This was supposed to be the offseason that Matt Harvey broke or dented a team's bank. This was supposed to be the offseason that he and Bryce Harper formed a Scott Boras-managed tag team and ruled a historic free-agent class.
The Harvey train began rolling around the time he started the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field, in the middle of his first full big league season. Mets fans were resigning themselves to the possibility that the Dark Knight would move to the dark side of Gotham to pitch for his boyhood team.
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Then Harvey's elbow unraveled a month after that ASG start, followed by his psyche three seasons later. He left the Mets a few months earlier than expected when he was traded to the Reds for Devin Mesoraco last May.
By that point, the Yankees weren't all that interested in him. On Monday, they re-signed 36-year-old J.A. Happ for $17 million a season; last month, they re-signed 38-year-old CC Sabathia for $8 million.
On Wednesday, it will be Manny Machado, not the 29-year-old Harvey, getting the grand tour of the Stadium. Machado wasn't supposed to be available this offseason, but he and the Orioles failed to work out a long-term extension. Machado, not Harvey, will see his face Photoshopped onto a Yankees uniform. Machado, not Harvey, may receive a nine-figure contract offer from the Steinbrenners and Brian Cashman. .
Harvey will have to be content with the one-year contract he received Tuesday from the Angels that's worth a reported $11 million in guaranteed money and $3 million in incentives based on how many starts he makes.
This would be an ideal spot to say "Can't predict ball," to write a few words about how no one knows what the future holds for players, but then again, Harper is still going to be paid a ridiculous amount of money and Harvey, somehow, could still be a top-of-the-rotation starter.
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Harvey's salary may be in line with that of a mid-rotation type (think former Yankees great Lance Lynn's $10 million AAV with the Rangers), but he's arguably the Halos' No. 1 or No. 2 at the moment, depending on how one feels about Andrew Heaney and assuming LA is done spending on starters.
Heaney's rate stats over 180 innings with the Angels last season (4.15 ERA, 3.99 FIP, 1.200 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 4.00 K/BB) were better than Harvey's over 128 innings with the Reds (4.50, 4.33, 1.250, 7.8, 3.96), but not so much better that Heaney has to be considered the ace.
Jaime Barria (3.41 ERA/4.58 FIP) and Tyler Skaggs (4.02/3.63) produced middling results in 2018, and Shohei Ohtani had his own pitching elbow unravel after he showed No. 1 stuff.
In other words, the Angels lack a horse. A Harvey who is intent on landing a bigger, better contract next offseason may have the inside track on that role.
It's also possible that Harvey is just a mid-rotation starter at this point in his career and will be that, or worse, in Anaheim.
At this point, predicting Harvey's future is mere guesswork; remember, the assumption once was that he would be getting fitted for pinstripes around this time.
