Perhaps most importantly, Harper is just 26 years old. If he arrives, he would instantly join Pete Rose, Jim Thome, and Cliff Lee as the biggest free agents to sign with the Phillies. But those three were much older when they came to Philadelphia. Rose was 37 when he signed in December 1978. Thome was 32 in December 2002, and Lee was 32 in December 2010. The free agency of Harper and Machado, because of their age and talent, was nearly unprecedented.