Reinsdorf considers moving White Sox out of Guaranteed Rate Field or selling team

[Dick Allen]

What really would make a lot of sense is dropping a baseball stadium in with the Bears stadium at Arlington Park. 

The 78 makes more sense. Wouldn't even have to change the City Connect jerseys. 

Of course neither will ever happen.

[ThirdGen]

4 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

They just want a lakefront stadium downtown, and unfortunately we can’t really move back time to do it right anymore and the infrastructure just doesn’t support it like we want.  I get the fascination but the reality of it just never sinks in for some

I can't imagine a worse location for the Sox than the lakefront.  I'd be shocked if 20% of the people actually attending games are from the South Side of Chicago.  I'd actually be shocked if 20% of the people attending are from within the city limits.

[Dick Allen]

14 hours ago, Tony said:

He inherited Jordan, gifted Derrick Rose and was at the helm of one very lucky season in 2005. He is an unbelievably poor owner and the city will be a better place with him out of the picture 

Exactly. You do a real deep dive into it, he has been really bad. Just think of the advantage the Sox had being in the ALC. They are the only team never to dominate it for a few years. They should have blown everyone else out.

[soxfaninfl]

The more I think of this report, the angrier I get, honestly. Like Sox fans haven’t suffered enough this year. The old feelings from the late ‘80s have returned when I truly felt the Sox wanted to move to FL and only a sweetheart deal kept them in Chicago. Just really starting to question my loyalty to a team that I have supported, gone to games even in lean years, bought jerseys, hats, etc, and even raised my kids as diehard Sox fans.

The year that keeps giving just keeps giving.

[ThirdGen]

7 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

As I wrote in my State of the Sox story from November things along the lines of infighting and back stabbing from front office employees vying for the title of "president," his wife passing away last year, his close friend (almost like a son) Kenny Williams going to retire soon and possibly health issues.

Like I wrote if he's willing to take a 200 million dollar (estimated) tax hit just from capital gains to say nothing of the Illinois state tax, something must really be wrong...because he's not losing money. 

I wonder if there isn't some way to structure the deal to soften the tax blow. As I recall, when the Trib Co sold the Cubs they retained a small minority interest as that somehow mitigated taxes. Is there some way to do that here, and if anyone would know it would be JR.

[caulfield12]

4 minutes ago, soxfaninfl said:

The more I think of this report, the angrier I get, honestly. Like Sox fans haven’t suffered enough this year. The old feelings from the late ‘80s have returned when I truly felt the Sox wanted to move to FL and only a sweetheart deal kept them in Chicago. Just really starting to question my loyalty to a team that I have supported, gone to games even in lean years, bought jerseys, hats, etc, and even raised my kids as diehard Sox fans.

The year that keeps giving just keeps giving.

We're probably going to lose Stone and Benetti as well.

It won't take long for the Gordon Beckham "Future Jeter of Chicago" act to wear thin.

[cuban_sammiches]

7 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

What really would make a lot of sense is dropping a baseball stadium in with the Bears stadium at Arlington Park. 

The 78 makes more sense. Wouldn't even have to change the City Connect jerseys. 

Of course neither will ever happen.

I agree with everything you wrote.

[35thstreetswarm]

10 minutes ago, soxfaninfl said:

The more I think of this report, the angrier I get, honestly. Like Sox fans haven’t suffered enough this year. The old feelings from the late ‘80s have returned when I truly felt the Sox wanted to move to FL and only a sweetheart deal kept them in Chicago. Just really starting to question my loyalty to a team that I have supported, gone to games even in lean years, bought jerseys, hats, etc, and even raised my kids as diehard Sox fans.

The year that keeps giving just keeps giving.

It really does sometimes feel like the organization is actively trolling its fans.

[Highland]

9 minutes ago, soxfaninfl said:

The more I think of this report, the angrier I get, honestly. Like Sox fans haven’t suffered enough this year. The old feelings from the late ‘80s have returned when I truly felt the Sox wanted to move to FL and only a sweetheart deal kept them in Chicago. Just really starting to question my loyalty to a team that I have supported, gone to games even in lean years, bought jerseys, hats, etc, and even raised my kids as diehard Sox fans.

The year that keeps giving just keeps giving.

I feel this way, too. In addition, I wonder, after all this silence, that there is a "leaked" story about a new stadium or the possibility of selling the team. There has to be a reason that this story came out. The Sox FO should know that something like this would not get a good reception. Other than that, there has to be a reason, perverted as it may be.

In six years, GRF will be close to being 40 years old. Maybe a time for a new stadium? But not under threats.

[Kyyle23]

10 minutes ago, ThirdGen said:

I wonder if there isn't some way to structure the deal to soften the tax blow. As I recall, when the Trib Co sold the Cubs they retained a small minority interest as that somehow mitigated taxes. Is there some way to do that here, and if anyone would know it would be JR.

f*** that.  Pay up b****

[Harry Chappas]

14 hours ago, fathom said:

And I don’t care how loyal he is to players, he treats the fans like scum.

He is loyal to the lap dogs.  He uses the carrot mentality with everyone especially younger players to lock them in and then let's them walk.  Pippen is the prime example.  How is Jordan treated the way he is.  The amount of money he has made Reinsdorf is insane. 

He has become a master puppeteer of sheeple like myself. 

[GREEDY]

Unfortunately, this is part of the game owners have to play when it comes time for a new stadium.  Buckle up for 5+ years of this craziness.  

I'd love a new park, am definitely open to new locations, I just hope new owners are eventually the ones building the new stadium.  

 

[Balta1701]

56 minutes ago, oldsox said:

The old Seattle arena was a nightmare.  

I will bet you that no matter how this goes, in 2050 you'll still hear about the nightmare that was the upper deck at New Comiskey/USCellular/Guaranteed Rate field. 

[baseball_gal_aly]

The entire last 3 seasons feel like the plot of Major League......except for the winning to spite the owner. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by baseballgalaly

[South Side Hit Men]

41 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

Regardless of what else happens I do expect this to drag through one or two single year extensions. The ballpark will still be usable in 2031 and movement won’t happen until there is actually a threat of one side or the other walking away.

I think the biggest issue however remains the deal from last time. The terms that the White Sox got were so obscene, so incredibly team friendly that even in 1 year extensions, the political side will want some of those clauses to go away. This will not only motivate things to happen as a deadline approaches, it will likely complicate things next time because if the White Sox try to use the last deal as a starting point, the political side will politely leave the room. Compared to the last deal, the White Sox will have to make serious concessions that cost them money. That may potentially poison the well in negotiations and it will make them fully consider relocation options.

This sounds about right, but a new owner (Jerry sells or passes) may be far more reasonable to get something done, especially if the sale includes the Sox portion of the cable network.

Don't agree with other suggestions for Arlington Heights (seriously, they will not draw in that area at all, staunch Cubs territory) or Soldier Field.

What I haven't heard here is utilizing the Robert Taylor land for parking, and creating something similar to the original Armour Square Park Plan with even more room.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/the-white-sox-ballpark-in-chicago-that-never-was-and-could-have-changed-history/

All those acres west of the Dan Ryan can be converted to residential and amenity real estate. There could be no displacement for the east of Dan Ryan parking because most of that land is still vacant (south of IIT/35th) on Federal Street.

Build a people mover monorail across to the stadium (like at O'Hare between the terminals) to get people back and forth in 3-5 minutes.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/3600+S+Federal+St,+Chicago,+IL+60609,+USA/@41.8294589,-87.6293972,18.25z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x880e2c11db4a0807:0x3827245c08fbce9d!8m2!3d41.8291935!4d-87.6291295!16s%2Fg%2F11c24s79r1?entry=ttu

The other alternative would be to utilize the dead space at and west of the old post office that's been vacant for years. (Harrison N, Kennedy W, Polk S, River E. The Blue Line stops right there at Clinton, plus LaSalle Street Metra and you could build a similar people mover monorail from the Metra Stations to the Park.

[Buehrle>Wood]

1 hour ago, Dick Allen said:

What really would make a lot of sense is dropping a baseball stadium in with the Bears stadium at Arlington Park. 

The 78 makes more sense. Wouldn't even have to change the City Connect jerseys. 

Of course neither will ever happen.

The Sox would have no built in fanbase on the northside

[Harry Chappas]

Doesn't Reinsdorf own all of the land that Comiskey Park is located on.

What if that was the land that the Bears wanted to take to build their dome and the White Sox moved to the lake front on the land where old McCormick is located.  Build a nice 32K seat stadium down there. 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

13 hours ago, The Beast said:

Hopefully people on this board will understand that distinction, moving out of Chicago and remaining in Illinois is one thing, leaving the state for another city and state like Nashville, TN is another thing. There’s just no tie to Chicago at that point.

My tie to the White Sox is familial, not regional. It just so happens that them being on the South Side at one point instilled it in my father and grandfather. The challenge comes from kids born today, not from someone like me.

I'll root for the Sox regardless. I'm not going to become a Cubs fan for god sakes. That said, I wouldn't blame my kid for finding whatever team he wanted because he won't necessarily have those ball game experiences with his dad and grandpa; at least not with any frequency like I did, and I'll be pretty damn bummed if that's the case.

Edited August 22, 2023 by Look at Ray Ray Run

[South Side Hit Men]

2 minutes ago, Harry Chappas said:

Doesn't Reinsdorf own all of the land that Comiskey Park is located on.

No, the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority owns the stadium, stadium land and surrounding parking lots.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

2 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

Or the SuperSonics moving somewhere tiny in the middle of no where like Oklahoma City.

OKC metro has 1.5 million and Seattle metro had 4 million.

So OKC > Nashville and Seattle << Chicago.

Nothing alike, really.

[JoeC]

Can we trick Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny into thinking the Sox are a lower-tier American baseball team?

[Flash Tizzle]

Think about this from Reinsdorf perspective, he may not be alive when the stadium deal expires in six years. Crain is a very reputable publication, so he is definitely putting this out there to set the groundwork for getting what he wants — the best deal possible.  If he can earn more from a potential buyer floating the idea of relocating the team, then that is what will happen. If the team remains in Chicago, there will be some significant improvements to the neighborhood and/or stadium on the backs of the taxpayer. Which will only be done with the purpose of enriching himself and the investors once the team is sold. 

If you just answer every question with, what will earn Jerry Reinsdorf the most money, you will probably be on the right track. 

[HOFHurt35]

What's crazy, NONE of this is being discussed right now if Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, Tim Anderson, Yazmani Grandal, Andrew Vaughn, Rick Hahn would not have sucked at their jobs as they have the last 2 years. 

That's what's crazy here.  This complete implosion of the "Core" Rick Hahn built has basically turned the franchise upside down to the point of Ownership now trying to get out / relocate.   

When the Sox rebuild started, their trajectory was put side by side as those of the Braves and Rays.    You can't tell me this ownership would be looking to getting out if we'd be performing like those teams right now. 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by HOFHurt35

[HOFHurt35]

12 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:

No, the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority owns the stadium, stadium land and surrounding parking lots.

I think Reinsdorf and Co might own the lots where the old ballpark stood, along with any parking lots from the old ballpark. 

[DFAthewave69420]

Jerry Reinsdorf is really going to take his ball and go home.  He’s going to do one last middle finger to the world before he rots.