Wire Taps: Cubs want Bryce Harper to wait; Nationals looking at Brian Dozier, Josh Harrison; Adam Eaton has to rebound

Happy Christmas Eve, all! If you look under your tree tomorrow morning, you’ll find... Bryce Harper jerseys for 50% off on clearance! It’s the gift you always wanted!

On a more serious note, thank you all as always for reading and waking up with Wire Taps — here’s to another NLCS-free year ahead.

And now, the (limited) links:

Cubs told Scott Boras to wait before accepting another deal for Bryce Harper (Chicago Sun Times)
Theo Epstein reportedly "urged [Boras and Harper] to wait before accepting an offer... until the Cubs had a chance to move some payroll off the books." In other words, there's interest, but it's unclear if there's money behind the interest.

Nationals Mailbag: What is there left to do this offseason? (WaPo)
Is the rotation set? What's the deal at second base (and could it involve Brian Dozier or Josh Harrison)? Why didn't Davey Martinez see the hot seat after last season?

Adam Eaton among 2019 rebound candidates (MLB.com)
It's not performance for Eaton — it's health — and if he can stay healthy, the Nationals will improve by quite a bit over the long run.

Would anyone support "Expos Day" at Nationals Park? - (MASN)
"Based on the responses I get anytime I reference a Nationals player surpassing a former Expo on the franchise leaderboard, I sense D.C. baseball fans aren’t interested one bit in embracing this club’s original roots."

Each MLB team's best win of the 2018 season (MLB.com)
The Nats fell behind by nine runs before coming back to win, and then they lost to the Marlins the next day. The things you forget!

The Nationals overhauled their roster for youth, speed and energy. Will it pay off? - (WaPo)
"Assuming Bryce Harper signs elsewhere, and the Nationals are proceeding as if he will, they will likely make three more substantial moves before the beginning of spring training."

The most dominating pitches of 2018 (MLB.com)
Max Scherzer's fastball, Sean Doolittle's fastball, and Stephen Strasburg/Scherzer's changeup all made the cut.