https://www.mlb.com/news/munetaka-murakami-mlb-star-potential-analysis

 

1 hour ago, fathom said:

Covid, attendance and TV deals have killed their budget 

If we’re treating Forbes as gospel, they lost $41M in Operating Profit in 2024 with $185M of player expenses.  My understanding is that ~$30M is tied to benefits & bonuses that are mostly fixed in nature.  With $277M in revenue, that would imply a break-even point for salaries of ~$114M.  Attendance increased by 5% last year but was paired with a 10% price cut for season ticket holders.  TV ratings reached an all time low in 2024 which would have hurt them on the Comcast Sports Net side of things.  They may be healthier on the back end now with the middle man cut out, but have almost certainly taken a hit with the distributors with that being passed onto the team directly.  We don’t know what the old deal was worth, but Fangraphs has a random article where they estimated it at $120M (seems high to me, but let’s go with it).  Let’s assume that this new deal results in a 20% loss in revenue for the Sox.  Without further improvements in attendance and TV ratings, we’re looking at a break-even salary point of ~$90M.  And that’s with extremely low attendance and TV ratings, which should both go up as the team gets better next year and even further into the future.

TLDR - The Sox have plenty of financial room to take on Murakami’s salary next year and beyond.

Edited December 18, 2025Dec 18 by Chicago White Sox

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/giants-designate-joey-wiemer-for-assignment.html

Joey Wiemer instead of NPB stars lol?

18 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

If we’re treating Forbes as gospel, they lost $41M in Operating Profit in 2024 with $185M of player expenses.  My understanding is that ~$30M is tied to benefits & bonuses that are mostly fixed in nature.  With $277M in revenue, that would imply a break-even point for salaries of ~$114M.  Attendance increased by 5% last year but was paired with a 10% price cut for season ticket holders.  TV ratings reached an all time low in 2024 which would have hurt them on the Comcast Sports Net side of things.  They may be healthier on the back end now with the middle man cut out, but have almost certainly taken a hit with the distributors with that being passed onto the team directly.  We don’t know what the old deal was worth, but Fangraphs has a random article where they estimated it at $120M (seems high to me, but let’s go with it).  Let’s assume that this new deal results in a $20M loss in revenue for the Sox.  Without further improvements in attendance and TV ratings, we’re looking at a break-even salary point of ~$94M.  And that’s with extremely low attendance and TV ratings, which should both go up as the team gets better next year and even further into the future.

TLDR - The Sox have plenty of financial room to take on Murakami’s salary next year and beyond.

Sponsorships/promotions/t.v. advertising rates falloff as well....

 

You also have to account for Dominican academy costs.

Brewers reportedly spent $20-30 million there, for example.

 

We don't have any reason to believe Ishbia would write a check to completely bail JR out of a $130-150 million debt.

It's probably spread pretty evenly with the Reinsdorf family, Ishbia and 10-15% remaining minority shateholders.

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/munetaka-murakami-deadline-to-sign-with-mlb-club-is-december-22

Sox not listed as an option here.

DBacks added.

Edited December 18, 2025Dec 18 by caulfield12

1 hour ago, fathom said:

Covid, attendance and TV deals have killed their budget 

I thought this was obvious,  but I guess not.  This franchise is broke AF right now.   I figured the chops in payroll showed that.

1 minute ago, southsider2k5 said:

I thought this was obvious,  but I guess not.  This franchise is broke AF right now.   I figured the chops in payroll showed that.

What happens with Robert (and eventually Benintendi) should tell us a lot...

14 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

If we’re treating Forbes as gospel, they lost $41M in Operating Profit in 2024 with $185M of player expenses.  My understanding is that ~$30M is tied to benefits & bonuses that are mostly fixed in nature.  With $277M in revenue, that would imply a break-even point for salaries of ~$114M.  Attendance increased by 5% last year but was paired with a 10% price cut for season ticket holders.  TV ratings reached an all time low in 2024 which would have hurt them on the Comcast Sports Net side of things.  They may be healthier on the back end now with the middle man cut out, but have almost certainly taken a hit with the distributors with that being passed onto the team directly.  We don’t know what the old deal was worth, but Fangraphs has a random article where they estimated it at $120M (seems high to me, but let’s go with it).  Let’s assume that this new deal results in a 20% loss in revenue for the Sox.  Without further improvements in attendance and TV ratings, we’re looking at a break-even salary point of ~$90M.  And that’s with extremely low attendance and TV ratings, which should both go up as the team gets better next year and even further into the future.

TLDR - The Sox have plenty of financial room to take on Murakami’s salary next year and beyond.

They played half the season without a TV deal, and still took a massive haircut on it going forward. 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/12/twins-dan-altavilla-agree-to-minor-league-contract.html

Altavilla to Twins' pen likely

49 minutes ago, maxjusttyped said:

This data is why I think his contract is going to be much, much smaller than people have been anticipating.

Why is why I think there's a non 0 chance the Sox do actually sign him.

I also think it will be smaller, but I also think comparing in zone contact rates between the MLB and the NPB is probably a bit of a reach given major differences in stuff and repertoires of pitchers in each league.

5 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

I also think it will be smaller, but I also think comparing in zone contact rates between the MLB and the NPB is probably a bit of a reach given major differences in stuff and repertoires of pitchers in each league.

Also fwiw, Sarris realized he made an error in the chart and the list is missing guys like Judge and Ohtani

1 hour ago, Nokona said:

Big Christmas DFA'd.  I'd take a flier

1 hour ago, Nokona said:

Big Christmas DFA'd.  I'd take a flier

I want him for that nickname alone

11 minutes ago, Autumn Dreamin said:

Saw this.  Worth a flier.  He’s only 24.  Will probably be no better than Canario, but worth a shot.  His K rate was better in the minors than Canario’s at around 24% but was just as bad in the majors at around 30%.  Once again, no reason to pay a guy like Tauchman $3+ million or another outfielder in the Sox price range to make almost zero difference in another losing season rather than playing a young outfielder that could possibly turn into something. 

Edited December 18, 2025Dec 18 by WhiteSox2023

2 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

What’s radically different between now and the 2013 season?  I’m really not following here.

I already told you. But Ill add that the decision is coming up very soon.

Robert likely wont be traded by late Monday afternoon and O'Hearn is more the Sox speed if they also plan to sign another starting pitcher and/ or relief pitcher and OFer.

And JR is in sell the team because Im almost 90 yrs. old mode not I can now take on the richest contract in White Sox history mode . 

Edited December 18, 2025Dec 18 by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

11 hours ago, Autumn Dreamin said:

Just saw that he has also played some 1B outside of mostly RF.  Problem is that he is out of options.

Edited December 18, 2025Dec 18 by WhiteSox2023

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/mlb/news/mlb-trade-rumors-white-sox-eye-power-upgrade-in-munetaka-murakami-as-experts-predict-bo-bichette-2b-transition/amp_articleshow/126060197.cms
 

👀

1 minute ago, Chicago White Sox said:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/mlb/news/mlb-trade-rumors-white-sox-eye-power-upgrade-in-munetaka-murakami-as-experts-predict-bo-bichette-2b-transition/amp_articleshow/126060197.cms
 

👀

The TImes of India?  Weren't you just s%*# talking Caulfield's sources?

3 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

The TImes of India?  Weren't you just s%*# talking Caulfield's sources?

The Times of India is a serious news outlet unlike that AI slop Caulfield was posting!  

7 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

The TImes of India?  Weren't you just s%*# talking Caulfield's sources?

This source seems VERY familiar.

I've seen it pop up quite a few times for various professional sports articles the last 2-3 years.

3 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

The Times of India is a serious news outlet unlike that AI slop Caulfield was posting!  

AI just quickly amalgamates all those news sources instantaneously and provides a succinct set of key bullet points.

11 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/mlb/news/mlb-trade-rumors-white-sox-eye-power-upgrade-in-munetaka-murakami-as-experts-predict-bo-bichette-2b-transition/amp_articleshow/126060197.cms
 

👀

21 hours ago, Chicago White Sox said:

What in the f*** is BolaVIP Times of India and why are you sharing this AI slop?

Quote

The Pittsburgh Pirates continue to explore any number of ways to improve their offense, from one-year boosts in trades for Brandon Lowe and/or the Chicago White Sox’s Luis Robert Jr. to free-agent signings of players such as Ryan O’Hearn, Marcell Ozuna and Kazuma Okamoto to trades of young pitchers for hitters under multi-year control.

From Rosenthal's piece today.

7 minutes ago, Sleepy Harold said:

From Rosenthal's piece today.

I still love the idea of getting the comp pick from the Pirates in a Robert trade.

9 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

 

To be fair, I thought posting a Times of India article that simply references another article that’s already been discussed here would have been a dead giveaway this was a joke.

It's clearly a bit he's leaning into. C'mon now.