Alleged Bryce Harper contract dispute seems premature

In a Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016 file photo, Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper waits to swing during batting practice before Game 5 of baseball's National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park, in Washington. (Alex Brandon, File/AP)

Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper, seen Sept. 21 (Alan Diaz/AP)

Bryce Harper is tagged out at home by Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal in the fifth inning during Game 2 of the NLDS at Nationals Park, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper reacts after he struck out during a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Friday, July 22, 2016, in Washington. (Nick Wass/AP)

Bryce Harper hits a sac fly to score Trea Turner during Thursday's first inning. He is hitting .244 on the season after hitting .330 in his MVP 2015. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)

National League's Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals prepares to hit prior to the MLB baseball All-Star Home Run Derby, Monday, July 11, 2016, in San Diego. (Lenny Ignelzi/AP)

Bryce Harper, his agent and the Washington Nationals supposedly are at odds over Harper’s contract demands.

Which would be fine — expected even — if the Las Vegas slugger’s contract were up, or were up soon.

Harper, still only 24, becomes a free agent after the 2018 baseball season.

Can you say jumping the gun?

This was like jumping the Tsar Cannon of 1586. The Tsar Cannon was cast in bronze, weighed 40 tons and, unlike Billy Martin, was never fired in anger. Napoleon supposedly wanted to take it back to France when he defeated Moscow in 1812. That was also slightly before Harper’s contract came due.

Napoleon eventually settled for a left-handed setup guy and a player to be named later.

A couple of years ago, baseball’s winter meetings were in San Diego (they were in Las Vegas in 2008 and will be here again in 2018). Jack McKeon, nicknamed “Trader Jack” when he was Padres general manager for the way he worked the hotel lobby at the big winter confabs, bemoaned that baseball trades aren’t made in hotel lobbies anymore.

“Everything is so secretive now,” McKeon told The New York Times. “Everyone just sits in their suites and texts everyone else. No one hangs outs in the lobby anymore.”

In 1983, McKeon swung a deal for Carmelo Martinez because then-Cubs general manager Dallas Green told him in the lobby that he really wanted pitcher Scott Sanderson, but the Expos wouldn’t play ball. McKeon already knew from a previous lobby conversation with Montreal that he could acquire Sanderson. A few hours later, a three-way trade was made.

“Then at 2 in the morning, we’d invite the writers up to the room to tell them about it, have a few belts and talk about baseball,” McKeon told the Times.

At least the second two seem to have survived the test of time and players to be named later.

The Las Vegas 51s posted two photos from the winter meetings near Washington, D.C., on their Twitter account. One showed 51s staff gathered around a huge feast. The other showed 51s staff gathered around Mets manager Terry Collins in a hotel lounge. It appeared in both photos that belts were being had.

(In the second photo, there’s a rusty shack looming conspicuously over the left shoulder of 51s president Don Logan. It can be assumed this is either a decorative ornament in the courtyard or the 51s’ new indoor batting cage.)

Theories abound as to why this story about Harper’s contract got out about a season and a half prematurely.

The first is that it was the first day of the meetings, and the secret texts were just getting started.

The second is that the winter meetings are in the Washington suburbs, and the media there were looking for a story.

The third is that somebody wanted it to get out.

It would be easy to blame Harper’s agent, Scott Boras, because people want to pin everything on overbearing sports agents such as Boras. But when it was reported the Nationals and Harper were in disagreement over Harper’s $400 million (or excess) demand, Boras said that was funny because he had yet to have discussions with the Nationals regarding his boy Harp and a long-term contract.

So this would appear to be a leak bigger than the hole in the Titanic.

One might surmise the Nats are trying to curry public favor about not writing the astronomical check for Harper, who slumped to a .243 batting average with 24 home runs and 86 RBIs in 2016 after putting up huge numbers of .342, 42 and 99 the season before, for which he was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player.

It goes without saying his WAR and OPS also were off the charts in 2015.

This was the Nationals picking a fight with their star (although that Daniel Murphy is pretty good, too) for no apparent reason.

Though Harper had an off year, his jersey still was ranked ninth in sales (retiring David Ortiz was No. 1, and Las Vegan Kris Bryant, who succeeded Harper as NL MVP, was No. 2 on the most recent list). Harper remains vastly popular, particularly with younger fans. People still want to read about him, or his haircut (which has its own related search on Google), or his contract coming due, even if it doesn’t come due for two seasons.

At least they did on Monday.

By Tuesday, the Red Sox had worked a trade for Chris Sale. Harper’s nonstory got pushed to a dark corner of the hotel lobby, where Jack McKeon might have been smoking a fat cigar and having belts with old sports writers.

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.