Lip Man 1

True but he's got what 18 million reasons to 'put up' with it.

Balta: You asked the question about the future with the stadium lease expiring in seven years...I asked a source, one of those individuals that I spoke with for my "State of the Sox" story. This was their reply: "Good question. I have never been in a meeting when this issue came up. Probably due to the fact that Jerry will no longer own the club by then and it will be left up to new ownership to deal with."

Here's what I was told, I know the name(s) of the person/people involved but I'm not at liberty to specifically say who they are so I'll speak in general terms. There were some "connections" between some members of the White Sox and people working for Guaranteed Rate, those involved didn''t disclose those connections to JR and tried to play up Guaranteed Rate as much as possible.

I think Sox machine is one of the best sites around covering the Sox around today and this latest story hits home: https://soxmachine.com/2022/12/the-white-sox-have-stopped-trying-to-sell-themselves/

Again from a source in my story on the State of the Sox: “The NBC deal expires in a year or two and the Sox are looking into starting their own network along with the Bulls and Blackhawks. I know before the NBC deal was completed there was some talk about trying to do something then but JR and others thought it wasn’t the right time, the market wasn’t right to get the best deal.”

It's Rick Hahn remember. If I could give him any advice it would be never to talk to the media again. He has zero credibility and simply embarrasses himself when he opens his mouth then has to go back and make excuses.

DeBartolo invented the modern shopping mall in Boardman, Ohio. The Allyn's were businessmen with diversified interests.

It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened. But I guess it would depend on where the move goes to. If it's across the country MLB may look to relocated a current team or expand, which is what almost happened to the Sox before Veeck bought them in December 1975. The plan was for the Sox to move to Seattle ending the lawsuits and then Charlie Finley would move the A's to Chicago where he had always wanted a team.

Balta: I have never heard anything along these lines but that's a good question. I'll try to reach out and see if I can get any feedback.

Your examples came from back in the day when the outside revenue streams (not involving ticket sales) were practically non-existent. In the hear and now especially in Chicago, a good owner with a winning franchise (again considering the overall history of teams in Chicago) would make more revenue than they could dream of. Chicago has advertising, marketing and promotional opportunities other cities simply do not have. Now throw in the sweetheart least that JR has had for decades and (assuming he is still around) the Sox aren't going anywhere. That is one thing JR has done well, he has brought stability to this franchise.

To my knowledge that's incorrect. JR turned down Wintrust not the ISA. he holds that power based on what seems to have transpired.

We shouldn't be surprised by this at all, that been the rumors for months and with the Sox up against the self-imposed payroll restrictions I would have been shocked if things turned out differently.

That I don't know I suspect some of it may but remember JR has so much power and control over the stadium itself and the lease (for example he can veto any activities on the field such as concerts) that this may also be part of the bargain, he gets naming rights money. This particular source (and again I spoke with six) has close intimate knowledge of this particular area being discussed.

From a source in my look at the State of the Sox (one of six sources by the way): “Wintrust offered a much better deal than Guaranteed Rate but part of what Wintrust wanted is the name had to be changed back to Comiskey Park and JR didn’t like that at all. He also wasn’t told some of the details in the agreement that may have made a difference had he knew.”

I know this has been discussed here, along the lines of would you give up on the Sox? Could anything drive you away? Etc. I thought this was very well written trying to describe the emotions of the fan base after last season and why things may be different now: https://www.southsidesox.com/2022/12/29/23529472/2022-the-year-that-broke-chicago-white-sox-fans

Just wondering, why can't you be a fan BOTH of winning and of a particular team? Other fan bases seem to have both...why can't White Sox fans?

The arrogance of this organization under his ownership knows no bounds. "Who are you to criticize us? We know better than you. WE know what we are doing and we're smarter than you! (History shows they don't however...)

It won't.

The Sox will be put on the market in a reasonable amount of time right after JR passes. https://www.southsidesox.com/2022/8/29/23325369/jerry-reinsdorf-selling-chicago-white-sox-not-on-his-life

https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/mark-buehrle-hall-of-fame-case

I'm looking forward to outliving current ownership and seeing what a new beginning brings.

The window is half closing. The Sox can't compete with the Yankees, Astros maybe the Rays, Blue Jays but....BUT if they can actually stay healthy they should post a winning season and maybe have a shot for the divisional title. Sorry, until this ownership changes and the front office on the baseball side is fired that's about the best you can hope for.

DVS of the Sun-Times today had a story that basically said second base will be filled by "internal" options.

https://www.mlb.com/news/trevor-bauer-reinstated-after-suspension MLB's response.

This is from my interview with one of several sources regarding the State of the Sox: Broadcast announcer issues “It’s happened a lot, even to guys like Ed Farmer, where they thought they had a deal with the Sox only to be told it was changed. There were screaming matches in the hallway at the stadium with guys yelling at Sox officials because they were so angry over what happened.” “I remember hearing Ed Farmer say, I work for Jerry Reinsdorf not the White Sox.” “Jason Benetti’s deal with the Sox is up, the Sox hold the option for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He went to Fox to negotiate that deal with them after he was told to do it and then come back to the Sox and they’d work something out. Jason wanted to get the deal done with the Sox first and then go to Fox or ESPN or whoever. Turns out when he came back to the Sox and said that he needs 40 days off so he can do the Fox work he was told, ‘no, that’s not happening.’ So I don’t know what’s going to happen to him or Steve Stone.” “The radio guys would b**** about the TV guys; the TV guys would b**** about the radio guys. Steve Stone was not well liked.” “The broadcasters would go to JR and talk with him about what was going on and it finally got to the point where JR said he doesn’t want to hear about this anymore.” “The folks in charge of broadcasting at the MLB offices can’t stand to work with some of the Sox officials.”