I have never been a big believer in coincidences. Things either happen or they don’t – period. But on Monday, a series of events occurred that may cause me to rethink this whole coincidence thing.

It all started out innocently enough over lunch with a dear friend who is about as Dodgers (and baseball) savvy as anyone I know. Her name is Clyle Alt and we came to know one another on Twitter several years ago. As it turns out, she is a Cal State Long Beach alum, where my son is currently attending. If there is a Dirtbag in the majors – and there are many – she knows everything there is to know about each of them.

Baseball savvy indeed.

As we were enjoying out hot pastrami sandwiches at the original Hat at Garfield Ave. and Valley Blvd. in the fine city of Alhambra, Clyle shared a little tidbit of information which, by itself, was little more than mildly interesting and trivial. She said that soon-to-be former Washington Nationals All-Star outfielder Bryce Harper was spotted just up the street on Valley Blvd. enjoying a meal at Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant back on November 14 … as in less than a month ago. Clyle’s claim was supported by a couple of posts on Twitter from that day, although one of them has since been deleted but was still accessible:

Here again, by itself, this was little more than something that makes you say ‘Huh,’ and Bryce Harper most certainly has the right to eat anywhere he so chooses. But why a small (but excellent) restaurant a good five-hour drive from where he lives? … Unless he was in Southern California for some other reason.

A coincidence?

And then, not six hours later, it was being widely reported that Dodgers part-owner Magic Johnson had already personally met with the 26-year-old Las Vegas native and 2010 number one overall draft pick out of the College of Southern Nevada who just became a free agent and is expected to land what many believe will be the largest free agent contract in baseball history … perhaps they even met around, say, November 14th-ish.

A coincidence?

It was also being reported on Monday that Magic, who employed a similar tactic to help land basketball great LeBron James for his beloved Lakers, is expected to again personally meet with Harper later this week during the MLB Winter Meetings in (wait for it…) Las Vegas, where the six-time All-Star, former Rookie of the Year, former NL MVP, and former Silver Slugger award-winner still lives.

A coincidence?

The Dodgers have been uncharacteristically quiet thus far this off-season … until now.
(Click on image to view Jeff Passan’s Yahoo.com article)

Through his seven MLB seasons, Harper has an excellent slash-line of .279 / .388 / .512 for an OPS of .900 on the button. He has also slugged 184 home runs while driving in 521. Amazingly, Harper actually has one more career home run than he has career doubles (183). (Did I mention that he is only 26 years old?).

Harper is 26-for-118 (.220) against the Dodgers over his seven MLB seasons. He has hit four home runs, three doubles, one triple, and has driven in 14 against them, including this first-inning RBI single off of Clayton Kershaw on April 20, 2018. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

As you might expect from a guy of Harper’s talents, he is represented by none other that Scott Boras. The good news is that among other things, Boras is a Dodgers season ticket holder and would love nothing more that to watch his star client up close and personal from his front row seat behind home plate. The bad news is that Scott Boras is Scott Boras and is known for his brutally tough contract negotiations, which earned him the nickname ‘Baseball’s Antichrist.’

So, is there a Bryce Harper in the Dodgers’ near future, or is all of this just a coincidence?

Stay tuned…