
On Sunday, Bryce Harper played the last game of his one-year, $21,625,000 million contract with the Washingto Nationals. The outfielder, who agreed to the deal in May 2017 to avoid arbitration, went 2-for-4 at the plate in the 2018 finale -- a 12-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies.
That may end up the last time Harper wears a Nationals uniform. He can become a free agent the morning after the World Series ends, which is no later than Nov. 1 this year. In an on-field interview with MASN, Harper fought back tears when he was asked about his last at-bat.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"It's tough," Harper told MASN's Dan Kolko. "Sometimes you go up there, and you never know what's going to happen ... [I'm] getting a little emotional right now because you never know. I was happy to go up there and hit a double, and ride it off like that.
"If I'm back, I'd love to be. If I'm not, then we'll see what happens."
In an interview with the Washington Post last week, Harper didn't sound like someone who wanted to leave Washington D.C. But the 26-year-old's love of his first big-league city won't deter other teams from trying get him to sign on the dotted line.
The Giants are expected to be one of those teams. They went hard after slugger Giancarlo Stanton and two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani last winter, but struck out on both players. Las Vegas oddsmakers gave San Francisco the eighth-best odds to sign Harper, and the Giants have made their interest clear behind the scenes, according to NBC Sports Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic.
San Francisco Giants
Find the latest San Francisco Giants news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Given Harper's feelings for D.C., though, the new person running the front office will have their work cut out trying to bring the six-time All-Star to the Bay Area.