Report: Jerry Reinsdorf open to selling White Sox, in discussions with Dave Stewart
Good news: Jerry Reinsdorf isn’t impervious to the modern pressures of running the White Sox, and is open to selling the team according to The Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli.
Bad news: The potential buying group isn’t going to quell fears of things like Reinsdorf relying exclusively on one person for important decisions, or relocating the team to Nashville.
Ghiroli broke the news this afternoon, which surprised Sox employees past and present:
Longtime majority owner Jerry Reinsdorf is open to selling the Chicago White Sox, sources briefed on the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Athletic. The 88-year-old Reinsdorf is in active discussions with a group led by former big leaguer Dave Stewart.
A representative for Stewart declined comment to Sox Machine. The team is aware of the report, but at this time is not issuing further comment at this time beyond “we do not comment on rumors and speculation.” However, past public statements from Reinsdorf have indicated he plans for the team to be sold after his death, and that he expects decisions on the long-term home of the team to be in the hands of next owner if there is no new stadium deal in place when their current lease with Guaranteed Rate Field expires after the 2029 season.
Stewart makes all the sense in the world at this particular time, although not for the most encouraging of reasons.
For one, he’s the closest of friends with Tony La Russa. If you didn’t recall it from the two running the Arizona Diamondbacks in a confusion fashion — La Russa as Chief Baseball Officer, Stewart as GM — then you’d recall it from La Russa traveling to Oakland for Stewart’s jersey retirement ceremony in September 2022, when he was on leave from White Sox managerial duties due to health issues.
Then there’s the part where Stewart has been involved in bringing a Major League Baseball team to Nashville. He could be seen holding court around the Gaylord Opryland during the winter meetings, and he’d been working with Music City Baseball, an investment group that has been championing the prospect of landing an expansion team it would call the Nashville Stars, until last November, when he left the group citing “philosophical differences.”
[Stewart] added that he has the financial backing to privately fund the $3.5 billion-plus it likely will take to do so, something Music City Baseball does not yet have.“I put people in front of (Music City Baseball) who were capable of doing what needed to be done (financially),” Stewart told The Tennessean. “They questioned me and who my people were. Quite frankly, it was insulting.”
Music City Baseball managing partner John Loar called his group’s approach to funding the endeavor “more agnostic” than Stewart’s.
“Dave is very specific in putting an ownership group together,” Loar told The Tennessean last week after Music City Baseball made a presentation to the Rotary Club of Nashville. “Diversity was really his focus on it. It made more sense (to part ways), because he would like to have more involvement and more control over that, to go do that.”
Stewart had previously tried to buy the Miami Marlins before turning his attention to an expansion team in Nashville. Whether his group would be fine owning any team in any place, his ties to Nashville would certainly help Reinsdorf’s goals of seeking leverage for public funds to build a new White Sox ballpark in the South Loop. He foreshadowed this development to Crain’s Chicago Business back in February:
“When I’m gone, (son Michael) will have an obligation to do what’s best (for the other investors). That likely means putting the team up for sale … The team will be worth more out of town.”
Setting aside Reinsdorf’s assertion that the White Sox would be worth more in a far smaller market, any group attempting to move the team to Nashville would encounter the same headwinds in finding public financing for a new ballpark. First Horizon Park, which seats 10,000 people, is hemmed in by apartments and state office property, and the city already faces a record-settling public financing bill for the underway construction of a new indoor football stadium to replace Nissan Stadium. Passage of the deal was rushed through the city council, and opponents of the Titans stadium plans fared well in the last election cycle, as it was a part of Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s platform. State interests could supersede city interests, of course, but with a consequential $3.1 billion transit plan on the ballot next month that relies on the raising of sales taxes, the common revenue streams could already be spoken for.
But even if the White Sox were content with Guaranteed Rate Field, the thought of Reinsdorf selling had crossed my mind earlier today when reading about the struggles of the Bulls and Blackhawks reaching carriage agreements with major cable and streaming providers for CHSN, their new regional sports network. It isn’t a coincidence that the Pohlad family announced the intent to sell the Twins shortly after they announced a far less lucrative broadcast deal with Major League Baseball. The Twins aren’t alone in the Diamond Sports Group refugee boat, so it makes sense that Reinsdorf would want to explore selling before supply of teams outstripped demand.
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Ugh, Stewart having control would be every bit as bad as Reinsdorf, if not worse. Another skinflint ownership group led by a guy who thinks he knows baseball but whose demonstrated proficiencies in the game are decades out of date.
Nah, there’s only one devil and we dun named ours. You want to get rid of Reinsdorf? It comes at a price.
This would be astonishingly White Soxy.
Might as well have Jerry die and leave it to TLR.
Functionally this would be pretty close.
I didn’t know that Stewart had parted ways with the Music City Baseball group. I’m a bit surprised he has the capital to try and buy a baseball team.
And I’m surprised because I thought new owners were all hedge fund guys or people somehow involved with money management.
Stewart does not have the money. He would have to be backed by someone
Could be posturing but:
Exactly why wouldn’t they just sell to a richer billionaire and get max value for the franchise?
Ken Griffin already moved to Miami
Much to Chicago’s benefit.
There’s zero hope if Dave Stewart is involved.
With that said, this seems like the Tampa playbook all over again. At least I hope it is. I can’t do decades with Dave Stewart in charge.
It’s the worst possible version of this story, right? I mean who had “sells the team, but the sale somehow increases the power of TLR” on their Sox shitshow bingo card?!?
How to be a White Sox prophet: Predict the dumbest thing they can do, get very drunk, read what you wrote and try to top it.
Isn’t this a similar situation as the Bears where they could avoid a large capital gains tax if they sell after Jerry dies? Seems like a bluff for sure just to keep his most evil owner in Chicago rep.
Yes. There’s reason Jerry has always talked about his kids selling the team after he dies — they would save an awful lot of money in capital gains taxes compared to a sale of Jerry’s interest while he’s alive, because the kids’ tax basis would be “stepped up” to the value on the date of his death. So I’m kinda skeptical about this. I’m pretty sure that Michael Reinsdorf would like the extra money.
My son is a tax attorney. This is precisely why the Sox won’t sell until after Jerry dies. The kids would get crushed by the capital gains tax.
They wouldn’t get “crushed” they just would have less millions. Let’s be careful with the wording.
Crushed may be a little harsh for billionaires losing some coin. But, let’s say approximately 20% of $2 billion in capital gains is $400 million. That’s a lot of Happy Meals. You get my drift.
Ok, let’s play and see what we get.
Scenario 1: Jerry gets up tonight to go to the bathroom and never makes it. To settle the estate they sell the team and get full valuation of $2 bil. We take the often estimated % that Jerry owned, 20% and we split it 4 ways between the kids.
$2,000,000,000 x 20% / 4 = $100,000,000 each.
$100,000,000 x 40% estate tax = 40,000,000 or $60,000,000 net each.
Scenario 2: Jerry gets up tonight to go to the bathroom and realizes he needs to sell now and accepts an offer of $2 billion. We take the often estimated % that Jerry owned, 20%, gifts his kids the max he can and lives out the last year of his miserable existence on cheap booze and cheaper hookers leaving the kids with the same amount he sold for.
$2,000,000,000 x 20% = $400,000,000 x 20% capitol gains leaves
$320,000,000 /4 = $80,000,000
$80,000,000 – 15,000,000 gift per x 40% estate tax = $39,000,000 or $54,000,000 net each
Scenario 3: Jerry gets up tonight to go to the bathroom and veggies out. As the 3 yrs go by while he’s a drool pile on his pillow, the boy wonder from Ann Harbor runs the team into the ground and they are lucky to get the $1.6 billion valuation of the team 80 miles north when his drool pillow gets its revenge and brings the reign to and end.
$1,600,000,000 x 20% / 4 = $80,000,000 each.
$80,000,000 x 40% estate tax = 32,000,000 or $48,000,000 net each.
So yes, the max return for the kids is if he kicks it tonight and then they sell for max valuation. But it’s not a game changing amount from if they sell tomorrow and there’s the risk that valuations can go to shit if they wait or if they haven’t already.
Do the other owners have any leverage? They may have decided they just want to get out
Reinsdorf could have leaked this himself to try and get more interest in purchasing the team. His claim that the Sox are worth more out of town is pure baloney. I think the fans need to speak clearly, with one voice that they will not give money to MLB if the White Sox move out of Chicago. It is the only thing these owners understand.
The owners don’t care about the fans. They seemingly don’t even really care about good business.
I posted this on Twitter, and maybe in another post story here, but the Sox would do much better in Chicago than anywhere else:
I get that there’s a huge shift in the business model for TV and sports TV broadcasting, but Chicago just has more people than anywhere else.
Nashville is total baloney. Your TV analysis shows why. This is a negotiation, and the White Sox and MLB need to know the stakes. This is a very Irish fan base, and I know I am perfectly capable of carrying a grudge against MLB for the rest of my life.
I second that…
Is this a private grudge? Or can anyone join?
Open to all! We should think about ways to make it clear to MLB that we won’t go down like Oakland. It was terrible watching those fans the last day.
Grudge …Grudge is my middle name
This is what I found for the two final “rebuild” years and the first three years after the mostly cancelled season. I couldn’t find 2024 final RSN numbers.
Sources (2018-2019 Forbes; 2021 Sun Times – Best I could find 2022-2023 Forbes)
Average viewers / ratings for the past five full seasons:
2018: 0.60 rating (22,000 viewers)
2019: 1.03 rating (33,000 viewers)
2021: 2.2 rating (viewers not listed)
2022: 1.69 rating (viewers not listed)
2023: 0.99 rating (viewers not listed)
This does not smell right at all.
If true, the capitol gains tax hit he would take from a potential sale… would give Ebenezer Jerry a stroke. He has shown time and again he values money more than anything.
Plus, if true, that means nothing would change with the team with a sale to Stewart. Stewart as owner = TLR would remain with control in the organization. Stewart and TLR had control over the D-backs and it was a debacle. It took AZ over a decade to recover from those two.
This smells more like another ploy for Ebenezer Jerry to try and fleece the city, county & state for public funding. By putting Stewart’s name out there and the fact he has tried to get a team in Nashville… I can see Ebenezer saying… if I can’t have my new toy.. then I am selling and they are going to move the team…..
So, until it happens.. I am very skeptical.
Using the threat of “Give me public financing or I sell the team to a group of investors outside of Chicago” is not a great one at the moment with the very gigantic budget issues at City Hall and Chicago Public Schools.
I agree… there are far too many problems with finances with the city and state.
But I still would not put it past Jerry to try it. Not with what I have seen since he darkened Chicago’s doorstep these past 40 years plus.
We (Sox Machine) have a lot of irons in the fire with numerous sources to try and pry more information with what’s going on with this report.
If it’s true that Jerry Reinsdorf as put the team up for sale, it would be a sign that he can’t win like he did in the late-1980’s. Someone else (or investment group) would need to want the opportunity to figure out how to bridge the financial gap between the White Sox and top franchises.
I type this looking out the podcast office window at a very large piece of land still for sale in Bridgeport . . .
Let me ask this Josh….
The park itself is not that old (IMO). I think Bridgeport is great location. I live in Fox Lake and for me.. in past to go to a game was not too terrible (don’t go to games at home currently due to Jerry).
Sitting in traffic was not ideal… but take the good with the bad. I say rehab the current park and keep the team where it belongs.
What do you think?
I agree. The current park is in a great location and it’s a fun place to watch a game. It’s not as nice as many of the parks built after it, but I go there to watch baseball, not to admire the architecture.
I’ll try to keep this short as Jim may scold me for writing 1,000+ words in a comment rather than typing up a passionate, fiery column on Sox Machine for the world to read.
In short: I agree with you. If Jerry Reinsdorf or his real estate company has $200 million to invest, I’d advise in buying the parking lots from Illinois for a $1 and build an entertainment district much like Cincinnati. Leveraging JB Pritkzer’s sales job to other businesses (and countries) that Illinois is truly open for investment and development. How could he say no to such a plan if the financing is private and the state doesn’t need to lend money?
Bridgeport is ever changing. The overflow from Chinatown is real, and the housing needs are very real for the neighborhood. Turn Lot G into single-family housing (Yes, even in this economy. There’s still new homes being built in Bridgeport which is a bit shocking).
Lots A and C would be your Condos/Rentals/Hotel just like outside Great American Ballpark. Lot B you can repurpose into retail, restaurants, other entertainment options. Turn Lots F and L into massive parking garages (Between 37th and Pershing).
Honestly, you can campaign that it would be a new neighborhood within Bridgeport with this level of development.
But as Project 78 becomes more bleak by the day of happening, I do not understand why the White Sox and Jerry Reinsdorf are not pivoting to this type of development in Bridgeport. He must really believe that the White Sox cannot win off the field (aka – make as much money as the Chicago Cubs do in Lakeview) in Bridgeport. Well, he owns nothing in Bridgeport. Just leases a stadium financed by the sweet, sweet Illinois taxpayers. The Ricketts poured tons of money in remodeling Wrigleyville to their liking. Why isn’t Bridgeport worth the investment, Jerry?
Reinsdorf and the White Sox seem steadfast in leaving Bridgeport, and I don’t know why. I’m hoping a new ownership group sees the empty parking lots as a development opportunity like I do.
A conversation with Nicole Lee based on this post would make for fine content.
I do have an IOU from her for a podcast episode. But reading her latest Ward Newsletter, she’s got bigger fish to fry (CPS).
Economy is strong. Only issue for housing may be interest rates and cost of construction
But as far as big development on the site, there are plenty of sites that are just sitting around (78 is only one of them). So I wonder if the current ballpark is enough of a draw to lure all the surrounding development.
Perhaps I’m missing something, but are you saying give this entertainment district to Jerry for free and also stay at 35th and Shields? Perhaps add parking across the Dan Ryan with shuttles or a monorail to connect in addition to the public transportation and locals attending.
I have been a Sox fan for life, but have and will continue to be a lifelong Chicago resident (never in the Suburbs), so first and foremost, my top priority is to our / my fellow citizens and getting a fair deal at the current stadium, or having all but reasonable infrastructure (similar to the UC stadium) covered privately if they move to 78.
Really think the best case scenario is the team stays in the current stadium regardless of who owns the team, and make it a win for the White Sox, taxpayers and neighborhood. If they stay in Chicago under private funding, I’d support.
If they move to the suburbs or out of state, then Bye Felicia, and would be completely done with MLB unless a new franchise emerges in Chicago or Montreal.
You had me at monorail.
“Monorail!!!!! Monoraiiiillll! Monoraaaailll!!!!”
“Mono- DOH!”
Typical Jerry: won’t spend money to make money, but perfectly willing to spend everybody else’s money to expand his fortune.
The way I see it is pretty much every problem this organization has stems from decisions made by Jerry, and I don’t think he is one to recognize his mistakes (let alone try to fix them). What you’re suggesting is similar to what the state of Illinois suggested back in 1988, but Jerry turned that down then and still can’t recognize it was a mistake that can be addressed.
Exactly Bridgeport already has that hipster element and could be the next Logan Square with a little more momentum. It’s also bordering one of the hottest neighborhoods in Pilsen and the fastest growing in Chinatown like you mentioned. I wonder if they really could adjust the field and demo one side of the stadium to give a city view, and you’d have all the elements a new stadium would provide. Also wish they could leverage IIT so you have an institution that isn’t going anywhere and a steady stream of younger fans to fill the entertainment district and housing.
The 15% tax would be a hit. If the sale was post-death, the value would be reset at a current valuation so a sale later would save on taxes. That said, if he believes that the value of the team would drop between now and a post-death sale, for example after a significant drop in revenues due to a drop in long-term TV revenue or years of extremely poor on field performance, he might be selling high right now and assuming a significant cut in value later.
Reading the news and translating from Reinsdorfian it says “Give me my stadium”.
I have this fantasy of Obama reading this news and deciding to put together a consortium to buy the team and keep it in Bridgeport.
Melody Hobson is a kind of speculative/scuttlebutt name I’ve heard. It would make sense and be incredible.
I could see Obama having a role or a stake in the organization, however my dream owner would be Mellody Hobson.
I just looked her up. Yeah.
They are friends, so maybe the two might organize a group. If, that is, they want to own a baseball team.
from wiki .. (sorry):
In 2022, Hobson joined an investment group consisting of Rob Walton, Greg Penner, Carrie Walton Penner, Condoleezza Rice, and Sir Lewis Hamilton that purchased the Denver Broncos.[21][22]
the broncos are a hot mess since Pat Bowlen died.
Rob Walton’s nephew Lukas lives in Chicago at least part of the year. He’s richer than Steve Cohen.
Would he make Hillary GM?
Do you think she could be possibly worse than the last 3?
She’s a Cubs fan.
I think Hahn was too
So that was the problem.
Not gonna happen. Obama knows nothing about running a baseball team. Unlike Jerry, he’s smart enough to realize that.
Who are the billionaires who’d be interested in backing a baseball team in Nashville? Does John Loar have anywhere near that net worth?
In Chicago, I’m curious about the Crown family. Lester Crown used to own a piece of the Bulls (and is even older than the current Sox board). Would one of his children or grandchildren be interested in owning the Sox? What about Mellody Hobson, Lukas Walton, or one of the Pritzker heirs? There are a lot of billionaires in and around Chicago, would any of them want to own the Sox?
Hobson owns a piece of the Broncos, and graduated from St. Ignatius. I think she could be interested in joining an ownership group.
Plus the Pritzker family still have significant stake in Hyatt Hotels. They definitely could afford it. But, I have never heard if any of the heirs had interest in owning a sports team.
Well they can adopt me a problem solved
😆 😂 😆
The Pritzkers can’t bid on the Sox while JB is governor. Too much potential conflict of interest.
These folks like sports
https://patch.com/illinois/winnetka/billionaires-winnetka-home-be-most-expensive-illinois-history
I have family in Phoenix… when the Ishbia brother bought the team… the fans very ecstatic. My nephew and friends actually threw a party. Their huge Suns fans.
I’m a Suns fan. Ishbia would be great, he’s been nothing but a cash hose so far – which has included some desperately need organizational and facilities upgrades.
That said, he’s a hoops guy who played in college, so I’m not sure how much interest he’d have in baseball.
I wondered about that. Might have no interest in baseball. Plus have their hands full with what they have.
if jerry sells the team, i just hope it’s to a rich guy who actually loves baseball. you know, like a bill veeck except with a lot of money.
With all due respect, Jim, all the potential barriers you list for the Sox moving to Nashville were there for the A’s moving to Las Vegas, plus a few more. And it’s still going to happen, with MLB’s full support. I know we’d all like to be rid of Reinsdorf, but a sale to non-local ownership means that relocation becomes very likely.
And look how smoothly it’s going.
True that…. I cannot imagine MLB (privately) is please with the A’s playing in a park that only has 10k seats. Last I heard, the stadium deal in Vegas still had hurdles to clear. Didn’t the Nevada legislature fail to take the funding issue before their last session???
Well the resort was blown up, so something is going to be built there!
(gazes at Vegas Strip)
“…BUT WHAT?”
Smoothly or not, the A’s still left Oakland. It’s naive to assume that couldn’t happen with the Sox. The ingredients are all there.
The one big difference is the league had been in a lengthy and pretty nasty fight in Oakland for a new ballpark there for decades. The state of the Sox ballpark is nowhere near as bad and Jerry just started ruffling feathers here. Not to mention the different size of the markets. Its one thing to shuttle a team out of Oakland to Vegas. Its another to go from Chicago to basically anywhere in the nation.
Yep. The ingredients are there, but they’d be even more underbaked than Oakland’s.
Basically, I’m not assuming they can’t move, but I want them to put a little more work into it before fearmongering. Right now it’s just lazy and derivative.
Perhaps enduring all of that has made MLB more open to moving a team quickly
The A’s were only in Oakland since 1968. There isn’t much precedent for moving a team that’s been in the same place for 120 plus years.
If the owners were going to allow Fisher to leave the Bay Area market after 50 years of franchise commitment and his running the team into the ground, they will have zero problem in letting Mr. Reinsdorf selling to Nashville. And dream on about a Cleveland Browns like “you’ll get an expansion team” resolution.
Has there been any good reporting on franchises expected to decline in value because of broadcasting deals?
Too early to tell.
That is the supposed rumor, why the Twins cut payroll prior the the 2024 season. But, have not seen anything concrete connecting the dots to the decline with broadcasting deals.
There is likely more connection between the Twins sale and what Mr. Reinsdorf has up his sleeve than meets the eye. Old time ownership deciding that the fan pushback from lowering payroll so significantly confirms that they can’t succeed in today’s MLB business environment.
They’re not going to wait for their reason to sell to become well-documented public record before selling.
Sure, but if there was any reporting of values dropping it would lend credence to the idea of Reinsdorf (and others) selling as well as the potential for a more limited supply of buyers. And that buyers might be less willing to invest in a ballpark or players
Since when does the value of a sports franchise have any connection to reality?
Jerry is just trying to get leverage in his pursuit for public money. He doesn’t intend to sell.
Thing is if it is true that he is in talks with Stewart, then there must be some seriousness to the idea. They are not just going to jerk around Stewart and his group
Stewart doing a favor for his good buddy TLR… Would not surprise me, if Stewart was willing to help with the con.
That is a different matter. But then they aren’t actually in any real talks.
This actually makes a little too much sense. Jerry (thinks he) gets more leverage on the city, Stewart (thinks he) looks more serious in his Nashville pursuit. Hmm…
The thing about Stewart is that he seems driven to break into groups that he said he’s been told he doesn’t belong. I don’t know if he’d be game to do favors if it makes him look illegitimate.
(Besides, the last time I thought Reinsdorf was doing a friend a favor in public because the idea was too weird to be true, he hired La Russa to manage the team.)
Stewart could be complicit in the ploy.
Edit: or what Chris said
why there must be some seriousness to the idea?
why not? Jerry can jerk with the best of them
Tactic to get Chicago and Illinois politicians to take Project 78 public funding seriously. In the 80s it was Tampa; now it’s Nashville.
Stewart and TLR messed up the Snakes bad.
If TV money is a problem in Chicago, how could it be better in small market Nashville?
And TN state government is such a right wing circus, how kindly would it take to having a “DEI” ownership group?
As a Chicagoan I would rather lose the team than pour billions into this incompetent guy’s pocket. Our public transportation is going to need at least $730MM in state and other funding in 2026 to keep running. We don’t need to spend money on a ballpark. GRF is perfectly fine. Let JR and TLR move to Nashville or wherever. Heck, we have an expansion team on the field now.
All of this.
Agreed. I no longer give a shit. Jerry’s baseball team makes my eyes glaze over.
Sell the team to someone who’s not Stewart, move to the South Loop, and don’t give them any public money.
After this shitty year, we’re allowed to dream at least for a few months, yeah?
My preferences, in some order:
1. Jerry sells the team
2. To someone other than Dave Stewart
3. Who keeps the team in Chicago
4. Or moves the team to either Montreal or Mexico City
Jerry the jerk will only sell for the most money. Reinsdork has been exposed for the fraud he is, it’s just a matter of time before he sells. Jerry can’t stand the media and negative press from his crap ownership. Thank god jerry’s reign of terror will be over soon! White Sox fans deserve better then Jerry Reinsdork!
Dave Stewart was a dick as a player, famously admonishing the 1990 team for celebrating a win. He was a horrible GM. He probably would move the team. Yet, unlike Bill Veeck, Jerry would take the money and run as Dave brings in the Mayflower trucks at 2am.
I don’t trust it. (That it’s not a ploy, that is.)
You don’t lose 121 times in a year and then just stop with 3 whole months left to go. Back on the elevator, boys, and the up button is out of service.
How bout Ole Jerry take his team to Nashville play in their fancy new stadium next year and the Rays play here……..lol yeah I know just the ramblings of a madman
So I see Ole Jerry sitting in his office sneering smoking a cigar saying “you think I’m cheap do ya….wait till you catch my last act”
Can see this too….
Didn’t one of the national reporters put the word out that MLB is focused on expansion and is loathe to relocate current teams to potential new markets? Somebody along the chain must recognize like all of us do that the problems with the White Sox have absolutely nothing to do with their home city.
A new owner would more than likely not want to leave the 3rd largest market in the country. The new owner would probably modernize the organization and bring it into the 21st century and take advantage of missed revenue streams by the current ownership.
Good riddance to Reinsdorf.
I was just reminding myself of the Stewart & LaRussa greatest hits. It was some really funny stuff.
https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/news/dave-stewart-tony-la-russa-and-the-laughingstock-that-is-the-diamondbacks-front-office
The more you read about Stewart, the harder it is to take him seriously.
Good. Sell the Sox to morons who move it to Nashville. That way I can become a fan of whatever team comes here to take their place.
The Cubs can block any potential team moving into Chicago, expansion or otherwise.
Doesn’t mean they would.
Giants played hardball with the A’s trying to move to San Jose. It is what teams do.
Which was territory the A’s willingly gave to the Giants to try to keep them in the Bay Area.
This happened a few months after the two teams met in the Bay Bridge World Series, the apex of baseball interest in the Bay Area. The A’s were owned by Walter Haas, the only owner in franchise history who both had lots of money and was willing to spend it.
Haas gave the franchise its largest payrolls, and unwittingly established the basis for the franchise’s instability over the next 30 years. Had he not died five years after the agreement, the A’s would have a very different recent history.
(My primary memory of the Bay Bridge World Series was my TV bouncing up and down like a basketball during the pregame coverage of Game 3. Then I walked outside to see most of the neighborhood destroyed.)
It is a shame. The Bay Area has had some great baseball seasons. I moved in shortly after Bay Series so missed seeing any games in person
1989 was a hell of a year in Bay Area baseball, even with the terrible ending. That earthquake happened exactly 35 years ago this evening.
My family was on vacation in the San Francisco Bay area a month before that series. Was one of several natural disasters our vacations wound up inadvertently being harbingers of.
The NY market could easily justify a third team, Brooklyn or NJ. It hasn’t happened and probably never will. I could easily see Chicago becoming a 1-team market.
This is funny. Move, sell, don’t sell, don’t move. I don’t give a shit. This team is a joke.
The Cheapskate could simply be doing another line dance with Nashville interests in order to give Illinois/Chicago a nudge toward the bargaining table for a new stadium. But he doesn’t understand what we have (a doofus mayor and an uninterested governor) and what we don’t have ($$$) in this broke-ass city and state. He isn’t likely to sell the team while he’s still sucking air because of the tax implications, but in real estate there is a thing called a transfer on death deed. If a similar type legal document could be created for a piece of property like a baseball team, he could sign the team over, and Stewart & Co. could confidently begin planning a move for whenever The Cheapskate croaks and/or the current lease expires. The Cheapskate will be f-ing us over from the grave.
I feel like its already been stated a lot but allow me to jump on in as well
Moving a professional sports team out of the chicago market and into nashville would be one of the dumbest business decisions possible.
The population difference, established brand, and market share show absolutely nothing positive about such a move.
A borderline competent mlb club in chicago will massively outproduce anything in nashville.
It’s surprising how much a fan base that hates Reinsdorf I think still underestimates just how far he has driven the sox into the ground over the last couple decades. Competent new ownership can thrive with the sox and their brand.
Whoa…. I am late to this party. Great comments. Very interesting twist of events. I think this is a smoke screen of some sort. We still can’t see what’s really behind.
It was news to me that Reinsdorf only owns like 19% of the team. Do we know who owns the other 81%? How many other owners there are? There must be something that stops them from banding together or selling to each other to take over the team- what is that?
I don’t think any of us know for sure though it’s widely assumed to be a controlling interest that can’t be put to a simple share vote. There may be a diminished capacity or gross negligence clause or those could be conditions to bring suit. Whatever, it is possible that that is why he acted vs KW/Hahn and why he maintains an active, some would say meddlesome, position in the clubs running.
His portion now, as rumored, may also be as high as 25%.