Sox flashback quote 8/31/23...

[Lip Man 1]

“One of the things I owe the fans is to get better as fast as we can possibly get better. Speed is of the essence. I don’t want this to be a long-term proposition. I would hope — and I expect — that next year is going to be a lot better than this year. How much better? I don’t know.”-- Jerry Reinsdorf, August 31, 2023. 😆🤡😆🤡😆

[fathom]

And now we never hear from him, what a coward 

[Lip Man 1]

7 minutes ago, fathom said:

And now we never hear from him, what a coward 

That's his M.O. And to think he actually said this at one time:

“Eddie and I never discussed how to talk to reporters. We’ve just been ourselves. I always thought Jack Kennedy was the kind of person I looked up to in that regard. He always gave the media a fair shake and understood you guys have a job to do. Without responsible people willing to divulge some accurate information, it’s hard to do it right. It was a much better approach then Nixon, who figured the media, was his enemy. Doing it Kennedy’s way just makes a lot more sense to me. After all, nobody can buy the kind of advertising Chicago teams get. What other line of work finds newspapers assigning people to follow you around and write about how the business is doing every day? At Balcor, we have to hire a public relations firm to get our names in the paper. When baseball teams get that for free, it makes sense to cooperate.” – Jerry Reinsdorf to Bob Logan. From the book ‘Miracle On 35^th Street.’ Pg. 154. Published 1983.

 

Edited September 1 by Lip Man 1

[Dick Allen]

Nice quote. One year later on 8!31/24 his team clinched worst record in the AL with a month left in the season.  Nice hire.

[The Mighty Mite]

8 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

That's his M.O. And to think he actually said this at one time:

“Eddie and I never discussed how to talk to reporters. We’ve just been ourselves. I always thought Jack Kennedy was the kind of person I looked up to in that regard. He always gave the media a fair shake and understood you guys have a job to do. Without responsible people willing to divulge some accurate information, it’s hard to do it right. It was a much better approach then Nixon, who figured the media, was his enemy. Doing it Kennedy’s way just makes a lot more sense to me. After all, nobody can buy the kind of advertising Chicago teams get. What other line of work finds newspapers assigning people to follow you around and write about how the business is doing every day? At Balcor, we have to hire a public relations firm to get our names in the paper. When baseball teams get that for free, it makes sense to cooperate.” – Jerry Reinsdorf to Bob Logan. From the book ‘Miracle On 35^th Street.’ Pg. 154. Published 1983.

 

What he said then and what his M.O. now is hilarious. 
JR besides being a coward is one big schmuck.

 

Edited September 1 by The Mighty Mite

[Highland]

All i know is that we can't have an offseason like the last one. This is not a competitive major league baseball team. Fixes don't happen in a year, but money needs to be spent. It's a shame there is no way someone within the White Sox corporation can unseat JR as CEO. He has turned this team into a national joke. But all he thinks about is a new stadium. Even if that should happen, it won't come to be until the end of the decade. What is to be done with the team until then? Set more losing records?

[The Mighty Mite]

3 hours ago, Highland said:

All i know is that we can't have an offseason like the last one. This is not a competitive major league baseball team. Fixes don't happen in a year, but money needs to be spent. It's a shame there is no way someone within the White Sox corporation can unseat JR as CEO. He has turned this team into a national joke. But all he thinks about is a new stadium. Even if that should happen, it won't come to be until the end of the decade. What is to be done with the team until then? Set more losing records?

Exactly, last offseason I kept scratching my head asking myself what the hell is this guy Getz doing.  
This off-season might be the most important in team history, they have to spend some money and bring in some free agents as there is isn’t much help in the minor league system. If they don’t then there something else going on and I’ll leave it at that.

 

 

 

Edited September 1 by The Mighty Mite

[southsider2k5]

Since August 31, 2023 The White Sox are a combined 34-130

[WhiteSox2023]

16 minutes ago, The Mighty Mite said:

Exactly, last offseason I kept scratching my head asking myself what the hell is this guy Getz doing.  
This off-season might be the most important in team history, they have to spend some money and bring in some free agents as there is isn’t much help in the minor league system. If they don’t then there something else going on and I’ll leave it at that.

 

 

 

You know this isn’t happening.  Getz will be doing some more failed dumpster diving as they drop the payroll to $100 million to be a bottom 5 payroll team.

[The Mighty Mite]

12 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Since August 31, 2023 The White Sox are a combined 34-130

It’s hard to fathom that a Major League team can be that bad. 

[Lip Man 1]

27 minutes ago, The Mighty Mite said:

Exactly, last offseason I kept scratching my head asking myself what the hell is this guy Getz doing.  
This off-season might be the most important in team history, they have to spend some money and bring in some free agents as there is isn’t much help in the minor league system. If they don’t then there something else going on and I’ll leave it at that.

 

 

 

It's already been published in the Sun-Times, the Sox are cutting payroll again next year down to around 100 million. You'll get nothing and like it! (But be sure to get that money in for season tickets now!) 😆

[Rusty]

It’s insane to even consider, but they might be even worse next year.  If they deal Crochet, that costs them multiple wins.  Robert has been bad but he’s still the highest WAR position player.  Moncada sucks but he’s at least a mildly serviceable MLB player.  If those three go, how many actual “MLB Caliber” players are on the roster?  Maybe Korey Lee, Davis Martin, and…Vaughn or Benintendi?  None of them are impact players for a competing franchise.  Couple that with, what will almost certainly be a clown shoes new TV network and they are diving face first to absolute rock bottom.  

[The Mighty Mite]

38 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

It's already been published in the Sun-Times, the Sox are cutting payroll again next year down to around 100 million. You'll get nothing and like it! (But be sure to get that money in for season tickets now!) 😆

To what end, with no help on the horizon in the minors and they aren’t spending money, that leads me to think they are either selling or when the lease is up, moving.

[Rusty]

Jerry won’t sell and MLB won’t allow them to move.  This is the franchise until Jerry passes.  I would be interested to know what the other owners think of this entire debacle.  JR is the majority owner but reportedly only owns 19%.  It seems feasible to essentially wage a hostile takeover.  My guess is that they view it as an investment and are happy to sit on it until Jerry passes and the team is sold for $2.5bn.

Edited September 1 by Rusty

[southsider2k5]

1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

Since August 31, 2023 The White Sox are a combined 34-130

Take this back.  I was thinking 56-106 last year, not 61-101.  Add five more wins for 39-125.

[Lip Man 1]

1 hour ago, Rusty said:

Jerry won’t sell and MLB won’t allow them to move.  This is the franchise until Jerry passes.  I would be interested to know what the other owners think of this entire debacle.  JR is the majority owner but reportedly only owns 19%.  It seems feasible to essentially wage a hostile takeover.  My guess is that they view it as an investment and are happy to sit on it until Jerry passes and the team is sold for $2.5bn.

That would be hard to do according to the terms of his contract and as long as they are making money (and they are) the minority owners wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court and you can bet JR would immediately go to court.

When Jerry passes his family will sell the team as per his instructions. 

[Rusty]

7 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

That would be hard to do according to the terms of his contract and as long as they are making money (and they are) the minority owners wouldn't have a leg to stand on in court and you can bet JR would immediately go to court.

When Jerry passes his family will sell the team as per his instructions. 

Honest question.  So are the 81% shareholders essentially just silent owners?  That seems insane.  Obviously they’ve all already got generational wealth and will get a windfall when Jerry passes and the team is sold but I can’t imagine running an organization where 4/5ths of the ownership has no decision making ability.

[southsider2k5]

3 minutes ago, Rusty said:

Honest question.  So are the 81% shareholders essentially just silent owners?  That seems insane.  Obviously they’ve all already got generational wealth and will get a windfall when Jerry passes and the team is sold but I can’t imagine running an organization where 4/5ths of the ownership has no decision making ability.

Jerry had 19% in 1980.  The story is that he has been buying up shares as people have died and sold out in other ways.  Between this, and the rumor of a large minority sale to Melody Hodson, it is nearly impossible to know what Jerry owns now, and what other people own and who they even are at this stage.

[Rusty]

7 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Jerry had 19% in 1980.  The story is that he has been buying up shares as people have died and sold out in other ways.  Between this, and the rumor of a large minority sale to Melody Hodson, it is nearly impossible to know what Jerry owns now, and what other people own and who they even are at this stage.

If I were an Illinois Congessman, I’d demand this disclosure as part of his plea for a $1bn stadium.  Of course I would reject the proposal but…Id ask first 🤣

[Lip Man 1]

1 hour ago, Rusty said:

Honest question.  So are the 81% shareholders essentially just silent owners?  That seems insane.  Obviously they’ve all already got generational wealth and will get a windfall when Jerry passes and the team is sold but I can’t imagine running an organization where 4/5ths of the ownership has no decision making ability.

It is written into his contract that he has complete control over the franchise. For example if all the minority owners wanted to sell and JR said "no" (and he has at least twice) there is no sale.

This is what I was told by sources for a story I did in November 2022:

“In October 2005 some investors asked JR to sell and get out while the going was good, but he wouldn’t.”

“Andrew Berlin, twice tried to buy the Sox around 2008 but wasn’t successful.” (Author’s Note: Berlin, grew up a Sox fan and is now the owner of the Cubs farm team in South Bend, Indiana.)

“I heard that JR owns 12% of the team but with some of the original investors passing away that has probably gone up to 18%” (Author’s Note: Even though he only owns a small percentage of the franchise Jerry Reinsdorf has absolute authority to run the team as he sees fit. It is written into his contract. That includes selling or not selling the club despite what the other investors wish. The only way he can be removed from his position is if he has done something illegal, appears to be losing his mental faculties or is being financially irresponsible.)

 

[Lip Man 1]

1 hour ago, Rusty said:

If I were an Illinois Congessman, I’d demand this disclosure as part of his plea for a $1bn stadium.  Of course I would reject the proposal but…Id ask first 🤣

That's a fair point in my opinion. 

[Tnetennba]

1 hour ago, Rusty said:

Honest question.  So are the 81% shareholders essentially just silent owners?  That seems insane.  Obviously they’ve all already got generational wealth and will get a windfall when Jerry passes and the team is sold but I can’t imagine running an organization where 4/5ths of the ownership has no decision making ability.

I believe this was part of the original agreement amongst owners when JR was named chairman. He basically has full control despite not being the majority owner at the time. Their ROI after 40+ has to be ridiculously good at this point, so why rock the boat?

[southsider2k5]

5 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

I believe this was part of the original agreement amongst owners when JR was named chairman. He basically has full control despite not being the majority owner at the time. Their ROI after 40+ has to be ridiculously good at this point, so why rock the boat?

The franchise value has 50x since then, which is pretty close to what stocks have done, but that wouldn't count any profits taken out over the years as earnings or dividends.

[Tnetennba]

4 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

The franchise value has 50x since then, which is pretty close to what stocks have done, but that wouldn't count any profits taken out over the years as earnings or dividends.

I imagine for a lot of Sox shareholders it’s just another share in their portfolio, as so long as it keeps appreciating they don’t care about the inner workings. Pure speculation on my part though. 

[Dick Allen]

JR has full and total control and there is nothing his investors can do about . Once he dies, his executor has full control.  His investors are at his mercy, but they have done quite well even with his missteps.