Lip Man 1

It was never in the cards that he would even consider coming here even though he hits well at Rate Field.

Just a personal opinion but I always felt the reason or a reason why some organizations are good at what they do is because they hire good people. Sounds simple enough but some organizations still don't understand the concept. Granted their could be smart, sharp people working for poor organizations but to me what I'd do if I were the Sox would be to target key people in organizations that are consistently successful and basically "make them an offer they can't refuse..." Pay them whatever it takes to get them to join. That means targeting people from the Dodgers, Phillies, Brewers, Yankees et al. The Royals to me are not the model to follow. If you insist of targeting people from small franchises the Guardians and Brewers are much better choices.

Exactly. This is very well stated. He's basically rewarded if they don't draw well. Who in there right mind from the state board would agree to that type of deal? Seriously that's an insane agreement from the state perspective.

This organization has been dumping on it's own fan base for decades. From JR, to Kenny Williams, Don Cooper, Hahn... even Garfien.

https://www.mlb.com/news/free-agent-market-breakdown-2025-26

Honestly what Getz said doesn't surprise me. I don't see how anybody could have expected anything different and if Levine is right for once, if they do move Robert the payroll could be embarrassingly low. But I'm sure JR isn't losing any sleep over that factor.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2025/11/12/white-sox-gm-chris-getz-on-free-agency-approach-were-going-to-be-aggressive-in-the-right-places

According to what Jack McDowell told me McGwire wanted to come to the Sox in the early 90's. This is from my interview with him: ML: I’m not trying to place blame here, but the Sox as good as they were, always seemed to be one piece short, whether it was another starter or another big bat to go with Thomas and Ventura. Do you think the organization did everything they could to get to a World Series? JMD: "That’s tough to say. I know that Mark McGwire wanted to come here. He called me three times in about a 10 day period after the 1991 season. He asked me about the other guys in the clubhouse, about the coaching staff and about the city of Chicago. I honestly felt we were going to get him. I called Robin (Ventura) to let him know what was going on and I remember he was excited. He told me “alright...we’re going to kick ass.” The Sox then asked Frank (Thomas) if he’d go to DH full time so that Mark could play first and he said no.” “One time I was talking with Jerry Reinsdorf and he told me the reason the Sox wouldn’t go out and sign any big name, big money free agents is because they were concerned about how I’d react to it. We had those contract issues all those years and they thought I’d get angry over it. I looked at him and said it wouldn’t bother me, especially if I was looking at my World Series ring! All I ever wanted to do was win, I didn’t care how much somebody else made."

That's not an impression it would be reality. Between the Illinois state tax and the capital gains tax it would be a lot of money. As to the second part JR still feels he is capable of running the show and his ego demands that he be in control and not a figurehead.

Here's the entire follow up quote from my article on the 25th anniversary of the trade. JR was talking to Phil Rogers of the Tribune: “This team had a chance and it didn’t seize it. It was hard to look at this team and feel very confident. I wasn’t interested in finishing second in a poker hand. Yesterday I said we had no chance of catching Cleveland, today I’m not so sure.” “It’s obvious we’re disappointed with the way our ball club played this year, with our record…no question about it. We were faced with losing Hernandez and Alvarez and getting nothing, as we did with Alex (Fernandez). Now we’ve added a half dozen talented young players. Two or three have a chance of being stars, according to our scouts. If they’re half right we’re in great shape.” The Sox finished 27-28 after the deal and the report from scouts that two or three of the six players the Sox received could be stars...that didn't age very well.

"With three starter spots up for grabs, it’s on Getz and the front office to fill out the pitching staff with more known quantities than years past." https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2025/11/10/pitching-should-be-a-prioirty-for-white-sox-this-offseason

The Sox were only a few games out of first place and had just gotten Ventura back from the gruesome leg injury when JR pulled the plug. The Twins were never that close to a potential post season spot if I remember right. The White Flag Trade was much, much worse and that doesn't even factor in the national and local implications, the fan resentment over the next few years (even in 2000) and the impact it had on the field.

That is his sport. Baseball simply isn't it he still has very little feel for the rhythm and history of it.

Well...the Bears keep walking the tightrope and not falling off. The schedule gets a lot tougher starting next week, we'll see what happens. Only three more wins for a winning season. That could put them in the mix for a potential wild card spot.

Even if he wanted to Getz basically has been told not to do much at all because of the coming lockout.

You bring up an interesting dilemma, you have to appreciate your fandome and loyalty but at the same time "hoping" for the best for a team in a major market with major advantages over the others in their division also seems counter productive to me. It like all those years the Cubs kept selling out with garbage teams, what motivation was there for the front office to actually try? Kind of the same situation with JR although I realize his sweetheart lease also is a big factor, if less fans show up he actually wins not having to pay the state anything, even getting them to have to pay him making up the difference to a certain limit. (Don't know who on the state side said OK to those terms but they should have been fired on the spot) Just a dynamic that seems to put fans between a rock and a hard place while JR laughs all the way to the bank.

https://www.mlb.com/news/qualifying-offer-candidates-and-decisions-2025-2026

But the fact that it happened, they shut him down, he came back to pitch and the knee started bothering him a second time is concerning.

Long, detailed story on the six players the Sox need to get (in the author's opinion) this off season for the bullpen, starting rotation and outfield: https://soxmachine.com/2025/11/josh-nelsons-2025-26-offseason-plan-project-giving-veterans-a-second-chance

Mark "Gonzo" Gonzales helping out the Sun-Times since he works in Arizona now. Long feature on Smith: https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2025/11/06/sox-prospect-hagen-smith-has-been-impressive-in-the-arizona-fall-league

https://soxmachine.com/2025/11/white-sox-notes-tepid-approach-to-free-agency-comes-as-no-surprise

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/05/chicago-white-sox-soxfest-chris-getz/

And if by some miracle he plays well and stays healthy the Sox can ship him out at the deadline get something back for him and JR will be happy he won't have to pay him for the final two months.

They've made some changes though according to this article (last few paragraphs): https://www.southsidesox.com/chicago-white-sox-news/117814/south-side-shuffle-white-sox-keep-robert-jr-reshape-coaching-staff-and-relaunch-soxfest

That's a very good question.