Report: Thome talks up White Sox with Bryce Harper
Is the impossible dream soon to become stunning reality?
Are the White Sox willing to spend $300 million - or more - over 10 years to land star free agent Bryce Harper?
Speaking to people in the know with the Sox the past two years, the strong feeling here remains the same. Yes, the rebuilding White Sox have plenty of room on the payroll but no, they are not interested in going $30 million-plus annually on a single player.
That is the perception, but general manager Rick Hahn has been trying to break "myths" about the way the Sox do business since he traded Chris Sale and Adam Eaton two years ago, officially launching a needed rebuild.
"Being competitive in free agency and targeting big-ticket items and hopefully converting on them is going to be the next logical step when the time is right," Hahn said. "Anyone who doubts that this organization will break from past perception or past process, I think the evidence is there that the old standard has fallen apart."
Time will tell if the White Sox convert on Harper, but Yahoo Sports reported Hall of Famer Jim Thome, Hahn's special assistant, helped the club try to lure the 26-year-old outfielder when he recently met with Harper in his hometown of Las Vegas.
Hahn declined to comment on the report Tuesday.
Considering playoff-caliber teams like the Dodgers, Astros, Yankees, Phillies, Cubs and Cardinals are also interested in Harper, the Sox's pursuit could be futile.
And even if they were willing to meet his contractual demands, would Harper accept?
On the flip side, at least it shows they are willing to go after big-money talent.
"I do feel, as we look at this market, and obviously I've seen or heard the vast amount of rumors about our activity, I think it's important to note that we are by no means losing sight of what we're trying to accomplish over the long term," Hahn said. "The long term remains the priority. We aren't looking to do stopgap fixes, so to speak. In this free-agent market, there are potential opportunities to convert on premium talent that would fit along with what we're trying to develop for the long term."
As they are currently assembled, the White Sox don't figure to be ready to make a playoff push until 2020. Adding a player like Harper would likely change that time frame.
"Usually when you look at a rebuild, entering Year 3, as we are, isn't necessarily the time teams push ahead in a winter and try to advance things and accelerate things unnaturally, and that's not what we're going to do," Hahn said. "We're going to stick with the long-term plan. But if, in fact, there is an opportunity to convert on unique talent when it becomes available that fits that long-term plan, then yes, we're going to be aggressive and fully explore it.
"But short of those opportunities, we're not going to just aggressively look to do things that don't necessarily fit with where we are as an organization and what we're trying to accomplish over the long term. We've worked too hard to put ourselves in a quality position long term, and we're not going to sacrifice that in one off-season just to make some headlines."
Harper broke in with the Nationals in 2012 at age 19. Over seven seasons, he batted .279/.388/.512 with 184 home runs and 521 RBI.
The six-time all-star was the National Leagues unanimous MVP in 2015 after slashing .330/.460/.649 with 42 homers and 99 RBI.