The Chicago White Sox are one of the teams that are believed to be in the running to sign Manny Machado or Bryce Harper, but they may not be willing to come close to meeting the contractual demands of either player.
Both Machado and Harper are said to be seeking 10-year contracts, and Bruce Levine of 670 The Score in Chicago reports that the White Sox have no plans to offer more than seven.
Reports of the White Sox offering ten plus years for Manny Machado or Bryce Harper are ”Without any substance and flat out wrong “ according to high ranking industry sources . Wh Sox will not be giving offer of more than 7 years for either player.
— Bruce Levine (@MLBBruceLevine) January 2, 2019
Assuming the White Sox are still in the running, we can only assume one of two things to be true — Chicago is bluffing, or they are willing to offer a higher enough average annual salary that their seven-year offers are worth considering for Machado and/or Harper.
For what it’s worth, ESPN’s Jeff Passan — one of the most respected MLB insiders — reported on Wednesday that the White Sox are willing to go 10 years. Levine’s report seemed to be a response to that, so time will tell which is accurate.
Machado has potentially already made up his mind about where he will sign, and this is not the first time we have heard the White Sox are unwilling to make a record-breaking offer to either superstar free agent. Unless that is merely posturing, it sounds unlikely that Machado or Harper ends up in Chicago.
