77 Hitmen

This will be the Spurs' third stadium since they moved into the Alamodome in 1993. It looks like they want a downtown stadium with an entertainment district. I don't know about SA/Austin, but I could see MLB putting the 2 expansion franchise in Salt Lake City AND Portland. I believe they have said they want 1 team in the east and one in the west, but Utah and Oregon are committing $900M and $800M in public funding for a new baseball stadium. Unless Nashville (or any other city in the east) is going to cough up a similar amount of money for a stadium, I don't think MLB is treating them as a shoe-in for a team by any means.

Where is this from?

It'll be very interesting to see what happens as we approach 2029 with both the stadium lease expiring and the window for selling to Ishbia opens. Something has to change. For those who say "just win!" - how is that working out for the Brewers, Phillies, Mets, Padres and other teams who are trying to win? The Sox will at least always be ahead of the Marlins in attendance. The Rays and A's might see a huge boost as they move into new, state-of-the art stadiums. With the Rogers Centre being in the spotlight the last few weeks during the playoffs, it's interesting to see how much they've improved the place. There's some good YouTube videos about their massive renovations. I don't think it'll be ranked down around the same level as Rate Field in MLB stadium surveys anymore.

Probably not likely. But it would be the ultimate Jerry move - a final middle finger to the fans. Ishbia's intentions are a total mystery since he hasn't said a single word publicly about his plans for the Sox. After spending over $1B in public money on a new Titans stadium, I don't know if they've going to spend another $1B on a MLB stadium. But they might be willing to spend some public money toward a stadium. Here in Chicago, I'm not sure they'd even spend on infrastructure for a new stadium. There's definitely an enthusiasm problem for keeping the Sox here. Heck, even some die-hard Sox fans seem to be ready to show the team the door out of state!

The White Sox never signed Kimbrel. They acquired him for Nick Madrigal and he only played for us for 2 months appearing in 24 games for the South Siders. Dunn might be the closest to a top free agent that the Sox have signed, but he was nowhere near the same quality player as Tori Hunter, Manny Machado, or Bryce Harper. I can think of a lot of free agents over the years who were bigger difference makers than Adam Dunn. I wouldn't exactly call Grandal a marquee free agent. Maybe in White Sox World, a 4-year/$73M contract to a 31-year old catcher is considered an exorbitant, franchise centerpiece contract since he was the team's biggest contract ever at the time. Everyone else except the A's have handed out contracts over $100M. It was a good signing at the time, but I wouldn't exactly consider Grandal a franchise player. Robertson - again in White Sox World, that's a monster contract - $46M. A very good relief pitcher and great acquistion, yes. But a one-time all-star. For teams who are actually serious about winning signing someone like Robertson would just be one important piece to the puzzle. But for us, he's the one of the few shining examples of how Uncle Jerry really does spend on free agents.

This is the way Jerry has run the Sox for at least the last 20 years now - a lot of smoke and mirrors and never seriously investing in scouting/player development and/or landing marquee free agents.

It was also in all likelihood a "middle finger to the rest of the owners" free agent signing because JR was unhappy with what they settled for to end the strike. Also note that the Sox included a perfect opt-out clause that would allow Belle to declare free agency after only 2 seasons here. In the end, the Sox only paid Belle $20M total, not the $55M he was signed for.

The Blue Jays would become the first expansion team to win 3 WS titles if they can win one more game at the Rogers Centre. Expansion teams w/ 2 titles: Astros, Mets, Royals, Blue Jays, and Marlins. There are two original franchises that have only won 2 WS titles in 120 seasons: The Phillies and Guardians.

Whose decision was it to push Jeff Torborg out the door after the 1991 season? Was that Reinsdorf or Schueler? Another bone-headed move by this front office. Was Gene Lamont any better? Or how about Terry Bevington (lol)?

I know we're off topic here, but at least it's an off day for the World Series. With Seattle's success this year and the Padres making the playoffs 4 times this decade, there really aren't many teams that can claim the same level of futility over the last 20 years as the White Sox. The Pirates, Marlins, Rockies, A's, Angels.....anyone else? Unfortunately, I doubt JR feels any embarrassment about that. Better stadium and owning the entire region are a huge plus for the M's over the Sox. We already have a stadium thread and I'm not going to get into that here. I suppose if we really had to put MLB teams into large, mid, or small market teams, I would say Seattle is middle market. Perhaps San Diego and Colorado, too. I used to think of the Cardinals as being a middle market team thanks to their huge fan base and their old $1B RSN deal. But with the collapse of the RSN model, they've slipped into small market status now.

Definitely. It's Jerry Reinsdorf who turned the White Sox from a large market team into essentially a "small market team within a large market" through his decades of short sidedness and unwillingness to invest properly in the team. My point in response to @caulfield12was that Toronto winning the World Series isn't going to be something Jerry is going to be mad about because it somehow debunks the competitive balance argument. ....unless the point was that Jerry will be mad because Toronto's success makes him look bad. While true such a win should be a reality check for JR, I really think he lacks the self-awareness to be mad or embarrassed by Toronto's success compared to his failure.

Why would Jerry Reinsdorf be unhappy if a large market team beats a super large market team to win the World Series? First of all, he's on his way out as an owner anyway and is not even close to being the ringleader he was 30 years ago. Second, I seriously doubt a Toronto World Series win is going to cause the competitive balance issue to collapse.

Six times in 17 seasons compared to Jerry's seven times in FORTY-FIVE seasons. Plus, JR has had 31 seasons under the 3-division plus wild card(s) format.

White Sox W-L records in the early 60s: 1960: 87-67 (equivalent to 91 wins in a 162-game schedule) 1961: 86-76 1962: 85-77 1963: 94-68 1964: 98-64 1965: 95-67 That doesn't look horribly run to me. If there were divisions back then, some of those teams almost certainly would have made the post-season. If we see a half-decade stretch like that any time soon, Sox fans will think we've died and gone to heaven.

The one thing that probably makes the Pirates future in Pittsburgh secure is their jewel of a ballpark. A number of critics rank it the best stadium in the league...and it's certainly in the top 3 for many people. During that short period about 10 years ago when the Pirates were good and made the playoffs, they averaged 30k per game. So, fan support is potentially there. It would be a major embarrassment to MLB if they let the Pirates leave and the league abandoned such a great ballpark. Stadium-wise, it's pretty much the exact opposite of the situation with the A's and Expos when they moved. And I hate to say it Sox fans, but if the Sox somehow ended up moving out of town (which I am NOT predicting is going to happen), nobody outside our fanbase is going to shed a tear over losing Rate Field and nobody is going to wonder why the team couldn't succeed there. Too bad the league can't just force a sale of teams like the Pirates, A's and the White Sox where the owner refuses to invest properly in the franchise.