Bryce Harper scuffled along, hitting .214 before the All-Star Game last summer, which led to the second-worst average of his career (.249). He did not finish among the top 19 in National League Most Valuable Player voting. So, while famed agent Scott Boras whips up visions of a record-setting, sugarplum contract before next week's winter meetings, many hot-stove enthusiasts are wondering whether Harper is even a generational superstar anymore.
C'mon. Are there showgirls in Las Vegas?
"Bryce Harper is an elite player who would make every one of the 30 clubs better, unequivocally," Minnesota's Thad Levine said at the general managers meetings in Carlsbad, California, last month.