The Chicago White Sox should go all in on Bryce Harper

The Chicago White Sox missed out on one of the two big free agent fish this winter, the other is still out there waiting for someone to swoop in.

It has been a rough recent stretch for the Chicago White Sox in the last week or so. They missed out hard on free agent Manny Machado. He signed a ten year deal with the San Diego Padres worth $300 million dollars guaranteed.  They had a PR nightmare over the whole situation and people were wondering their actual commitment to the cause.

Well, that turned out to be a bad take because Machado simply turned down the White Sox offer in favor of more guaranteed money. If Machado would have accepted the offer from the White Sox he would have the largest contract in Chicago sports history so nobody really has any room to talk.

Should we blame Machado? No. He took the guaranteed money in a low-pressure market and is a self-admitted half hustle guy. He gets to go be the face of a franchise in a small market and play baseball on an up and coming team. He is no longer our worry — it’s done.

The news also came out this week that Colorado Rockies superstar Nolan Arenado has agreed to a contract extension. The contract is an eight-year deal that has an opt-out in three years if he were to so chose. If he were to play it out, that would take him through 2026. That takes another possible free agent away from the White Sox in the future.

Now what? The answer is simple. Do what the Padres did and swoop in on Bryce Harper as things about his contract negotiations leak. Apparently, the Padres heard what the White Sox offer was and they swooped in and offered more to him and he took it. The White Sox can easily do the same with Harper.

The Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants all remain in play for the superstar outfielder. His former team the Washington Nationals and the White Sox are the two other teams that he has apparently met with. The White Sox are in a position to offer him what they offered Machado and then some, as they really do not have much payroll on the books and are in a position to spend as their farm system begins to come up and attempt to make an impact.

There are rumors, that the consensus favorite to land him all winter (the Phillies), are beginning to become skeptical about throwing all their money at Harper. They don’t want a guy who might not want to be in Philly. If that is the case then there is no better place to play baseball than sweet home Chicago. He can play in the same city on the opposite side of his good friend Kris Bryant and this rivalry between the White Sox and Cubs can become relevant on a national scale once again.

The White Sox have the resources to pay Harper so there is no reason not to go after him. This would be an investment that pays for itself. He alone would sell so many tickets and make the big networks want to put the White Sox on TV in big-time matchups and most importantly. All of that on top of the most important thing, giving the White Sox a chance to win. They themselves have an outstanding core of young players coming in and they all will be given their chance to make an impact.

Building around Harper with this group of prospects would be a simple task. He would change the trajectory of this franchise forever. It would let the world know that they are fully committed to winning and winning a lot. It would make a huge statement, telling everyone that the White Sox and their rebuild was for real.

There are lots of reasons for Bryce to want to do it and there are reasons for the team to want to do it. So why not make it happen? Michael Kopech has already joked about letting Harper take his signature #34 from him. Harper would look fantastic in black and white and the team would automatically have their new leader and be ready to show everyone who they really are. The front office would mend all wounds created from the whole Machado business as well. This would be a win for all parties.