The last we heard on the Justin Ishbia front, he had purchased a whole bunch of shares from White Sox minority investors at a valuation of $1.8 billion at the end of February.
That's where the front will remain for the foreseeable future according to Bob Nightengale, who doused the hopes of White Sox fans in his Sunday notebook.
The Chicago White Sox, despite all of the rumors and speculation, are NOT being sold.
White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, 90, has made it perfectly clear to friends that he has zero interest in selling as long as he remains in good health.
He has rebuffed all of minority investor Justin Ishbia’s requests to purchase controlling interest of the team.
The White Sox have been adamant that Ishbia's maneuvering provides him no planned pathway to a controlling interest, no matter how much that would more easily explain why he ditched his pursuit of the Minnesota Twins to increase his stake in the Sox.
A few items down in Nightengale's column, he also provided an update on the Pohlad family's attempt to sell the Twins:
The Minnesota Twins, who were asking interested parties to submit their bids by April 1, now are telling prospective owners they have another 45 days as they continue to seek $1.7 billion.
That asking price of $1.7 billion comes with $425 million in debt according to The Athletic, which is said to be one of the highest figures in the league. Taking these two items into account, perhaps it's just as simple as Ishbia not being in any rush to own any MLB team, and he sees the White Sox as a better opportunity, even at a higher valuation. That just doesn't do much to help White Sox fans for the time being, unless he's somehow capable of influencing the new ballpark talks in a more productive direction.
Spare Parts
Jon Becker published the top-line Opening Day payroll numbers for 2025, as well as the commitments for the next three seasons. The White Sox are bottom three for commitments in all four years.
The Giants' new City Connect uniforms match the leaked version, so it stands to reason that the new Bulls-inspired look leaked for the White Sox will hold up when they're formally announced.
The Twins are 3-6 after blowing a 7-1 lead to the Astros on Sunday, which means they're 1-5 against teams that aren't the White Sox. That's a continuation of a disparity that almost got them to the postseason last year, but also made them look better than they actually were.
Sam Menzin, who rose through the Detroit front office ranks under three different executives, resigned before the Tigers could fire him after investigating claims that he sent unsolicited pictures of his genitals to former team employees.
Update: Héctor Gómez reports that former White Sox reliever Octavio Dotel died while being transported to the hospital after being pulled out from the rubble of a Santo Domingo nightclub.
The Blue Jays signed Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a 14-year, $500 million contract extension, a remarkable figure for a first baseman. Perhaps it's a reflection of the cost Toronto has to incur to keep a top talent in Canada, but it's yet another deal that makes the White Sox's franchise-record $75 million commitment to Andrew Benintendi even smaller beans.
