Chicago White Sox

Sorry, meant to put “2nd” there…both brothers combined and well behind Cohen

I think Justin alone makes us the 2nd wealthiest, but won’t hurt to have both.

I just hope this doesn’t mean Rojas steals all the at-bats at 2B.

That should tell you how the league views him. Obviously the lack of options hurt, but not a single rebuilding club was even willing to give up a lottery ticket.

Jerry has already told his family to sell the franchise when he dies. And he’s very public about this.

Yeah, those two!

He’s saving those for the regular season

He’s not really a SS. His defense is built off of skill and fundamentals and not really range. 2B is probably the best spot for him long-term and I think he can be average or slightly above there.

In my opinion, the infield and rotation will be fun to follow. Colson will likely force his way into the SS equation and then you have a ton of interesting kids for 3B & 2B. The same applies to the rotation, where even if we don’t see Schultz or Smith, there probably 10 other SP prospects with legit promise who will be in the mix.

f***…what did he say? How he’s about to set the all-time rookie OBP record?

To be clear. I think if he dies, the control goes to his family if they were to keep their shares. He’s basically got to sell control to be relieved of it.

I heard Nastrini looked good and added a splitter? Would love to see him force his way into the rotation equation.

FWIW, Fangraphs had a one-off top 25 pitching prospects by “peak projected MLB ERA” list a few months back and Burke cracked the top 25. He’s certainly under the radar, but I think there is a real chance he has the stuff to be a legit #3 caliber starter if can stay healthy. https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/projections-fueled-top-25-pitching-prospects-entering-2025/

Those are just the first two of many signings!

Or Jerry realizes the next tier of possible buyers weren’t going to be as wealthy and therefore as willing to make a big offer, especially given the current state of the franchise. Jerry can hold off until he dies to settle things, but that outcome likely won’t be as good as one right now with Ishbia as long as he can do a deal structure that helps with the eventual tax implications.

I do think it’s important to take certain elements of last year with a grain of salt though. Being historically bad and having one of the most pathetic managers to ever lead a club takes a toll over time. No doubt the young players should be motivated enough to overcome some of these things, but unfortunately these guys are human and s%*# takes a toll. This club still sucks, so we will find out fairly quickly if having a better leader makes a difference in that regard.

Meidroth quickly making his way up the lineup!

I don’t believe Sosa is a “DH type”. He has played SS throughout his minor league career. I know he’s been terrible in the majors, but I’m certainly not ready to write him off at 2B yet. If he can’t field 2B or 3B, then he’s most likely a lost cause as the bat won’t play up enough at 1B or DH.

How does that ultimately correct the underlying issue that small market teams can’t compete with large market teams? The only way to fix that is through a labor stoppage and one that puts the players out of work so long that they concede on the implementation of a hard cap (hopefully paired with a floor).

Logically speaking, there are two “outs” for Jerry here after Ishbia buys out the other shareholders: Ishbia enters into a conditional purchase of the Reinsdorf family shares with bulk of transaction going into effect upon Jerry’s death (similar to Orioles deal), but with control transferring over to Ishbia at time of signing Remaining owners are asked to provide a capital call, with Ishbia injecting significant cash into the org to support a new stadium in exchange for control of the team; the Reinsdorf’s hold onto their stake in the club and hope to cash out later at a higher valuation due to new stadium No other scenario makes sense to me and I still think #1 is more likely than #2

This is actually a very good point. Beyond having to oversee a rebuild and solving their TV network issues, Jerry will also have to deal with a labor dispute that is going to negatively impact the bottom line. Why endure these things at 89 years of age if they can be avoided? Honestly, the only things preventing a sale right now are the franchise being at a low point and the tax consequences of a sale before Jerry’s death. The former can be solved through a motivated buyer (it’s clear Ishbia prefers Chicago) and the ladder can be solved through deal structure. I don’t see any case where Ishbia waits until Jerry’s dead to assume control…it will certainly happen sooner, the only question is how soon and what will be the triggering event.

So an interesting point that was made in FutureSox’s write-up on this, but one I was thinking about as well. The original Athletic article pointed out possible share dilution for owners who don’t sell to Ishbia by Friday, but then scrapped that comment in an update to the article. However, is it possible that Jerry is using a threat of a future capital call to help finance a privately owned stadium to get the other minority owners to sell now at the $1.8B valuation?

If they were issuing new shares of equity, then the existing owners’ shares would be diluted. But Ishbia is simply buying out owners of their existing shares, so ownership stakes shouldn’t change for people who don’t sell. As for the benefit of buying now, there is none since Jerry has absolute control of everything in the current limited partnership structure. If Ishbia’s goal it to take on 100% ownership one day, this obviously helps streamline the process, but ultimately he’d only be going through this effort if it’s part of a larger plan.

What a dumb fucking article