MLB Rumors: Is this Bryce Harper asking Phillies to trade for Kris Bryant? (Photo)

Bryce Harper might have sent a signal to the Phillies front office that he wants a Kris Bryant trade to happen before the deadline. 

As we drift through the calm before the MLB trade deadline storm, teams are having to decide what side of the line they’re going to fall on.

Will they buy or will they sell?

It’s a more complicated answer for the Chicago Cubs than it should be. Currently a galaxy away from the NL postseason race, the Cubs are flirting with not selling their top stars despite all signs pointing toward that being the best route to take.

Chicago is terrible, stars like Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo are free agents unlikely to come back in the winter, and contenders are willing to make a deal.

Bryce Harper is seemingly trying to help cut out the guesswork.

On Monday night, Haprer appeared to have sent a signal to the Philadelphia Phillies front office to go get his pal Kris Bryant and make a deal with the Cubs. Harper used Bryant’s bat in the Phillies game against the Nationals, an interesting if not totally subtle move.

For what it’s worth, Harper used Bryant’s bat to help put the Phillies in a position walk-off against the Nationals.

Talk about two birds with one stone — or in this case, bat.

The two have a bromance that dates back to when they were still budding stars in the league.

Here’s Harper waxing poetic about how wonderful Bryant is:

“Great talent, a lot of power. When we were younger, we used to call him ‘silk’ because he was so smooth with everything he did. He played third, he played short, played outfield.”

He also came to Bryant’s defense when the Cubs were manipulating his service time back in 2015. That move has come back to haunt Chicago, as many thought it might at the time, now that Bryant is approaching free agency.

When is the MLB trade deadline?

The MLB trade deadline arrives at 4 pm ET on Friday, but it’s not the last window for a team to make a trade before the final month of the season.

Saturday’s deadline is the non-waiver deadline, which means it’s the last time this season that teams can make a trade without needing to place a player on waivers first. The waiver deadline is in August, and during that period teams can still make trades but first need to have the player they want to trade pass through waivers.

If one team places a claim, that player cannot be traded. The team can either allow the team that claimed him to have him or pull him back off of waivers and retain his services.