Harper and Nats settle, avoid grievance hearing (updated with terms)

The Nationals and outfielder Bryce Harper have reached a settlement on his 2015 salary and avoided a potentially contentious grievance hearing that was scheduled for Tuesday in New York.

The two sides appeared headed for the grievance hearing, which Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo likened to an arbitration hearing, where teams take great pains to point out all of a player's shortcomings. But things took a curious turn over the weekend when Harper failed to appear as scheduled at NatsFest, the team's annual winter baseball carnival.

"We're disappointed he's not here, but he chose not to be here because of the grievance," Rizzo said at NatsFest. Harper countered with a statement issued by his representatives citing "matters out of my control" for his absence.

The issue surrounded the contract Harper signed after he was selected with the first overall pick in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. Harper has accumulated enough service time to qualify as a Super Two player - ranking in the top 22 percent of players with between two and three years of service in the major leagues - but there was a disagreement about whether he was able to opt out of his original deal and immediately become eligible for arbitration.

Because the deal was struck in the seconds before the midnight deadline to sign players, the usual opt-out clause was not included in the contract. Harper and agent Scott Boras contended that a verbal agreement was made to allow Harper to opt out. An agreement between Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association dictated that a grievance hearing would settle the matter.

Last week at the Winter Meetings in San Diego, Rizzo said: "We'd like to stay out of the hearing, if possible, but this is a business decision. And we feel that we have basis for it."

It is not known what Harper's salary for 2015 will be, but he was scheduled to earn in the neighborhood of $2.5 million through arbitration, according to MLBTradeRumors.com's calculations. Harper, who hit .273 with 13 homers and 32 RBIs during an injury-plagued 2014 season, will not be eligible for free agency until after the 2018 season.

The Washington Post first reported the settlement.

Update: The Nationals and Harper agreed to a two-year, $7.5 million deal. He will get 2.5 million in 2015 and $5 million in 2016.