GradMc

The 2005 White Sox had a collective career year with an under-budget team which was the only way they were (likely are) winning a championship with this non-sportsman mentality ownership group. As of today, only one from the 2005 team made it to the HOF - and he sadly didn't even get a chance to play. 2005 was a pivotal year for the Reinsdorf group. They were either going to take next step towards becoming a major market powerhouse or be satisfied with being a one-hit wonder. Unfortunately, with near 3 million attendance virtually guaranteed, they gave us the Brian Anderson Experience and told the base to eat cheese. And save game 163 of 2008, they have yet to recover.

Another flamethrower with a 6 plus ERA. Oh Goody. What made Bobby Jenks so good was his excellent breaking pitch to set up his fastball. I still remember the hammer he threw to Guerrero to strike him out during the 2005 championship series. Still gives me chills to think about it. Now if this guy develops a breaking pitch and a change-up, they may strike Ellis Burke type lightening in a bottle gold. He'll probably have to seek outside help like Gio did because the guy that masquerades as the current pitching coach will be no help to him. "Coop will fix him" has got to be one of the biggest myths in baseball history. He has parlayed that into nice career. We should all be so fortunate. Greg Maddux would have never been drafted by Kenny-Hahn...LOL

This is an excellent post.

On to Plan B... We can roll this out around this time every friggin year. With the buzz of last off-season, as much as I loathed Reinsdorf, I was getting ready to heap tons on praise on him for finally bringing the White Sox back to national prominence. I believed they had plenty of money. Lord knows he doesn't spend any of it. 100-120 million dollar payrolls was not getting it done. I thought a Renaissance was coming. Man I truly got played. It wasn"t happening to me again. Walk the Walk.

So Reinsdorf supposedly offered the most money for this Wheeler guy. Reinsdorf has allowed the Sox and Bulls to fall so deep into the abyss of irrelevancy he can"t even bribe folks to come here. That said, there are only two decent FA pitchers worth pursuing and he wasn't/isn't getting either of them. Although I believe he said it, regardless of the veracity of that asinine quote about faking out the fanbase is going to haunt the Sox as if they needed any further compelling reasons for elite different makers to stay away. The biggest problem with both these organizations is the ownership. Fans don't want to hear that because that's an issue nearly impossible to change. The White Sox will have to go to war with the players already here.

That ain't saying much. Cubs working on another 100 year chasm between World Series appearances. The team to emulate is the Astros. Unfortunately we don't have the owner nor the front office to pull that off.

Reinsdorf is still the owner the last I heard. His palms got greased one way or another.

For those familiar with the fable of Hardrock, Coco and Joe, Baby Sanchez was definitely the Joe of the White Sox.

Actually there is no hard cap in baseball. There is a luxury tax however.

Agreed. The Sox could have a 200 million dollar payroll if they wanted. Why do fans allow themselves to get emotionally played by these owners ? The Sox could go out and sign Cole AND Strasburg if they wanted. The Sox can draw 3 million people annually to GRF if they wanted. It's not the fans responsibility to make the product competitive, that's on ownership. And for you Reinsdorf apologists, what say you about how he treats the Bulls fanbase ? Consistently top 3 in attendance since the Jordan years. That "50 cents" BS doesn't play well on West Madison...

Obviously Timmy would no longer be a fixture a SS. He would part of the deal to get him.

Reinsdorf knows his reputation is on the line. This guy has got a long way to go rinse the bad taste of last offseason. Nice signing. Keep it coming

Would have been a cultural change agent. Lordy we can't have that.

Ray Berres would over well 100 if we were still allive and I would take him over anybody out there. The best White Sox pitching coach ever...not even close. Age has nothing to do with it, millenials. An effective pitching coach's best asset rests with his power of persuasion. Ray had it Don doesn't.

I would love to get my hands on Wilson Contreras if he was a free agent. It was love at first sight. Sox can't afford to trade any assets. Reinsdorf has to give up.

Cubs out of their minds to even consider trading Contreras. White Sox equally as foolish if they don't at least look into acquiring him.

All these rumors about block-buster trades are floating about. To paraphrase the late, great Don Cornelius: You can bet your last money, it won"t involve Reinsdorf, honey....

We can talk over it, under it and through it but it still comes down to the same damn thing. Nothing is going to happen unless ownership decides to seriously upgrade the vetted talent level in the front office, in the dugout and on the field. He got his cost-contained, lightening in a bottle, one-hit wonder in 2005. He is among the rare sports owners on this planet to have won world championship in two different major sports. He is no longer thirsty. He is content in keeping the fanbases in a perpetual state of hunger and thirst. Kenny-Hahn and Gar-Pax should be distant memories by now. They're still here. What else do we need to know ?

That's funny

If I was Jose I'd take heed of ELITE NBA Free Agent Anthony Davis on whether he consider signing with the Bulls: Anthony said he wants to concentrate on winning a championship... OUCH !! Right between the eyes Reinsdorf....LMAO. Oh the sycophants / apologists will come out of woodwork now to defend Dear Chairman...

These guys have a limited window to set themselves up for the rest of lives. Few (if any) choose championship potential over cold hard cash. Had P.T. Barnum 2.0 offered Manny and/or Bryce the most money, they would be playing for us. The same will true for any other FA that is or will be out there. I'd love to see Cole and Stras come in and anchor this pitching staff. What a breath-taking starting rotation that could be. Alas, I have no faith he will ever treat this team as the major market powerhouse it should have always been. Barnum 2.0 is not a sportsman. He's an egotistical businessman who gets off on owning sports teams and has determined how to make boatloads of cash without being remotely competitive. The Jordan era set him up for life - given the Bulls haven't been to the Finals in 20 years. It may another 20 years before they get there again as elite NBA difference makers avoid playing for Reinsdorf en masse. His schtick is the circus of sporting events which distracts from the reality on the field/court. And he is not the only owner that utilizes this paradigm. He does excel at it though. And to his many apologists, I was a Sox/Bulls fan before him and will be one after him.

But they'll have a seat at the table.

Whoopie !! The 2020 march for 2nd place is off to rousing start. Well Done !!

Well if the results of his 38 year tenure as placeholder isn't enough of a "sample size" to answer that question for folks, nothing is. P.T. Barnum 2.0's staunch (and lordy are they staunch) apologists and sycophants just can"t get passed that reality. No one is ever going to accuse him of having built a MLB juggernaut. I've seen Halley's Comet more than I seen the Sox even in September contention for post-season play. For whatever reason, the White Sox since their incorporation have just not been blessed with great ownership. Their success has come despite ownership. Bo Jackson has commented the 93 White Sox were just a couple of players short; insinuating that team could have gone to the Series with a little more help. They also seem to historically come up short - perhaps more by design than I would have ever imagined. And it isn't just about 200 million dollar payrolls - obviously. It"s a culture of pursuing excellence. The White Sox should be among the desired destinations for elite free agent difference makers. It isn"t. We should assume and frankly expect the major market White Sox will be in September contention from year to year. And I said CONTENTION. Barnum 2.0 should be able to at least carrot string us along that friggin far. Who knows what may happen after that ? Look no further than the Dodgers-Nats Division Series.

Give me a friggin break. This man has own the Sox for 38 years and has exactly 5 playoff appearances to show for it. With his ever-changing metrics we've been in a perpetual state of rebuilding since he took the keys from Veeck. Meanwhile he and that cabal continue to laugh at us all the way to the bank. Hell yeah he said it. Ironically, Reinsdorf stopped trying to follow his own advice years ago. The Chicago American League Ballclub Inc is exactly where he wants them to the glee of his investor$. And he must in absolute heaven over the charade he has going at the UC.