77 Hitmen

Is he on the 40-man and if not, is there space on the 40-man. Also, bringing him up now would start his arbitration clock only for a few weeks of him trying to get acclimated to MLB pitching.

Considering all the hoops they need to go through to make a new stadium a reality, not to mention the ownership succession process that might not possibly happen until 2034.....honestly, if they get a new stadium opened in time for the 2033 All-Star Game, IMO that would be a huge success for Jerry and Ishbia. A stadium isn't even the first thing slated for the Amtrak property - the Northwestern medical research campus is. We might not see a stadium open in the South Loop until 2035 or 2036.

But the Tampa City Council still has to vote on this, right? Since you live in the area, do you know if this is likely to pass the city council?

Yeah, unless I'm missing something, Amtrak's Phase 1 proposal is to build on existing railroad property that is currently occupied by tracks. So, I'm missing where zoning issues come into play here. They don't need to get into any eminent domain issues either as this will all be on property they are buying from Union Pacific Railroad. There is a Phase 2 which could be to build on part of Rate Field parking lots to replace existing Amtrak property that is south of the St. Charles bridge, so maybe there would be a need for a zoning change at that point. But they don't need Phase 2 to clear out the Amtrak yard for the land they envision for the medical campus and stadium.

He was the first player posted here for 30.

Before the cops went a knockin?

Seriously. Krishnamoorthi said the two shared a laugh, and he found it “shocking” that the leader of the Catholic Church was indeed paying attention to his beloved team. For his part, Krishnamoorthi brought the pope an unexpected gift: a Chicago Cubs jersey.

A few thoughts from the 2 videos above: In the first video, Nelson doesn't say he thinks the project should be stopped. He says that Amtrak needs to do a better job of reaching out to the community to discuss their concerns and need to be better prepared for the next meeting. He very succinctly sums up the mixed feelings about all of this: The possibility of building a PNC/Petco-type park with a skyline backdrop and along an expanding riverwalk is very exciting. But, then there's the issue of what they would be leaving behind in Bridgeport. He floats the idea that they could possibly add a BNSF Metra stop at the site if they build a stadium there. Wow, that would be awesome. That's a direct pipeline to LaGrange, Western Springs, etc. and southern DuPage all the way out to Aurora. The Metra Southwest Service runs along those tracks too and that services SW Suburbs like Orland Park.

We should have binders full of them.

The first half of this Sox Machine video gives a good overview of the Amtrak and (potentially) new stadium plans. It includes a couple of maps of the rail area between Lots C and G as well as the Amtrak and BNSF properties at 14th St. to highlight the areas being impacted (though they don't include a map of the 2nd rail yard parcel Amtrak is looking to utilize between 26th and 29th St at Canal St.). Jim and Josh also give a pretty good overview of the Sox ownership sale dynamic between Reinsdorf and Ishbia and why that has led to a little disconnect on White Sox involvement in this effort. They also make reference to public meetings on Parks and Rec and how those always went sideways.😄

Josh Nelson talks about the public meeting on Fox 32.

John Mulaney loves the New York Post! (it starts at 2:40).

Absolutely this. I don't see how residents can get this project cancelled and thus killing $700M in federal grants for Amtrak facility upgrades and viaduct repairs and also killing a proposed medical innovation campus for Northwestern. However, if I were them, my ultimate goal would be to extract as many of these kind of concessions as possible. It's not unheard of for companies to agree to these kind of things to mitigate the impacts on the community. In addition to noise abatement, I would seek assurances that there won't be excessive light pollution into the surrounding residential area from the new facility. These are the kind of things developers often agree to. Added greenspace for the area, too. The possible air emissions aren't nothing if we're talking about diesel trains idling for extended periods. Could the idling times be limited somehow?

I wonder if they can somehow include a tailgating area if they do indeed build a stadium at the Amtrak site? It would be a much smaller scale ......certainly not a 40-acre expanse of surface lots like now, but if Ishbia's team could somehow thread that needle of building a near-downtown stadium that is more focused on transit access while still preserving a pre-game ritual that is important to a core group of diehard fans, that would be great.

Yeah, a $900M project funded by a federal grant and private investment that would make Amtrak operations more efficient....plus, there were Amtrak officials at the meeting making their pitch. That hardly sounds like Amtrak is being pushed out here. The community concerns are legitimate, but Sox Machine shouldn't bullshit us about this either. The item below shows how to cover this without being slanted. I'd be interested in hearing more about the "advanced talks" to buy the BNSF property. How does that benefit BNSF/Metra? Maybe the value of the land is what is making them open to selling their property. Get lots of money for that land and build a new, modern maintenance facility somewhere else along the BNSF line. I'll also add that this would also be a "win" for Northwestern Medicine as this would free up land for them to build a medical innovation campus near downtown. Block Club ChicagoBridgeport Residents Furious About Amtrak Rail Yard Plans...Amtrak’s $900 million plan to relocate the yard from the South Loop could help achieve future White Sox owner Justin Ishbia’s rumored goal of moving the team to that vacated Amtrak facility — leaving

From the article: "Why is Ishbia going through all this work of creating new companies, hiring lobbyists and contractors, all to push Amtrak out of their South Loop location?" That's quite a bit of editorializing by Josh Nelson and a very loaded statement. Is Amtrak actually being "pushed out"? I've been hearing that Amtrak had already wanted to move their maintenance facility for a few years now in order to provide more space for their operations. But, according to Sox Machine, Ishbia and his group are putting pressure on Amtrak to do something they don't want to do......which doesn't seem to match what's been reported as what's going on here.

Looking back at the presentations slides for this project that were given at UIC a few months ago, I wonder how this would play out. According to the slides, Phase 1 of the project would only have Amtrak building on existing track space a between Lots C and G plus the track space a little further north between 26th and 29th streets. So, does this mean that Lots C and G would be needed for staging areas for this construction project? If so, how much of those lots and for how long? Phase 2 is when they'd vacate the rest of their current yard (south of the bascule bridges) and would actually use some or all of those parking lots for Amtrak's new facility. That 2nd phase probably doesn't happen if plans for a new ballpark fall through and the Sox stay at Rate Field long-term.

That's actually a Metra train running behind Josh, not Amtrak as he suggested. It must be a Metra Southwest Service train. And yeah, most NIMBY opposition efforts don't succeed in shutting down a multi billion dollar project. Perhaps they can get Amtrak to design in some ways to lessen the impacts on the neighborhood, but I don't see how they'd be able to stop this from going forward.

A new Royals ballpark is one step closer to reality as the KC city council approves the $600M funding plan for the stadium and a lease agreement that would begin on Feb. 1, 2031. https://www.kctv5.comRoyals stadium lease agreement passes through City CouncilThe plans for the new Kansas City Royals stadium are closer to reality.

I don't know if this has been posted already, but the Bears are still employing 3 lobbying firms whose job is to work with Illinois legislators. FOX 32 ChicagoBears still lobbying in Illinois despite Hammond focusThe Chicago Bears have repeatedly said their focus is now building a new domed stadium in Hammond, Indiana. But the Bears have not completely walked away from Illinois.

McCaskey would somehow find a way to screw up taking notes.

Agreed. Vargas doesn't become a FA until 2030, at which time any long-term deal would almost certainly bring us into the Ishbia ownership era since he secures the option to buy the team in 2034 (vs. it being Jerry's option to sell from 2029-33).

Good weekend for Chicago sports: Sox sweep, Bears win, Scrubs drop 2 of 3, and Ishbia clears another hurdle towards a new Sox stadium.