This explains a lot about the 2000-2010 White Sox. It seems Reinsdorf is only interested in winning if it happens by accident. His goal is to build a 2nd place team. This makes too much sense for it not to be true.  

TIFWIW. 

Edited October 5, 20196 yr by Jack Parkman

Clickbait trash with no way to verify that he knows listeners/readers will eat up. Modern media

What a dumb thread.

Even if this is true, Sox fans aren't going for anything less than excellence this time around. 

This actually fits Reinsdorf's MO if you think about it. 

This would be firsthand, he’s saying Jerry told him this.

7 minutes ago, bmags said:

This would be firsthand, he’s saying Jerry told him this.

Regardless, it fits his modus operandi. White Sox decision making has an entirely new context when taking this info into account, and it makes a lot of sense that this is true. This is being a worse owner than being just super cheap and being bad every year. He's stringing us along. 

Edited October 5, 20196 yr by Jack Parkman

Whatever. David Samson is a scumbag, so he's probably exaggerating what Reinsdorf said anyway. 

Edited October 8, 20196 yr by flavum

I think Reinsdorf just got exposed here and a lot of you are in denial. If you look at the evidence objectively it points to this. Use your brain people.

 

Edited October 5, 20196 yr by Jack Parkman

20 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

I think Reinsdorf just got exposed here and a lot of you are in denial. If you look at the evidence objectively it points to this. Use your brain people. 

Cripes, Jack. You can believe this unsourced absurdity if you want to, but you don’t have to insult everyone’s intelligence for wanting a bit more evidence on the matter.

2 minutes ago, The Sir said:

Cripes, Jack. You can believe this unsourced absurdity if you want to, but you don’t have to insult everyone’s intelligence for wanting a bit more evidence on the matter.

The evidence is there. It's overwhelming.  Just look at the last two and a half decades of White Sox baseball and it's clear as day. It puts all of the absurdity and madness into context. Everything makes sense now that didn't before. 

Edited October 5, 20196 yr by Jack Parkman

...unsourced? 

FWIW I think there is a fairly charitable reading of this especially for a smaller market team that isn’t the Yankees/Red Sox.

I am no White Sox insider, and so I don't have a real idea of what Jerry Reinsdorf truly thinks. However, the long-held perception, at least by many, is that winning is not the main thing with him. That is why this rebuild is so important. The franchise, in the long run, must show it is serious about building and maintaining a contending team. If this rebuild leads to only one or two winning seasons, that will damage the credibility of the organization in a large way.  Hard core fans are supporting the rebuild and the Sox can't afford to lose them. In a relative sense, they have few hard core fans left.

It has now been 100 years since the Black Sox scandal and the team never fully recovered. It is time that it does. 

23 minutes ago, Jack Parkman said:

The evidence is there. It's overwhelming.  Just look at the last two and a half decades of White Sox baseball and it's clear as day. It puts all of the absurdity and madness into context. Everything makes sense now that didn't before. 

You say there’s evidence for lots of things for which there usually is not. We have an owner who is cheap and that often results in not signing the best players and therefore ending up second fiddle, but we have won a WS recently which some more storied franchises can’t say for themselves. There’s no evidence that Reinsdorf is actively aiming for that situation. We’re just a mediocre team because we have a stingy owner.

1 minute ago, The Sir said:

You say there’s evidence for lots of things for which there usually is not. We have an owner who is cheap and that often results in not signing the best players and therefore ending up second fiddle, but we have won a WS recently which some more storied franchises can’t say for themselves. There’s no evidence that Reinsdorf is actively aiming for that situation. We’re just a mediocre team because we have a stingy owner.

If you look at player acquisitions and trades over the last 25 years, it's fairly obvious to me that he's actively aiming for 2nd place. It makes waay too much sense. 

1 minute ago, The Sir said:

You say there’s evidence for lots of things for which there usually is not. We have an owner who is cheap and that often results in not signing the best players and therefore ending up second fiddle, but we have won a WS recently which some more storied franchises can’t say for themselves. There’s no evidence that Reinsdorf is actively aiming for that situation. We’re just a mediocre team because we have a stingy owner.

I wouldn’t even call him cheap, but more so say he’s so risk adverse to the point it’s been detrimental to the organization.

Just now, Jack Parkman said:

If you look at player acquisitions and trades over the last 25 years, it's fairly obvious to me that he's actively aiming for 2nd place. It makes waay too much sense. 

I think you actually might be insane.  

Also, why is he rebuilding right now if the goal is 2nd place finishes?  That’s goes completely against your claim.

Do I believe Sampson on the whole "second place" thing as far as being more profitable and can be a bit cheap like Reinsdorf? Absolutely. 

Do I believe Reinsdorf doesn't care about winning at all? Absolutely not and his emotions when the Sox won the World Series and the parade reflect that. 

1 minute ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I think you actually might be insane.  

Also, why is he rebuilding right now if the goal is 2nd place finishes?  That’s goes completely against your claim.

He rebuilt in the late 90s as well. It's all part of stringing the fanbase along. He's never going to put them over the top. He aims for 85-88 wins as the endgame. They'll ride this core out and do it again if he's still around.

Do I think Jerry values his profit margin over the Sox winning? Yes. Do I think Jerry is intentionally building 2nd place teams? No way. That is a pretty stupid business model and Jerry isn’t a stupid businessman, like him or not. 

1 minute ago, SoxAce said:

Do I believe Sampson on the whole "second place" thing as far as being more profitable and can be a bit cheap like Reinsdorf? Absolutely. 

Do I believe Reinsdorf doesn't care about winning at all? Absolutely not and his emotions when the Sox won the World Series and the parade reflect that. 

I think he's content. If they finish 2nd fine, if they win that's a bonus. 

6 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I think you actually might be insane.  

Also, why is he rebuilding right now if the goal is 2nd place finishes?  That’s goes completely against your claim.

I read something about a prominent person on the autistic spectrum the other day, and it mentioned how one quirk of theirs is that they have rigid adherence to their favored ideas. I see this with Jack all the time. Nothing can talk him down from an idea once he believes it to be true.

When was the last time the Sox finished in 2nd place.  If that's what he's trying to do he's failing at that.

7 minutes ago, TheFutureIsNear said:

Do I think Jerry values his profit margin over the Sox winning? Yes. Do I think Jerry is intentionally building 2nd place teams? No way. That is a pretty stupid business model and Jerry isn’t a stupid businessman, like him or not. 

This. Jerry’s a geriatric billionaire. He probably wants to make sure his heirs are set up for an easy life after he passes so money is priority number one- he’s not gonna a good chunk of his fortune to Machado or Harper or Cole, but he’s not trying to fail. That’s ridiculous.