The Houston Astros once confirmed that they had a deal in place to acquire then-Washington Nationals superstar Bryce Harper in 2018 but that it did not go through.
The details of the trade had not been publicly revealed until Thursday, when Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reported that the Astros would have dealt infielders Abraham Toro and Randy Cesar, right-handed pitchers Josh James and J.B. Bukauskas and left-handed pitcher Kent Emanuel.
Harper was in his walk year with the Nats in 2018 and eventually left town for the Philadelphia Phillies on a 13-year, $330 million contract. He and the Phils will be playing the Astros in the World Series starting Friday.
Ultimately, the Astros failed to land Harper because Nationals owner Ted Lerner did not agree to the trade, per Rome. The parameters had been agreed upon by then-Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and Nats general manager Mike Rizzo.
As far as the prospects go, Toro is currently in the big leagues with the Seattle Mariners. He hit .185 alongside 10 home runs and 35 RBI in 109 games this season. J.B. Bukauskas had a 7.79 ERA in 21 games as a reliever for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2021.
Emanuel is now in the Phillies organization with the Triple-A affiliate. The year before, he pitched 10 games as a reliever and posted a 2.55 ERA. James is still with the Astros and pitched in Triple-A in 2022 after 73 appearances from 2018-2021 (4.64 ERA). César did not get promoted to the big leagues.
The Nationals ended up doing well for themselves by winning the World Series in 2019. They are currently in a massive rebuilding phase, however, with an eye toward rebuilding the farm system and competing in the future.
Harper and the Phillies are looking for the team's first World Series since 2008 and third overall. Game 1 is Friday in Houston.
