I'd hope the Sox sign both, but if they only sign one, I would rather it would be Harper. There's no reason they shouldn't be the high bidder for both when all is said and done.
Now sign Ottavino. If they do manage to get Machado and or Harper, they will need a strong bullpen to compete. If they strike out on the "whales" they'll have some nice flippable pieces to continue the rebuild.
So do I. Someone will offer him that much and he'll take it -- unless the Sox blow that offer away and offer him $325M. He's not signing with the White Sox if the offers are close. Just my humble opinion, of course.
Bottom line for me is this: The White Sox must do whatever it takes to land both Harper and Machado.
Weren't the Dodgers bankrupt not too many years ago because of a divorce or something among the ownership? And didn't the rest of MLB have to bail them out to keep them in business? And now their fans can brag about how much the Dodgers can spend? And they still haven't won a World Series.
As I posted in the other thread, this is fine as long as it's 350M to 400M for 7 years. That should be enough to land them both. Otherwise, the Sox are just screwing around with their 7 year maximum, assuming this is true.
The Sox need to overpay to get anyone worthwhile to sign with them. They should be willing to pay a 20% premium to get a "whale" to sign here over a legit contender.