When Jerry or his estate sell the club it would undoubtedly be more valuable as a championship type team with lots of well known players than as a bottom feeder. For those fans who think JR is all about the money...he still has plenty of reason to build a winner.
Eloy signed an extension. The storyline would repeat itself it Robert signs an extension as well. These are the circumstances of the rules currently in place.
Joe Girardi would be my choice of currently available managers. He would do wonders for the creditability of the rebuild. The baseball Nation would take notice.
The system in place is the system we work with. Need to mutually agree on a fair compromise extension and your a major leaguer overnight. Don't think you can blame White Sox management for this one.
I have always contended that if I had to win next season like my life depended on it...Billy Martin would be my manager. If I was going to hire a manager to see me through a winning decade it would be Earl Weaver. Managers can make a difference so you want to have the right guy for where you are. Billy was merciless in getting his players to play at 110% of their abilities. He got the most out of players but at a price. Earl was a master of recognizing the kind of players he had and played to their strengths. He put basically the same lineup on the field every day. He didn't believe in bunting or stealing bases. He did believe in good pitchers and three run homers.
At the time Ricky was replaced as Cubs manager it seemed kind of disloyal to him. Now I wonder if it isn't his makeup to do well with young players developing but the qualities to win championships may not be his strong suit.
You are right that a failure of this rebuild would due damage that would really damage the franchise beyond repair. I don't think that will happen. The core of players already in the system is the best in my lifetime with the financial flexibility to get any FA they need to plug the holes. I expect a good long run of excellent teams starting 2020.
Jerry is 83 years old and his story of boyhood love of baseball has been retold often. After owning a major league club for 40 years I refuse to believe he doesn't care about winning. He knows that his era can end any day and the tomorrows are limited. I think he will go for it this off season. My gripe with JR is his extreme loyalty to those he perceives as loyal gets in the way of good people decisions.
When the whole team is up and healthy they will have a boat load of speed and power to go with excellent starting pitching. Undoubtedly some growing pains as well. Not going to have a lot of boring games. Amen.
Just saying they are not bag of balls players. As an example...Tampa could use Sanchez. Might have value as part of a deal type thing. One or two might fit our long term championship team as roll players.