Bryce Harper, a National League MVP at 23, is a free agent at 26, peddling his services in an industry that’s grown to nearly $11 billion in annual revenues. His combination of skills, age and marketing cachet make him an excellent fit for any major league franchise.

Even the San Diego Padres.

Harper, who has 184 career home runs and a lifetime .900 OPS, rejected a 10-year, $300 million contract offer from the Washington Nationals in September, and is a good bet to set a new standard for the most lucrative contract in North American sports history.

It may take weeks for that process to play out. In the meantime, USA TODAY Sports will examine why every team could use Harper’s services – some more than others, certainly some better-equipped to procure them.

A case for Harper and the Padres joining forces:

On the field

Remember the 2015 San Diego Padres? They were a forgettable bunch, 88-game losers who churned through three managers and then quickly disassembled.

For a hot few moments the previous December, however, they were the toast of baseball, as general manager A.J. Preller spent lots of cash to acquire Justin Upton, James Shields, Wil Myers and Matt Kemp. Just for kicks, he traded for Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton right before Opening Day.

Nothing endears a GM to baseball media like filling the winter news vacuum, so Preller was widely praised - and then pilloried when the grand experiment imploded.

We revisit this sequence to note that it’s been four years since the Padres’ lost winter, time enough for Preller to undo almost all those mistakes and re-stock what’s now the consensus No. 1 farm system in baseball – as deep as it is loaded with high-end talents.

It’s also helpful to recall that for all their recent tanking and general irrelevance, the Padres under chairman Ron Fowler at one point ordered a go-for-it mandate that jacked up the payroll by 25% in one off-season.

That side of Fowler showed up again last February, when he startled the industry by spending $144 million on first baseman Eric Hosmer, the idea that the former World Series champion serve as catalyst for the Padres’ gaggle of young players.

Hosmer’s leadership was palpable, but his league-average production at first base didn’t prevent a 96-loss season.

That’s OK. There’s a bigger picture here, and Harper’s free agency fits right into it.

“What percentage are we through the process? I’m hoping we’re at least 50-plus percent through,” Fowler told the San Diego Union-Tribune in July. “Those of us who follow the minor leagues know we have some players down there that are quite good. We’ll still stay with our ‘20/’21 dates. We look at Philadelphia and Atlanta and Milwaukee, and we realize it’s not a straight line. It’s more of a hockey stick, where all of a sudden you get better.”

And the Padres are nearing that curve.

That 2020 target looks real after the Padres signed pitcher Garrett Richards to a two-year, $15 million deal, knowing he’d sit out all of 2019 rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. It’s a trendy move, but the guaranteed money is significantly more than similar gambles from the Cubs (Drew Smyly, $10 million) and Rays (Nathan Eovaldi, $2 million guaranteed) the past two off-seasons.

While prospect development is far from an exact science, the Padres are positioned to flood the zone in coming years with high-end talent.

At present, they have a pair of well-paid veteran holdovers in Hosmer and Myers surrounded by a dozen players with some big league experience, most lacking the track record to determine their ceiling.

Here’s the challenge: Figuring who among catchers Francisco Mejia and Austin Hedges, outfielders Franchy Cordero, Franmil Reyes, Hunter Renfroe and Manuel Margot are the keepers.

After that comes the flood.

Second baseman Luis Urias has already arrived. Shortstop Ferrnando Tatis Jr. should enter 2019 as one of the game’s top five prospects. Outfielders Buddy Reed and Josh Naylor are moving quickly. And there’s nearly two rotations worth of high-end pitching talent, led by Mackenzie Gore but including closer-to-San Diego talents such as Chris Paddack and Logan Allen.

Know this: Prospects will absolutely break your heart. Yet the sheer volume – and ceiling – of them in San Diego would offer Harper an enticing alternative to joining a traditional power with immediate, outsize expectations.

And should just a handful of them pop, the young players will provide the Padres significant cost control, allowing them to carry the contracts of Harper, Hosmer and Myers (signed through 2022) without killing the budget.

Off the field

Have you been to San Diego?

After years of chafing at weather delays in Washington – and nearly suffering a season-ending injury on a slick field in 2017 – Harper would find hardball heaven in San Diego.

Last September alone, the Nationals suffered through six rain delays and had three games postponed.

That matches the number of postponements in Petco Park’s entire history – dating to 2004.

No, if Harper desires a return to the West Coast, he couldn’t do much better than San Diego. Heck, should he settle in the tony north county suburbs, he could make two turns – east on the Ted Williams Parkway, north on I-15 – and be home in Las Vegas in less than five hours.

(Naturally, the $420 million or so over 12 years Harper figures to command would afford him a jet, but indulge us, momentarily).

Meanwhile, Harper would give Padres fans their first bona fide superstar since the late, great Tony Gwynn. At present, going to a Padres game qualifies as A Thing To Do in San Diego – along with the beach, the Del Mar Fair, the zoo, etc. Attendance has never totally cratered, largely hovering between 2 million-2.5 million in the 12 seasons since the Padres’ last playoff berth.

Harper wouldn’t exactly pay for himself – but he’d surely awaken a base that hasn’t dissolved despite a decade-plus of losing.

With the Chargers now in L.A., the Padres have yet to stage an aggressive takeover of the town. Harper could lead that charge – and capture many of the dollars once spent on the NFL.

Can they pull it off?

With a franchise valued at $1.3 billion and annual revenues exceeding $260 million, according to Forbes, the Padres certainly have the wherewithal to pay Harper.

It’s hard to believe, given their geographic limitations – L.A. to the north, Mexico to the south, the desert to the east – but the Padres scored one of the more lucrative TV contracts in 2012, striking a deal valued in 2012 at $1.2 billion. The Padres retain a 20% equity stake in Fox Sports San Diego.

It’s not the YES Network by any means, but it certainly provides a foundation of cash augmented by the rising tides of centralized revenue flowing from Major League Baseball.

Will it happen?

Possibly. The Padres will be a dark horse in this chase, given their market limitations and the fat cats in on Harper. Be shocked if they land him. Don’t be so shocked if they are among the most aggressive of the Mystery Teams.