Bryce Harper: “giraffes are so legit!”

Every time I write or tweet about Bryce Harper I get a lot of people responding negatively. They hate him for some reason. Or at least he annoys them. I’m not sure how this can annoy anyone:

Great day at the zoo with @kayvarner! so much fun interacting with the animals…giraffes are so legit! #BrevardZoo pic.twitter.com/mga1dJW9oV

— Bryce Harper (@Bharper3407) March 14, 2014

Before you say anything, yes, it’s a slow news day. In other news, my friend Jeff Snider is the person who apprised me of this tweet. Here’s how our conversation about it went:

Jeff: You follow Bryce Harper on Twitter? Big news in this one:https://twitter.com/Bharper3407/status/444542359603531776

me:  Bulls**t. Giraffes are frauds, man.

Jeff:  Clown opinion, bro. SO legit.

me:  Agree to disagree here, dude.

er, bro

Jeff:  Yeah, dude is much more for dudes our age.

me: I know. I gotta keep it real. (do people still say “keep it real?”)

So, really, if you’re going to hate someone, hate people like us. We’re awful. Don’t hate Bryce Harper.

Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia reports that Phillies owner John Middleton flew to Las Vegas for a meeting with Bryce Harper on Friday. Per ESPN’s Jeff Passan, it’s “more of a meet-and-greet than a sign-a-deal” affair, but as the club is still at the forefront of trade rumors involving the All-Star slugger, there remains a possibility (however slight) that something could be completed in the days to come.

Even now, the Phillies aren’t alone in the race to sign Harper, but recent rumors have helped whittle down the competition from five or more teams (Phillies, Nationals, White Sox, Giants, and Padres) to three strong contenders. The Giants are said to be interested in a lucrative short-term deal with the outfielder, while the Padres remain in the conversation despite inking Manny Machado to a mammoth 10-year, $300 million contract this week. It’s not yet clear just how far either team would go to outbid Philadelphia as talks with Harper intensify.

As for the Nationals and White Sox, the former officially bowed out earlier today, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman adds that the latter won’t make a strong play for Harper as they feel the asking price and competing offers are “getting too high” for the 26-year-old’s services. If a mystery team is still in the mix, there’s been no word on their standing with Harper in the last month or so.