White Sox owner addresses sale, relocation rumors

The White Sox stayed in-house with their new front office, finalizing the hire of Chris Getz as their general manager. Rumors that the Sox would turn to their AGM began almost immediately after ownership dismissed team president Ken Williams and GM Rick Hahn last week.

Promoting from within is nothing new. Jerry Reinsdorf has developed a reputation as one of the most loyal owners to his top employees. That willingness to stay the course has led to increasing levels of frustration from a good chunk of the fanbase, as the team has made the playoffs on just three occasions since its 2005 World Series win.

That has led to some clamoring for Reinsdorf to sell the team, but he made clear in a chat with reporters he has no intention of doing so. 

“I’m going to couch this so nobody writes that I thought of selling,” Reinsdorf said (links via Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune and Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times). “Friends of mine have said: ‘Why don’t you sell? Why don’t you get out?’ My answer always has been: ‘I like what I’m doing, as bad as it is, and what else would I do?’ I’m a boring guy. I don’t play golf. I don’t play bridge. And I want to make it better before I go.”

Reinsdorf went on to downplay speculation about the franchise’s long-term home. Earlier this month, Greg Hinz of Crain’s Chicago Business wrote that Sox ownership had considered the possibility of leaving Guaranteed Rate Field when the club’s lease expired after the 2029 season. Hinz wrote that a relocation to Nashville was among the possibilities and suggested there was “some chatter among team insiders” that the 87-year-old Reinsdorf could look to sell the club.

Reinsdorf addressed Hinz’s report. 

“Ever since the article came out, I’ve been reading that I’ve been threatening to move to Nashville. That article didn’t come from me. But it’s obvious, if we have six years left…we’ve got to decide what’s the future going to be? We’ll get to it, but I never threatened to move out. We haven’t even begun to have discussions with the (Illinois) Sports Authority, which we’ll have to do soon.”

Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote that the Sox were considering three possibilities if they did decide to leave Guaranteed Rate Field: near the United Center, Soldier Field or Arlington Heights. There will presumably be more information on the stadium outlook in the coming months, but it’s not the most pressing issue for Reinsdorf or his new GM.

Turning to the on-field product, Reisndorf called this “absolutely the worst season” of his 43-year ownership tenure. He expressed hope for a rather quick turnaround, pointing to Getz’s familiarity with the organization as a reason for hiring him so quickly after firing Williams and Hahn. That continuity will carry over to the dugout, as Getz confirmed that manager Pedro Grifol will get a second season at the helm, via Jesse Rogers of ESPN.

As for the roster, Reinsdorf expressed broad optimism in the existing core (second Sullivan link). He pushed back against the need for a huge overhaul and indicated the much-maligned organizational culture had already improved. Reinsdorf implied that some external acquisitions — presumably players who have since been traded — “contributed” to their clubhouse discord. While Getz suggested no one on the roster was truly untouchable, Reinsdorf didn’t sound like an owner eager to sign off on another rebuild.

In some respects, that’s an understandable course of action. The AL Central likely projects as one of the league’s weakest divisions yet again. The Sox decided against trading Dylan Cease, Luis Robert Jr., Eloy Jiménez or Andrew Vaughn at the deadline. They generally targeted upper minors help in the deals they did make. There should also be plenty of payroll space going into the offseason.

If the Sox buy out their options on Liam Hendriks and Tim Anderson, they’d enter the winter with roughly $84.5M in guaranteed commitments. An arbitration class headlined by Cease, Vaughn and Michael Kopech could add around $20M. Bringing Anderson back would tack on $13M (the difference between the $14M option value and a $1M buyout). The Sox opened this season with a player payroll north of $180M, so there should be a decent amount of room to add from the middle tiers of free agency.

At the same time, Getz and his front office will face an uphill battle in fixing what is currently a 53-81 roster. They dealt away a good chunk of their bullpen at the deadline. The rotation behind Cease is full of questions. Korey Lee is unestablished as an MLB catcher. The Sox would need at least one starting middle infielder and would have to address both spots if they move on from Anderson. They’d have a hard time finding a taker for Yoán Moncada but need better production out of third base.

It’s a lot to address even before considering the clubhouse dynamics which Reinsdorf minimized. Getz should have a fair bit of flexibility during his first offseason at the helm, but it’ll be difficult to fix all the weaknesses in one winter.