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MLB open thread (Updated)

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* Joe Cowley at the Sun-Times…

[Bulls coach Billy Donovan] has two years left on his current deal, and even if the front office and Bulls ownership didn’t value Donovan, Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf does not like paying dead money for fired coaches.

A source recently said that Reinsdorf — who is also the chairman of the White Sox — knew that manager Pedro Grifol had put in a fireable season by midsummer of 2023, but he wanted to wait at least a year so the dead money wasn’t as big a hit.

The White Sox finished the 2023 season with 61 wins and 101 losses. They are currently 1-9.

And yet Reinsdorf wants up to $2 billion from taxpayers to build a new ballpark.

Anyway, have at it.

…Adding… A commenter notes that while Reisndorf hates spending “dead money” on fired coaches, he “wants taxpayers to pay dead money for an unused stadium.” Spot on.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 1:20 pm

Comments

Taxpayers don’t like spending money for billionaires to get rent free stadiums with bad product.

Comment by Frida’s boss Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 1:22 pm
uh… Go Cubs Go.

Comment by Anthony Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 1:26 pm
Glad the Cubs were on the west coast for that collapse last night. I only saw the good part of that game and was sound asleep when the bullpen imploded.

They are an interesting team. Could probably use some more arms, and maybe if they are in it, the Ricketts will spring for a top starter. Counsell seems to know his stuff and has the lineup in a good place. They are fun to watch so far.

Go Cubs.

Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 1:30 pm
I won’t complain about a 6-4 start against some talented teams. That was a real bad loss last yesterday. No more of that please.

Comment by DS Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 1:32 pm
Sox could lose 120 games this year. A better manager would get them 117 losses. So I don’t blame Getz for keeping Grifol. The manager, general manager, scouting department, and the team on the field are all afterthoughts to getting the money for the stadium and then selling the team.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 1:35 pm
Reinsdorf really does not get enough “credit” as a truly atrocious owner. The Sox won a World Series, obviously an accomplishment that can never be taken away from them, but they have done nothing at all since then and nothing before. Aside from one seemingly fluke season, they have zero, and I mean zero, postseason success of any kind for well over a century.

Meanwhile, the Bulls had the greatest dynasty in recent memory, and only seemingly did so because two teams were dumb enough to not draft Michael Jordan and the Bulls were quick to dismantle the team ASAP assuming that building a generational team like that would be easy as hell for them.

Reinsdorf stinks.

Also, I mentioned that two teams passed on Jordan, and yet really only Portland gets mocked for doing so. It really goes to show you how good of a player Hakeem Olajuwon was that absolutely nobody gives the Houston Rockets grief for taking him over Michael freaking Jordan.

Comment by TJ Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 1:35 pm
What’s the point of being a billionaire sports franchise owner if you’re not willing to part with a few million to make the team better? Why become a billionaire at all if you’re pinching pennies into your 80s?

Comment by vern Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 1:36 pm
Irony is completely lost to those with this level of arrogance. Taxpayer funding of deliberately bad teams is “dead money.”

Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 1:39 pm
I have been a White Sox fan since 1957 but I’m now re-evaluating my fandom. It’s time for a change in ownership and a complete overhaul of the product. Also, no need for a new stadium, especially using taxpayer funds.

Comment by Retired SURS Employee Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 1:40 pm
==Reinsdorf does not like paying dead money for fired coaches==
But wants taxpayers to pay dead money for an unused stadium?

Comment by Vote Quimby Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 1:42 pm
Reinsdorf getting public money for a stadium would be a political miracle at this point. If he was showing any dedication to investing in the team and the area, they maybe he could warm a couple people up (big maybe), but he’s showing his cards that he just wants taxpayers to pay so he doesn’t have to. Greed is not popular.

Comment by CornAl DoGooder Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 1:44 pm
I’ve liked the Sox since Harry was their announcer when I was in college and had the privilege of watching a young man called the Big Hurt arrive in Chicago when I did permanently. With Jimenez and Robert out, they may not have 5 wins on May 1st. As much as a love the thought of them being in the 78, unless he sells the team, move to Nashville, Gary, where ever. I am just about done. He makes the McCaskey’s look good.

Comment by levivotedforjudy Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 2:07 pm
My son was at the KC Sox game at KC last week, and the game was blacked out inside the stadium. That is when you know you have a bad product.

On the plus side, the tickets were cheap.

Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 2:10 pm
just go for the milkshake

Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 2:18 pm
I am a White Sox fan but let me be very clear. Even is the White Sox were the current 15 time defending World Series Champs and hadn’t lost a single game in over eight years, I still would not want the Illinois, Chicago, or Cook County to give them public financing for a new stadium. Public money for a stadium is always a loser.

Comment by Benniefly2 Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 2:30 pm
Teams lose because of pitching, hitting, and fielding. They win the same way. The White Sox are 1-9 today, and lost over 100 games last year because the players were collaboratively among the worst in baseball. Seriously,

A front office is only as good as its investments. And in the era of unfathomable and unbreakable contracts for players who cannot simply be fired for incompetence in their work, the front office is more about managing fiscal resources, and bears little responsibility for the caliber of talent beyond what they can afford.

Coaches on the other hand, are simply easy to blame when players are incompetent and bound by unimaginable contracts, and coaches are easy to fire when it is either one coach or five players. At least, coaches were easy to fire prior to contracts that guaranteed years of service, regardless of the talent on the field.

Comment by H-W Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 2:51 pm
Reinsdorf is the perfect sports villain: Team disinvestment, continuous pursuit of public funds, cigar-chomping public image, showing up to lobby legislators for taxpayer funds in a leather jacket, not caring if the team stays or leaves the city after his death…the list goes on. I truly don’t think he cares if the team is good or not anymore.

Comment by NIU Grad Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:15 pm
Awesome post, Rich, and excellent comments from everyone. They want a new stadium? Not with this ownership group. First sell the team, then we’ll talk.

Comment by low level Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:17 pm
I have the over on Sox losses at 103…and Jerry is doing everything he can to ensure that hits. Thanks again Jerry!

Comment by Just a guy Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:19 pm
How to succeed in sports wagering in 3 simple steps:

Step 1 - Find the White Sox game
Step 2 - Place a bet on whomever they are playing. The moneyline is fine.
Step 3 - Sit back, win big $$$

So simple anyone can do it.

Comment by low level Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:30 pm
“the front office is more about managing fiscal resources, and bears little responsibility for the caliber of talent beyond what they can afford”

Sounds like an argument for much of MLB to cease existing altogether, or at the least, for most of its organizations to be turned into public trusts.

Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:30 pm
Saw an interesting idea. Instead of moving the the team, develop the sea of parking lots into an actual neighborhood. https://defector.com/how-to-fix-chicagos-white-sox-shaped-black-hole

Comment by Livco Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 3:48 pm
Folks, do you remember Dale Sveum? He managed the Cubs during two of the worst seasons in recent memory. His teams were 70 games under .500. He was fired on September 30, 2013.

The Cubs made good draft picks and were a competitive team in 2015 and won it all a year later.

Comment by Gravitas Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 7:48 pm
Gravitas, the Cubs had a plan. The Sox are listlessly drifting. I would love it if they were winning again. But there is nothing I see in the organization that gives more than minimum hope. The GM is different, though still had to prove he is better than the Hahn/Williams two-headed monster. Could Getz prove a competent GM? Sure. But does he have talent available to trade for the prospects he needs to build a winner? Only on the IL.

Comment by Ducky LaMoore Tuesday, Apr 9, 24 @ 9:10 pm