It took until the stroke of midnight for the Nationals to reach agreement on a contract with Bryce Harper. But how close was this deal to not getting done? According to Stan Kasten, via Bill Ladson, the deal almost fell apart with moments to spare.
Kasten: "The truth is, with a full minute to go, Mark and I both thought that we were not going to have a deal."
Most baseball insiders were confident this deal would get done, so hearing this is a little bit surprising. But knowing Scott Boras, he probably wanted to take every opportunity he could to negotiate the best deal for his client.
According to Howard Fendrich, Mike Rizzo had a similar sentiment.
GM Mike Rizzo: "Got the negitations done seconds before the midnight deadline.
Can you imagine the stress that Kasten and Rizzo must have felt at 11:59 p.m. if in fact the deal was really that close to not happening? Luckily, they kept their composure and made sure they had a deal in place by the time the deadline passed.