/$9.9M deal moments before the deadline to sign that year's picks.

Harper and his agent, Scott Boras, reportedly believed there was an oral agreement that there would be a clause in the deal that would allow him to opt out of the major league contract l if he became eligible for arbitration before the original deal was over, and when the Nationals claimed there was no such agreement on the clause and didn't include it in the contract, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association stepped in with a compromise which said if Harper did qualify for arbitration a grievance hearing would be held.

With the hearing set to take place on Tuesday, both sides reportedly came to an agreement on Sunday night as the WaPost's Kilgore wrote this morning.

Since that intial report from the Washington Post, several different sources have provided updates and details on the agreement:

Harper was scheduled to make $1.5M in 2014, and projections from MLBTraderumors.com said he might have made $2.5M if he had been allowed to opt into arbitration.

The two sides had a public "spat" this weekend when Nationals' GM Mike Rizzo expressed disappointment that Harper chose not to attend NatsFest, the yearly gathering of players and fans which was held on Saturday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in the nation's capital.

"We're disappointed he's not here," Rizzo said, "but he chose not to be here because of the grievance."

Harper's representatives responded in a message to The Washington Post's James Wagner shortly after Rizzo's comments were published:

"'I have attended NatsFest each year and always enjoy my experience with the fans, but was unable to attend this year’s event due to matters out of my control,' Harper said through his representatives. "I look forward to next year’s NatsFest.'"

Two days later, the two sides have seemingly settled their dispute.

As of now (12/15/14: 9:49 AM) there is no official announcement on the deal from the Nationals...

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