Nearly three months in, do we really know what's up with Harper?

As "Harper's Bazaar" approaches the three-month milestone - yes, free agency began nearly three months ago! - resolution appears either to be coming much more into focus or has turned as cloudy as it's ever been, depending on your reading of the tea leaves.

Did the Dodgers' surprise move to sign A.J. Pollock on Thursday quash any chance of Bryce Harper going to L.A.?

Did Joe Maddon's simple but direct answer to a Harper question last week at the Cubs' annual winter fan fest - "Not going to happen" - shut the door completely on a Bryce-Kris Bryant reunion at Wrigley Field?

And if so, has this supposedly once-in-a-generation free agent competition really come down to the Nationals versus the Phillies?

That's certainly the scenario that has been playing out in public over the last few weeks. All the chatter has involved the Phillies, and everyone keeps insisting the Nationals are not out of the running. But no other teams are stepping forward to make a play for the biggest free agent prize in years (unless you're counting the White Sox, who were aggressive early but haven't made much news of late).

If we are to believe what has been put out there publicly, Harper has just about reached the point where he has to make his decision. And that decision is whether to stay with the known quantity in D.C. or take a chance on an up-and-coming team in Philly that could be that sports-crazed town's next big thing or its latest flop.

It's a surprising position for him to be in, one neither he nor anyone else invested in this matter could have foreseen back when the offseason began many moons ago. The big-market clubs were supposed to be all-in on Harper and start a bidding war. It was going to be the Dodgers versus the Cubs versus the Yankees versus the Giants, with the Phillies trying to beat them all with a mammoth offer and the Nationals conceding the reality of the situation and left to watch from afar.

It simply hasn't played out that way. Again, at least in public. The Dodgers, Cubs and Yankees all have gone out of their way to suggest they're not interested. No one else has stepped up to the plate. So the Phillies remain in a strong position, with the Nationals shockingly not out of the running after all.

But what if the public story that has been playing out over these last three months isn't the entire story? What if there are other teams lurking in the shadows, waiting to swoop in and sign Harper?

Maybe it's the dreaded "mystery team" that no one has considered, an owner or general manager realizing they have an unexpected opportunity to sign a superstar that could help transform their franchise.

Or maybe one of the aforementioned big-market clubs has been playing possum all along and is only now going to make an offer to sway a desperate Harper in their direction? The Dodgers, Cubs and Yankees all have the money to do this. If they really want to. Which, to date, they do not.

Or maybe Scott Boras has convinced Harper to let this thing keep playing out, to not worry about waiting until the last second to sign. Maybe he'll even convince him to wait 'til pitchers and catchers have reported.

The trouble is, we really don't know what is going on. And we certainly don't know how this is all going to end.

Until Harper actually signs a deal with somebody, all we can do is read the tea leaves and try to decipher if what's been made public so far is the entire story, or if there's more going on than anyone ever realized.