The calendar has turned to 2019, and the two biggest free agents available this winter, Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, have still yet to find new homes.
Both players have been linked to a number of teams, but may be holding out to receive an offer of 10 years or more, which not many clubs seem willing to do. One team that has shown interest in both players in the Chicago White Sox.
They have a number of talented young players but lack a true superstar and have plenty of money to spend. While it is unclear if either player has interest in heading to the Southside of Chicago considering they are going through a rebuild, it was thought that the White Sox may be the highest bidders for both players which could have swayed them in their direction.
It appears that may no longer be the case though as Bruce Levine of WSRC-AM Radio reported the White Sox are not willing to go past a seven-year contract offer for either player:
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
This certainly bodes well for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are not believed to have any interest in retaining Machado but have been linked to Harper.
The Dodgers are believed to only want to give Harper a shorter term deal though, so if other teams like the White Sox are only willing to do the same as well then Harper could very well be headed to Los Angeles.
With Spring Training a little over a month away, resolutions on both of these superstars should come soon, with many other free agent signings and trades to follow.
