Sox fans' patience through a rebuild

[lostfan]

The Sox have never done a full tear down and rebuild in the time I've been a Sox fan (early 90s as a kid) and while there has been an obvious, overt resistance to the idea from Reinsdorf and Kenny Williams, I always sensed from other Sox fans that they felt the fanbase wouldn't want to bother with it either. But so far in the past 48 hours I've seen mostly excitement, people are ready to get this started and see it through properly. What do y'all think? Am I off base here?

[Rowand44]

The Sox have never done a full tear down and rebuild in the time I've been a Sox fan (early 90s as a kid) and while there has been an obvious, overt resistance to the idea from Reinsdorf and Kenny Williams, I always sensed from other Sox fans that they felt the fanbase wouldn't want to bother with it either. But so far in the past 48 hours I've seen mostly excitement, people are ready to get this started and see it through properly. What do y'all think? Am I off base here?

There's no doubt that this fan base was ready for the rebuild and mostly everyone is super excited about it. That said, you can bet in a year or two there's going to be plenty of meatheads that turn on it rather quickly. It's obviously the right thing to do though and I can only speak for myself but I'm super excited to see this thing through.

[lostfan]

There's no doubt that this fan base was ready for the rebuild and mostly everyone is super excited about it. That said, you can bet in a year or two there's going to be plenty of meatheads that turn on it rather quickly. It's obviously the right thing to do though and I can only speak for myself but I'm super excited to see this thing through.

There were a lot of Cubs fans moping about how the Cubs were bad ~3 years ago and they look really stupid now, but I think now that Sox fans have seen them do it on the north side, not as many people will need to be sold on the idea that this is the correct way to do things.

[shipps]

I think they are excited now but the truth will show once we suck next season and when the prospects we got in return have some bad months and struggle. There will be the same people who are cheering this now jumping ship as soon as it starts hurting.

[Buehrle>Wood]

The patience won't last until April 1st, or until next week really. I think people confuse the small amount of people paying attention during the winter meetings to the general fanbase. It'll get ugly, and sooner than later.

[bmags]

People will be fine as long as the prospects are theoretical. They will freak out as soon as one starts to struggle.

[Jenksismyhero]

I don't see how the support can get any worse than what it has been. The last 10 years for the most part has been ok attendance to start the year and then really poor attendance to end it. We have the worst tv ratings in the big leagues. And now a new generation of Chicago baseball fans will be Cubs fans, not Sox fans.

 

Short term it's going to be rough, but hopefully there's a payoff in 2-3 seasons. And if the Cubs continue to do well, Hahn just has to point north and say "this is what we have to look forward to in the next few seasons."

[Dick Allen]

I think they are excited now but the truth will show once we suck next season and when the prospects we got in return have some bad months and struggle. There will be the same people who are cheering this now jumping ship as soon as it starts hurting.

They are patting Hahn on the back now.

 

When they are 28-57 half way through the season, and if a couple of these new acquisitions are pitching like Carson Fulmer in 2016, KW will have been swindled, and Rick Renteria will make them pine for Robin Ventura. No fan base is patient in a rebuild, especially when it looks like the team will be rock bottom bad. The Cubs had the fortune of not having too many bumps in their road. Far less than most, but they were there. Rizzo struggled for a while. Baez was considered a bust on this board a year ago. Castro became mediocre. They had other prospects who Theo inherited that were highly thought of who did crap. Brett Jackson comes to mind. Chances are some of the guys the Sox acquired are either going to totally suck, or will have a lot of growing pains. I get people wanting them to be so terrible they get a top draft pick for a couple of years, but frankly, I couldn't stand it. Depending how low they go, if it's too low and it's more than a season of being god awful, they are going to alienate a large percentage of their ticket buyers.

[lostfan]

I don't see how the support can get any worse than what it has been. The last 10 years for the most part has been ok attendance to start the year and then really poor attendance to end it. We have the worst tv ratings in the big leagues. And now a new generation of Chicago baseball fans will be Cubs fans, not Sox fans.

 

Short term it's going to be rough, but hopefully there's a payoff in 2-3 seasons. And if the Cubs continue to do well, Hahn just has to point north and say "this is what we have to look forward to in the next few seasons."

That's the key, they pretty much hit rock bottom, so I guess maybe that's what I'm interpreting. It's not like eroding fan support is an issue if that's already in full swing. Now it's like concrete, tangible effort to reverse it, so that's what the reaction is for.

[GoSox05]

It's going to be tough at times, but I still think this is the way to go.

 

 

I'm hopeful.

[KMule2545]

Fans didn't show up the past 5 years "while trying to win" and f***ing sucking. I expect the ballpark will be mostly empty the first few months of 2017, but when your Moncadas and Giolitos etc. start getting called up, more and more people will come back over the course of the next few years. Young players with star potential are very exciting to a lot of people. Obviously, our franchise won't get a full reboot with the attendance until the whole team is competitive, but the sense that I get is that our fanbase is freshly energized from this moves and the excitement will rise further when more players get moved.

[peppers312]

this is my biggest concern with White Sox fans. will they have the patience to see this all the way through? because this isn't going to be (realistically) good again for at least 2-3 more years, maybe 4 depending on how the development comes along. if the scouts are right and let's say a little more than 1/2 of the prospects we get in return after all is said and done, we'll be in MUCH better shape than we would have been with the same roster as last season en route to winning 75 games.

[Dam8610]

The Sox have never done a full tear down and rebuild in the time I've been a Sox fan (early 90s as a kid) and while there has been an obvious, overt resistance to the idea from Reinsdorf and Kenny Williams, I always sensed from other Sox fans that they felt the fanbase wouldn't want to bother with it either. But so far in the past 48 hours I've seen mostly excitement, people are ready to get this started and see it through properly. What do y'all think? Am I off base here?

 

I will be, but I doubt most will. Most will see seven names acquired and expect that those seven names will all be contributing to the ML club in a significant way very soon. When that doesn't happen, they'll want heads to roll, when anyone who knows anything about this knows that we'll be lucky to get five of these guys to be key pieces moving forward, and three are about the closest thing you can get to a lock in prospects. Anyone who realizes that this is a game of attrition, and that by acquiring 15-20 of the best 150 prospects in baseball, they are hoping that about half of them work out, as well as the talent they already had in the minors as well as hoping for a solid-good haul in the next three drafts, two of which will likely have top 5 picks for the White Sox, should be fine. If all of that works out, they could have 60-80% of a playoff caliber roster that is very cheap and cost controlled heading into the 2018 offseason, which would give them the ability to splurge in that historic class and potentially bring playoff baseball to the South Side by 2019, just in time for the new TV deal.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Dam8610

[steveno89]

I will be, but I doubt most will. Most will see seven names acquired and expect that those seven names will all be contributing to the ML club in a significant way very soon. When that doesn't happen, they'll want heads to roll, when anyone who knows anything about this knows that we'll be lucky to get five of these guys to be key pieces moving forward, and three are about the closest thing you can get to a lock in prospects. Anyone who realizes that this is a game of attrition, and that by acquiring 15-20 of the best 150 prospects in baseball, they are hoping that about half of them work out, as well as the talent they already had in the minors as well as hoping for a solid-good haul in the next three drafts, two of which will likely have top 5 picks for the White Sox, should be fine. If all of that works out, they could have 60-80% of a playoff caliber roster that is very cheap and cost controlled heading into the 2018 offseason, which would give them the ability to splurge in that historic class and potentially bring playoff baseball to the South Side by 2019, just in time for the new TV deal.

 

Fans just need to realize that 2019 might not even be realistic depending on how things continue to develop moving forward. I am prepared to suck for the next 2/3 seasons at a minimum, but at least it will be purposeful sucking

 

Fans will be patient, they have gone through mediocre year after year with a boring team. A young and talented team in the future is much better

[Dunt]

I'm actually considering buying a partial season or full season ticket to show my support for the franchise. Next year will be ugly, but it'll be worth the pain.

[ChiSoxFanMike]

I look at it like this. Will the Sox suck next year? Yes. Will they suck the year after that? Probably. The year after? Maybe. But how is that any different than the past 8 years? It's been almost a decade since the Sox made the playoffs.

 

I'm much more optimistic about the Sox now than I was 72 hours ago. The prospects might bust, but at least they tried something new and picked a direction. I can't fault them for that. I'd rather watch a 55 win team with young potential than the same 75 win team year after year that never gets any better because they constantly acquire old, declining talent..

[Dick Allen]

Fans didn't show up the past 5 years "while trying to win" and f***ing sucking. I expect the ballpark will be mostly empty the first few months of 2017, but when your Moncadas and Giolitos etc. start getting called up, more and more people will come back over the course of the next few years. Young players with star potential are very exciting to a lot of people. Obviously, our franchise won't get a full reboot with the attendance until the whole team is competitive, but the sense that I get is that our fanbase is freshly energized from this moves and the excitement will rise further when more players get moved.

No they won't. They barely showed up for Chris Sale starts despite lower level seats with free t-shirts for $15 or $20.

 

I appreciate all the people who are thinking about or actually buying tickets, but as a whole, it isn't going to happen. Attendance will be way off. All this talk was like the talk right after 9/11 how people were going to buy stocks for America, so the stock market didn't crash. The stock market crashed. Those that bought stocks to be patriotic got burned.

 

Its one thing to sit through 3 or 4 of those, but you buy a season ticket package, you are going to wonder why you just didn't go to Stubhub.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Dick Allen

[Buehrle>Wood]

I'm actually considering buying a partial season or full season ticket to show my support for the franchise. Next year will be ugly, but it'll be worth the pain.

Our season ticket group dating back 40+ years is now gone. You can take our spot.

[LittleHurt05]

White Sox fans will show up when the team repeatedly makes the playoffs or wins the WS. That's it.

 

That's why I have no issue with the tank job rebuild. Winning 75-82 games every year has left them bottom 5 in attendance, so what's the difference?

[Bob Sacamano]

I look at it like this. Will the Sox suck next year? Yes. Will they suck the year after that? Probably. The year after? Maybe. But how is that any different than the past 8 years? It's been almost a decade since the Sox made the playoffs.

 

I'm much more optimistic about the Sox now than I was 72 hours ago. The prospects might bust, but at least they tried something new and picked a direction. I can't fault them for that. I'd rather watch a 55 win team with young potential than the same 75 win team year after year that never gets any better because they constantly acquire old, declining talent..

 

Pretty spot on. We at least have hope.

[SonofaRoache]

These are going to be dark times. Fans may be okay with the rebuild but look how long it took the Cubs. It got to a point where Cubs fans stopped coming to games. The fans will not show up to the G and will probably watch another team during the first two years. Sadly that team may be the Cubs.

[TaylorStSox]

The fans that sat through the last s*** show of a decade aren't going anywhere. At least there's something to be hopeful now. The vast majority of baseball fans in this city aren't fans of a team because one is better than the other. It's much more of a cultural thing. That's not going to change.

 

People aren't Cubs fans because the Cubs are good. They're Cubs fans because A. They grew up Cubs fans or B. Going to wrigley is really fun.

[kwolf68]

I'm actually considering buying a partial season or full season ticket to show my support for the franchise. Next year will be ugly, but it'll be worth the pain.

 

Like this idea and maybe it will send a message that if/when these kids become players in the show we hang onto them and try to be good for more than a year or two. Sorta like what Blackhawk fans experienced after a decade of utter crap.

[Dick Allen]

These are going to be dark times. Fans may be okay with the rebuild but look how long it took the Cubs. It got to a point where Cubs fans stopped coming to games. The fans will not show up to the G and will probably watch another team during the first two years. Sadly that team may be the Cubs.

Yes. Theo's plan was questioned. Banks were all over Ricketts to sell the team. And theirs went pretty well.

 

If being in first place in 2012 for most of the season didn't inspire anyone to buy a ticket, the line up that they are going to throw out their in 2017 isn't going to inspire anyone either, regardless of whether or not you support a total rebuild.

 

There might be a couple of people, but I guarantee more will do less. I have a 27 game package and went to about 45 games last year. No way I go to 45 in 2017. And I have been a lot more tolerant of bad baseball than 99% of the posters here. Watching the White Sox get killed with replacement level or lower players scattered through the line up, I can do on my couch and save myself a lot of hassle. I'll start doing more than my package when they put a team on the field that is legitimately major league. It won't be that in 2017.

[greg775]

Look, nobody likes a loser. Nobody's going to go to the ballpark to see a last-place team. I mean some folks who love prospects will go, maybe a couple thousand die hards, but considering how much it costs to go to a game, once the Sox are buried in the standings the Cell will be a morgue.

If the rebuild works and someday they start winning, of course the fans will return.

 

But if the Sox suck next season and are 8 out on May 1, forget it. The park will be empty and those who love prospects will be able to spread out and watch games in comfort. The park will be empty.