It’s now become abundantly clear that only three teams — the San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies — are realistically in on former NL MVP Bryce Harper.
While the San Diego Padres continue to have interest, the signing of Manny Machado makes that an unlikely scenario. Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox have not been willing to offer up $300 million in guarantees to either Machado or Harper.
Now, according to this report from Bruce Levine of 670 The Score in Chicago, the White Sox have decided that they won’t bid for Harper’s services.
This really shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Still in rebuild mode, Chicago was always a long shot to add one of the game’s best players. Now that Harper could very well be looking at a $400 million contract, it makes sense for general manger Rick Hahn and Co. to move on.
As of right now, it certainly looks like Harper will end up in Philadelphia. Though, the Nationals could make a late play to retain the stud outfielder. As it relates to the Giants, they are facing what’s described as an uphill battle to land Harper.