WBWSF

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 30, 2017 -> 08:42 AM) Do you have a link to the South Loop offer he turned down? I do know there was some sort of preliminary plan to build a stadium the Sox and Bears would share but the Bears said no. Southside Sox has had numerous posts about the South Loop offer. Bruce Levine wrote a column about the South loop offer also a few years ago.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jul 30, 2017 -> 07:55 AM) 1) "I'm told". Lmao. I'm sure 2) You don't get rainouts in Arizona. You act like it's bad for a guy to want his team to play on land he owns. Oh the horror! Now the Sox share a fairly new facility with the Dodgers and don't have to worry about crappy Florida spring weather, weird. JR would have never wanted to move to Addison and Tuscon if he didn't own the land. He should get a kick in his rear end for passing up the South Loop offer that the City of Chicago made. I've never met anybody who thinks the franchise is better off at its present location as opposed to the South loop location. Also when the tax benefits ran out in Tuscon he moved the team to Glendale.

1) I'm told that a new stadium could still be built in the South Loop at Roosevelt and Clark. Keep in mind that the City of Chicago offered to build a stadium at that site in the mid 1980s and JR stupidly rejected the offer. JR wanted to have a stadium built in Addison. Just by coincidence the stadium would have been built on land that he owned. 2) Nobody ever talks about this but for many years the White Sox did their spring training in Sarasota Florida. Out of nowhere JR announced that the team would be moving to Tuscon Arizona for their spring training games. It was somewhat of a head scratcher. Tuscon wasn't really close to the other teams that trained in Arizona. Turns out JR owned the land that the stadium was built on. More tax benefits for JR.

QUOTE (OmarComing25 @ Jul 18, 2017 -> 03:05 PM) By the way, if the rebuild is just a smoke screen to lower payroll, then why in the world did the White Sox pay $50 million to acquire Robert? That would make zero sense if they're only concerned about making profits. That one move completely shatters your entire theory. The $50 million dollars given to Robert is mostly deferred money. Robert gets most of the money in the future. JR won't be owning the team when Robert receives the money.

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jul 18, 2017 -> 11:44 AM) No. Can't assure that for any team in the history of baseball. This is just garbage. You're right, my statement is garbage simply because the White Sox team, ownership and front office are garbage.

1) I read in todays Sun Times that the team is not expecting much in return for Frazier and Robertson after they're traded. You have to see how this plays out but I don't doubt that we will receive next to nothing for them. This only confirms to me that this isn't a rebuild. Its simply a salary dump by JR. I figure by Opening Day 2019 the team will have a payroll of somewhere around $30 million. Considering that the team grosses over $260 million every year, JR is looking at making more serious money. This team will be so bad by then I wouldn't be surprised to see the team have a Turn Back The Clock day with the players dressed in the uniforms of the St. Louis Browns.Hopefully sometime around 2019 this team will have new ownership in place to turn around this train wreck of a franchise. 2) I've always been a fan of Hawk Harrelson as a announcer. I wish this was his last season. It's time for him to go. One of his constant remarks the last 2 seasons is that JR is not going to let the Cubs take over the city. After this Quintana trade I wonder if he's going to use that same comment.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 15, 2017 -> 01:07 PM) Not a bad post, but in a debate, you would lose because of the Robert signing. That was a big-buck signing. I am sure it is easier for the owners to stomach a rebuild if they are saving money in the process. Your post is interesting as didn't the Miami Marlins do what you suggest after winning it all and they never really started spending money again, did they? But as far as this just being a salary dump. IF that was true and I don't think it is true (it is a nice part of the rebuild for the owners, though, making it less painful if they are making tons of $$$), then this rebuild would totally prove interesting. Cause if their sole purpose is lowest possible payroll, then as the young guys advance and make the minimum possible dollars, the Sox would have to dump all of the ones who pan out as they near free agency. Interesting post, but I think the Robert signing proves they want to win. Because they didn't have to get involved with him if they wanted to only reap huge profits. They still would be seen publicly as a team rebuilding step by step even without the Robert $$$s being spent. Another benefit of a low payroll is you have very little on the books in terms of long term contracts. Its easier to sell a team when you a team with a low payroll and no long term contracts on the books. When JR bought the team from Veeck in 1981 he walked into a situation with a low payroll and no long term contracts. Both of my sources tell me that JR will sell the White Sox within the next 2 years. There are at least 2 groups of people who want to buy the team. They will be buying a team with a low payroll and no long term contracts.

This is not a rebuild. Its simply a salary dump. The main objective is to have the White Sox with the lowest payroll in MLB in 2018 and 2019. When you have income of over $260 million a year and a payroll less than $50 million, you're looking at some enormous profits for the owners. JR did the same thing in 1998+1999. The team barely drew 1.3 million in attendance each of those years but they were 2 of the teams most profitable years with the low payrolls. If the so call rebuild works out, fine. Either way JR and his investors will be making some serious money. I realize that the White Sox are a business. The objective of any business is too make money.Still, I would rather have the team making money with a winning team than what we're going to be subjected to the next few years.

QUOTE (miracleon35th @ Jul 13, 2017 -> 08:02 PM) I spoke with several Sox and Cub fans around town today and to a man, every cub fan liked the trade and every so fan was madder than he11. Why make a trade that helps the cubs...in any way shape of form? Hahn had other alternatives. Hahn grew up a Cubs fan. The Quintana trade gets the Cubs into the 2017 Playoffs. I figure after a couple of years of 100 losses the White Sox will show Hahn the door. He will then be hired by Epstein working for the cubs.

Maybe 2021. Hopefully we have a new owner by then.

QUOTE (Sox-35th @ Jul 3, 2017 -> 02:13 PM) Complaining about the ballpark is a fruitless endeavor. You're never going to change that. Chicago won't fund another stadium for decades and the downsides associated with moving to the suburbs far outweigh the benefits. I don't agree with you about a new stadium. Just a couple of years ago the Village of Rosemont wanted to build a stadium for the Bad Guys on the Northside. The White Sox lease runs thru 2029. I feel in another 6-7 years we'll probably be hearing talk of a new stadium for the White Sox in the Chicago land area.

I was at the game yesterday. It looked like they had more than the announced crowd of 22,000. With the nice shirt giveaway I thought they would have a bigger crowd. The Yankees series didn't draw that well and this Texas series has averaged 20,000. Last year the White Sox drew 1.7 million. I wouldn't be surprised to see the attendance below 1.5 million this year. a shameful number for a franchise in a big market.

The organization must not think Engel fits into this rebuild. He has to be upset being demoted after playing well up here. Being replaced by Hansen has to be upsetting to him.

I realize that Rodon and Shields have been hurt and somebody has to start. Still, I can't remember a starting pitcher in recent White Sox history as bad as Covey. We're entering June and he has a ERA over 8.0. This simply can't continue, He has to be removed from the starting rotation.

All in all he seems to be doing a good job. You can't expect him to compete for the Playoffs this year considering the talent he has been given. You can't make chicken salad out of chicken s***.

Looking back at Dunns time with the White Sox has never been explained. Was he hurt? Did he lose his desire to play after signing a big long term contract? Didn't he like playing for the White Sox? Dunn was the first big free agent signing since Albert Belle. He didn't produce here. Nobody has ever figured it out.

Both Williams and Hahn have to shoulder the blame for the present situation the team is in. Unfortunately they are still running things. The only way that is going to change is if the team is sold. 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.

QUOTE (ptatc @ Mar 16, 2017 -> 07:36 PM) If they lose 100 games in 2018 they will have have 2 awful trades with Sale and Eaton. Minus Quintana, Robertson. Cabrera and Frazier the team will easily lose over 100 games in 2018.

Hawk is not stupid. He realizes this is going to be a train wreck of a team for at least the next 2 seasons. It's not any fun being a announcer for a team thats going to lose 100 games a year for the next couple of seasons.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Mar 12, 2017 -> 10:05 AM) Good god dude, it's called a rebuild. They aren't trying to be cheap, there's simply no reason to waste money on a player who is unlikely to bring anything back meaningful come the trade deadline.I don't call it a rebuild. I call it having one of the lowest if not lowest payroll in MLB. I fully expect the team to be sold after the 2018 season. It's much easier to sell a team with a low payroll and no long term contracts on the books. That's how I see this. If anybody thinks JR cares about anything else but money, I think they're misreading him entirely. I could be wrong. Time will tell.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Mar 11, 2017 -> 10:11 PM) Disgraceful that the Sox didn't offer a similar deal earlier since we need a DH badly. The White Sox have no intention of signing anybody who adds to their payroll. The main objective for the organization is to have one of the lowest if not lowest payrolls entering the 2018 season. I figure their payroll next season (2018) will be around $50 million dollars. Forbes magazine said that the White Sox franchise gross about $250 million dollars. 2018 will be a very profitable year for JR even though it will be a disaster on the field.

QUOTE (Thad Bosley @ Mar 11, 2017 -> 09:03 AM) The inability to re-up with Miller is a downstream impact of the continuing bottom-of-the-barrel attendance and TV ratings. The bottom-of-the-barrel attendance and TV ratings are the downstream impacts of the continuing losing by the teams brought to the fan base by Team Reinsdorf, Williams, & Hahn, with over a decade's worth of futility currently underway. Simple cases of cause and effect. The franchise in many ways has bottomed out, and now all that's left for Jerry, Kenny, & Rick to do in the waning years of the Reinsdorf ownership is to go through this rebuild business, and hope to dig the team out of the hole they dug for it. Do so in a way that they might still be able to enjoy whatever success emerges at the end of the rebuild, before it's finally "Bye! Bye!" to all three sometime in the near future once a new owner is in place. When you say that the franchise has bottomed out, I wish I could agree with you but I can't. One of my friends that works for the White Sox has told me that the team has a base attendance of 1.1 million.He doesn't think the team will ever draw less than that amount. If this team is as bad as I think it is AND if the 2018 White Sox are even worse than the 2017 White Sox I can see the franchise returning to the days of 1966-1971 when the team drew less than 1 million per year. Hope I'm wrong but I don't think I am.

QUOTE (ewokpelts @ Mar 11, 2017 -> 10:25 AM) And they are going all in on craft beer. They are doing something. No local team is doing. I actually think this is a smart move. It's only a 3 year deal, so hopefully they are in a spot where sponsors want to join in by 2020, the first year of the new tv deal. Losing somewhere between $7-$10 million dollars a year from Miller Beer advertising can't be a good thing or a smart move.

This is another low point in the JR ownership. The team can't get a major beer sponsor on their TV + Radio broadcasts. Some people have posted that the White Sox will receive a new TV deal in 2 years. I really wonder how much the team will get from that deal. The next 2 seasons are going to be brutal and I have to wonder if the team is going to get any big offers from any TV station.