Lip Man 1

QUOTE (IowaSoxFan @ Mar 27, 2017 -> 10:04 AM) Again, this is crazy talk. Yes, the capital gains tax will be less, but they are going to end up spending more in taxes due to inheritance tax if JR dies before the sale than they would pay on capital gains plus they will still have to pay capital gains on top of what they paid in taxes on the inheritance. Taxes will have nothing to do with the sale of this team, and even if it is a driver, it would drive them to sell sooner than later. Iowa: Not according to what tax experts have told me. I'm not a tax guy so I have no idea. Bottom line, he's not selling. For better or worse that's the reality. Mark

QUOTE (BlackSox13 @ Mar 26, 2017 -> 01:11 PM) Quick question. WTF does JR's ownership and the "conspiracy" rebuild have to do with Lucas Giolito's FB velocity drop and CB spin rate? I swear some folks complain for the sake of complaining and if there was nothing to complain about, they would complain about that too. Lighten up Sox fans and be glad baseball is back after a long winter. Nothing at all...just responding to a certain posters constant, as in every post, refrain about JR selling. He's not, dead horse...just hoping he'll finally let it go. Mark

WBWSF: Sigh....OK...for the 8,456th time. First off what any others investors want or wish MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING...repeat NOTHING. JR has day to day control of the operations of the White Sox. IT IS IN HIS CONTRACT. He has the absolute final say on all matters including a possible sale. EVERY other minority owner can say, "we want to sell" but if JR says "no." That's it...over and done. Also unless JR is guilty of some type of illegal activity or is judged to no longer be in control of his mental capacity (i.e. unfit to run the operation) HE CAN NOT BE REMOVED FROM THAT POSITION. Again that is specifically stipulated in his contract. With the money the Sox are making no one can even hope to make that claim. Second, based on what I've been told and from what I've read if JR were to sell before he passed away the tax could be as much as 200 MILLION DOLLARS on him and his family. 200 MILLION. JR isn't the sharpest baseball guy around but he is a brilliant businessman who STARTED AS A TAX GUY. NO ONE knows the in's and out's of the tax laws better than him. If you think he is going to inflict that kind of penalty on his family you are being delusional. If the team is sold after he passes on the tax hit is much MUCH LOWER. Like it or not, for better or worse he is going to own the franchise until it is time for him to leave this existence or unless the tax laws are changed. But if you want to continue to believe in a fantasy then by all means...go for it. Sorry, I don't mean to offend but this constant repetition of nonsense gets old. And in the interest of full disclosure I have been asked to co-author a book on JR, one of the most successful and controversial sports owners in Chicago franchise history. I researched for six months including a number of direct interviews and put together a 75 page outline / format for the upcoming publication. The other person involved in this is now doing much of the writing. Basically I did most of the research and he is doing the other part of the process. He approached me with the idea. I thought it was worth my time and found it interesting so I did what I could. Much of the info on JR is actually public record if you look hard enough. Mark

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Mar 26, 2017 -> 06:04 AM) I still think JR is going to put the team up for sale during the 2018 season and we'll have a new owner going into the 2019 season. I think this statement is entirely wrong. But feel free to keep repeating it every single time. Two words for you: TAX HIT if he sells before he passes on. That is all. Mark

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Mar 13, 2017 -> 03:33 PM) This is a complete overreaction and gross simplification. Looking at his minor league career, he pretty much took the field every day. I don't think two fluke injuries change that, at least not at this time. Guess I'm complete and gross then. Not the kids fault but he's unreliable now until or if he proves otherwise. But it really doesn't matter anyway. Put a giraffe in center for all I care for the next few years. Lose games, get high draft picks, that's the M.O. for right now. Mark

Charlie Tilson = Brett Lawrie version 2.0 Mark

QUOTE (WBWSF @ Mar 12, 2017 -> 10:22 AM) I fully expect the team to be sold after the 2018 season. I'll make it easy for you so that you don't have to allow "time" to tell. He's not selling after next year because...for the 2,678th time, taxes would take a major bite out of any sale profit for him and his family. JR is a tax guy, that's how he got his start, he's a brilliant businessman, which is how he got enough money to buy the team in the first place, he's not stupid. The team will be sold after he has passed on...not before. Please, stop beating the drum on something that makes ZERO financial sense to a guy who is nothing but finance as you correctly point out. Mark

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Mar 10, 2017 -> 09:47 AM) "The perception within the game is Reinsdorf will step back as owner at some point soon, either handing off to his children or selling." JR will not sell while he is still alive because of the tax hit (which would be very large) on his family. He started as a tax guy, he knows the laws better than anyone. And it has been reported many times by many sources (including JR himself to Bob Sirott on Chicago Tonight) that his children are not interested in running the Sox and he has advised them against doing so. Mark

QUOTE (flavum @ Mar 4, 2017 -> 02:31 PM) RIP ClassicMLB11 What happened? Mark

Best for all concerned. Guy couldn't stay healthy and just seemed like an odd-duck. Mark

Best for all concerned. Guy couldn't stay healthy and just seemed like an odd-duck. Mark

What you say Greg could be true however it could also be true that because of age, contract status, limitations with those two players and what the Sox could be asking that in reality no team in fact, wants them right now. Mark

QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 26, 2017 -> 09:51 AM) https://twitter.com/ChiTribKane/status/8358...5835776/photo/1 I forgot we signed Cabrera. They are rebuilding remember plus having three guys who were going to be starters out with injuries doesn't help matters. It's OK. Mark

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 23, 2017 -> 06:47 AM) Isn't that a good thing in a season where they are rebuilding? edit: As long as it's not one of the young rebuilding pieces that is. True... although you never want to see anyone get hurt. Mark

Congrats to Mark, well deserved. Mark

The exhibition season hasn't even started yet and they have already had two guys go down. Mark

QUOTE (greg775 @ Feb 21, 2017 -> 10:56 PM) Baseball has a serious problem with length of games. Depends on who you talk to. I don't have a problem with it at all and yet again ask the question why is this a "problem" for baseball but no one, NO ONE complains when an NFL game (which has just as little action between plays) often runs 3:15 to 3:30...and in the post season it runs longer. And if baseball has an issue with fan support (including kids) why do they keep setting attendance records every year? Mark

QUOTE (Jose Abreu @ Feb 21, 2017 -> 09:09 PM) I don't like this, but for a different reason. There are very rare cases where a pitcher is attempting to intentionally walk a batter, but instead throws a wild pitch, or the hitter swings, or somebody (ex: Miguel Cabrera, 2006) gets an RBI knock off an attempted intentional walk. Sure, these cases happen very rarely, but they impact the games greatly when they do happen; eliminating the formality of throwing the four balls prevents them from ever happening, which, in my opinion, is wrong. Examples: Johnny Bench 1972 World Series and Rod Carew. Just a stupid idea. Mark

Mark Gonzales told me the perfect Swisher story. When he was struggling in the second half with the Sox and Ken Griffey Jr. tried to help him around the batting cage, he blew him off. Ken Griffey... Mark

This will be very interesting to watch. Mark

QUOTE (Two-Gun Pete @ Feb 12, 2017 -> 11:40 AM) (Look, I respect you, & I think you're a good poster, but) nor Ilitch deserve praise as owners of their MLB clubs, in all honesty, IMO. I disagree with this comment. Ilitch did everything he could to get the Tigers into position to get to and win the World Series. They had a very nice run for five or six years under him. Paid top dollar to get the best players and was aggressive in many facets of trying to get the best talent. Mark

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 12, 2017 -> 09:41 AM) JR isn't a saint he is not by far the best owner in the league but he isn't evil incarnate who has single handedly destroyed the White sox organization either. What he did is not a felony crime. What he has done is try different ways to keep baseball from becoming a "he has the most money wins." And again it wasn't Ed DeBartolo who committed a felony crime. Just saying. Regarding the most money comment, JR's desire to destroy the MLBPA and impose his idea of a salary structure failed miserably, cost MLB a lot in 94-95 and neutered his own team's chances of potentially getting to the World Series. To me that doesn't sound like a solid business plan. But that's just me. JR like everyone has had an interesting life and controversial run as owner. He's done some things everyone can be proud of (including his substantial charitable contributions) but he's also done some things that make you wonder 'what was he thinking?' This comment when he took over the team turned out to be very prophetic: Jerry Reinsdorf was a “source of intrigue” and in the future could become a “source of controversy.” –From a story by reporter Linda Kay, Chicago Tribune January 30, 1981. Mark

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 11, 2017 -> 06:19 PM) Was there already a plan for the future of the Tigers and Wings? The trainer here at Idaho State is from Michigan and is a huge Tigers / Red Wings fan. He told me today that the son was already basically running the Red Wings in a transitional period and that he figured to do the same with the Tigers. It will be interesting to see where those two franchises go moving forward. Detroit still has a few major, monster contracts to players who are still productive but getting older. Mark

QUOTE (ptatc @ Feb 11, 2017 -> 08:10 PM) Is this the same DeBartolo who was forced to give up the 49ers due to being convicted of a felony for bribing government officials for gambling licenses? One thing sure sure is that the ownership wouldn't have lasted long as he would've been forced to sell the sox as well. Maybe the MLB owners knew enough not to allow him to buy it. That was his son. The sale to the father was turned down for some reasons that were a little nebulous at best. The owners and commissioner Bowie Kuhn felt that DeBartolo had "connections" to underworld characters, had gambling /interests, wasn't actually living in Chicago and couldn't be relied upon in their opinions. In fact the Galbraith family who owned the Pirates and George Steinbrenner had horse racing interests and owned race tracks. DeBartolo said he would move 20% of his business interests to Chicago and promised he would spend a certain amount of time in the city. That fell on deaf ears. Later after the Sox signed Floyd Bannister to what was considered a huge contract for it's time, Steinbrenner publicly said that he "regretted" not voting for DeBartolo. So the dad then used his resources to buy the 49'ers...and win a bunch of Super Bowls. Mark

He certainly did everything he could to win the World Series for the Tigers. Remember he also owned the Red Wings and they were very successful too. Seemed like everything you wanted in an owner...money was never an issue, excuse or impediment. Mark