After flipping Bryce Harper at the deadline, along with every other player who wasn’t nailed down, it seemed as though the Nationals had given up on trying to retain him in free agency. But according to Fancred’s Jon Heyman, Washington is prepping for “a strong effort to try to keep” their homegrown superstar this winter.
Such a push is complicated by the Nats’ financial situation, as laid out by Chelsea Janes in the Washington Post. Janes writes that Washington doesn’t just want to avoid going over the competitive balance tax threshold for the third straight season, “they do not want to come close.