Phils expected to pursue Machado, Harper in offseason

Who will be the biggest free agent acquisition in the majors this offseason? Manny Machado? Bryce Harper?

Who will be the biggest free agent acquisition in the majors this offseason? Manny Machado? Bryce Harper?

And who will be the most active team in their pursuit? According to a poll of more than 10 MLB executives by Fancred Sports, the Philadelphia Phillies could get Machado or Harper or both.

"They have been connected to both players in recent years, and despite a few free agent signings last winter, they still have a relatively small amount of money committed to future contracts, which seems to position them for a potentially monster winter," surmised Fancred's Jon Heyman of Philadelphia's two-fer shot after checking with the execs.

Among the six reasons the Phillies were made early favorites in the superstar sweepstakes chase were that they have the financial means after signing a huge 10-figure TV contract and their payroll is quite low for a team in that market.

According to Heyman, Phillies execs Andy MacPhail, Matt Klentak, Ned Rice and Scott Proefrock were among the officials in Baltimore when the Orioles selected Machado -- now with the Los Angeles Dodgers -- with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft before he became an All-Star infielder.

The No. 1 pick that year was Harper, the 25-year-old outfielder who has played his entire seven-year career in Washington since getting selected by the Nationals.

"The rival execs are convinced that they could get both superstars, but that one or the other is almost a fait accompli," Heyman concluded. "That in itself would be a game-changer for a Phillies organization that found itself leading the division in 2018 earlier than many expected."

The Phillies entered Friday in a slump, losing five straight to fall 7 1/2 games back of Atlanta in the National League East and six games back in the wild-card chase.