Record Investment Not Paying Dividends For Chicago White Sox

As the White Sox were getting crushed by Arizona on Saturday night, a 10-5 loss that was the middle piece in the Diamondbacks’ series sweep at Guaranteed Rate Field, some fans seated behind the third-base dugout unfurled a banner addressed at Jerry Reinsdorf’s ownership group.

“Sell the Team,” it read, in concise fashion.

Reinsdorf and his partners have owned the team on Chicago’s South Side since 1981, when they purchased it from Bill Veeck for about $20 million. Forbes valued the franchise at $1.76 billion entering the 2022 season, so there must be times when Reinsdorf is sorely tempted.

There’s some irony in the fans’ current unhappiness with White Sox ownership. Reinsdorf has often been criticized for an unwillingness to spend like teams at the top of the American League but has heavily invested in recent seasons, clearly motivated to add another championship to the one players like Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye produced in 2005.

The White Sox entered this season ranked seventh in the majors with a franchise record payroll of $195 million. They may have painted themselves into a corner, as they are 63-65 and five games back in the AL Central (six behind in the wild-card race).

Reinsdorf’s team already has $130 million guaranteed for 13 players next season. That total doesn’t include salaries for the unsigned Jose Abreu and Johnny Cueto, as well as five-plus arbitration ace Lucas Giolito and fellow starters Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech, who are heading toward arbitration for their first time.

This hardly seems like the time to tear down the roster that produced back-to-back playoff seasons in 2020 and ’21, in part because of commitments to fading veterans Yasmani Grandal and Lance Lynn. They are both in the penultimate years of their contracts, owed a combined $37.75 million for their 2023 salaries and a buyout of Lynn’s ’24 contract.

But the White Sox must also wonder about the lagging direction of the young players who form the team’s core. Shortstop Tim Anderson has had a miserable season, battling anger and health issues, but there’s no doubting the six-year, $25-million deal he signed in 2017, after he’d played only 99 games. Anderson, a .288 career hitter, has averaged 2.7 WAR over that deal, making him one of baseball’s best bargains.

The Sox front office has not been as fortunate with the trio of Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez, who also signed early in their careers. Those three sluggers received packages worth a combined $163 million over 17 guaranteed seasons. They will be 10 seasons in when this year ends and have thus far combined to produce 17.6 WAR.

It’s fair to wonder what happened to them along the road to greatness.

Much of the fans’ anger is directed toward Tony La Russa, the Hall of Fame manager who came out of retirement to reunite with Reinsdorf after Rick Renteria produced a trip to the postseason in the abbreviated 2020 season. La Russa guided the White Sox to a Central title last season but lost to Houston in the Division Series and hasn’t built off that success this year.

While Reinsdorf is famous for his loyalty, it seems something has got to change if the team doesn’t produce a late return on ownership’s spending.