3 teams that should still be kicking themselves for not signing Bryce Harper

Padres got the wrong star in 2019

The San Diego Padres have gone star-hunting since, but it’s clear that their amalgamation of star power doesn’t quite work. A complete absence from the postseason this year for a team featuring so many stars should be viewed as unacceptable when you compare the Padres on paper to some of the other teams that clawed tooth and nail into the postseason. 

Instead of nabbing Harper in free agency in 2019, the Padres instead signed Manny Machado. 

Both players are undeniably talented, but when signing a player of Machado and Harper’s caliber, you also have to consider leadership and character. On the heels of a poor season for San Diego, multiple independent reports (see here and here) have cast doubts over Machado’s leadership style or lack thereof.

Meanwhile, Harper seems to motivate his team and bring the tide up season after season. 

It's unfair to compare work ethics definitively, but optically, Harper did everything he could to get back to his team and make himself an effective piece of the puzzle. He returned from Tommy John surgery in record time and even tried a new defensive position to make himself useful and implicitly display how important it was for each and every player to pull their weight. 

Based solely on what we see and hear reported, that's not what San Diego is getting from Machado. The right leader can completely change a team's fortunes. Perhaps if yo uswapped Machado for Harper, there's a title in San Diego at this point.