My 2 cents are that the White Sox front office was completely blindsided by Machado's decision today and is committed to not being a laughingstock for much longer. I trust the insiders who hinted that we were going for both, and I also think it's important to note that Bucket's last update on Harper was that we feel really good about where we're at with him.
I believe that Harper doesn't want to play for Philadelphia and has always been drawn to Chicago. By extension, I believe that if we match their offer, he would pick us. Given our financial situation and what just happened with Machado, there is no excuse to not do this. Contradictory front office quotes on $300 million be damned, the Sox know how important this is and I hope that they at least go down swinging.