Bryce Harper Odds: Dodgers Favored to Land Star over Phillies, Cubs, Giants

Bryce Harper figures to sign with a team someday, and Bookmaker provided a list of odds for where that destination will be as the 2019 season approaches.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the favorites at minus-150 (bet $150 to win $100), while the Philadelphia Phillies (plus-125) and Chicago Cubs (plus-4,000) round out the top three. There is a significant gap between the Dodgers and Phillies when compared to the rest of the league.

This comes after Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported the Phillies offered the slugger a contract worth more than $300 million. He noted Philadelphia thinks it has the high bid but its "confidence to win was dented a tad by emergence of LA (a desired Harper spot)."

There has been plenty of momentum heading in the Dodgers’ direction, and Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com reported manager Dave Roberts was with club officials who met with Harper in his hometown of Las Vegas on Sunday.

Jeff Passan of ESPN said sources told him and colleague Ramona Shelburne the National League West team was "re-engaged" with the hope of signing Harper to a short-term deal.

Los Angeles makes sense on the surface, especially after it traded outfielders Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp earlier this offseason. It lost the last two World Series, and Harper is someone who could help put it over the top and break a championship drought that dates back to 1988.

Harper is just 26 years old and already has a National League MVP, NL Rookie of the Year, Silver Slugger and six All-Star Game appearances on his resume. He finished with 34 home runs, a career-best 100 RBI and a league-leading 130 walks in 2018 and would instantly bolster the Dodgers’ offense heading into the season.

However, there have also been Phillies connections throughout the offseason.

Jim Bowden of CBS Sports said Feb. 16, "I keep hearing there's a lot of momentum and traction here on [Bryce Harper] going and signing with the Philadelphia Phillies. He could be rounding third and heading home shortly."

Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia noted Phillies owner John Middleton was in Las Vegas when there were "talks clearly ongoing."

Philadelphia has been among the most aggressive teams in the league this offseason and already signed outfielder Andrew McCutchen and traded for catcher J.T. Realmuto and shortstop Jean Segura. Adding Harper could make it a favorite in the National League East following a 14-game improvement from 66 wins to 80 wins from 2017 to 2018.

As for the Cubs, Heyman said during an interview with 94 WIP they checked in on Harper. Still, chairman Tom Ricketts said the club was out of money left to spend, per Tony Andracki of NBC Sports Chicago.

That would seemingly rule them out.