Jerry Reinsdorf Gets Absolutely Torched In New York Times Article

Every Chicago White Sox and Bulls fan knows that their shortcomings began with the ownership, eventually trickling down to the front office and then to the product on the field. However, in a recent New York Times article by Ken Rosenthal and Britt Ghiroli, it’s even worse than you could imagine. The Athletic/NYT talked to almost 40 current and former White Sox players and employees to see how bad it really is. Spoiler alert: it’s really bad.

In the article, they go into great depth on all the shortcomings the White Sox organization has faced over the years, most of which seems to start with one person, Jerry Reinsdorf. The article claims he has refused to invest into the newest amenities and the proper infrastructure to succeed in the MLB.

The article starts off by calling Jerry a “meddling owner” before going into detail about how the White Sox continually use outdated resources. However, one thing outdated resource sticks out, the plane they use.

According to the article, the White Sox charter an Airbus320, which was first manufactured in the 1980s. This has been a huge point of contention for players and staff, as they only have eight first class seats. They point out how most teams charter huge 757s that have much more first class seating, making it much more comfortable for the team. While the plane is a small detail in the scheme of things, it is a great example of how the White Sox are run.

Apparently when an anonymous new player stepped on the plane for the first time this year, he shouted “C’mon, man, no show plane?” This is just one of the many examples to show how the White Sox are run from the top down.

One of the hardest hitting quotes from the article shows how happy players are to leave the organization, as the article states that when players leave for another team they text each other something along the lines of “This is the big leagues.” That is not something you want to hear, as if players are happier elsewhere, they aren’t going to sign here in free agency.

Another former player stated that “They don’t do the little or the big things right.”

The article continues to show how Reinsdorf acts an owner, as he allegedly “ignored pleas by others in the organization to interview outside general manager candidates.” He eventually settled on promoting Chris Getz, who will start his GM tenure with one of the worst records in MLB history. They also mention how he let Jason Benetti go because he “didn’t like his style.”

They also include two pretty revealing quotes from anonymous sources, one of which states “you got a baseball fan owner who thinks he knows everything, and maybe he did in 1992, but the amount of info has skyrocketed in the last 30 years and he’s put his middle finger up at that.” The other is just as damaging, as another former employee said: “as long as Jerry’s philosophy is the overarching one, they won’t ever succeed.” These are certainly not what you want to hear about the owner of your favorite team.

The article goes on to discuss how the White Sox are at the bottom of the league in analytics, as a rival executive said what they White Sox use “are good if you have nothing.” This could explain a lack of talent on the field, as the White Sox seem to refuse to participate in the new wave of analytics that has taken over the league.

This inability to adjust has made it down to the coaching, as a former pitchers describe their game planning for the pitchers as “rudimentary.” They offer generalities to the whole team rather than individualized game plans on what could play for each hitter. They would be told to “work on their command” in the offseason, rather than other specifics on how to potentially fix an issue. It wasn’t much different for the hitters as they didn’t get “an explanation or a plan.”

While it seems that Jerry’s inability to properly run a team isn’t rooted in bad faith, as a source said “I’m not sure that any owner loves baseball as much as Jerry, that’s why he can’t get out of his own way.” Jerry has also known to be loyal and hands on with many of his employees, which is a great philosophy, but it has gone past the point of a something you like to hear as a fan, and has hurt the team. He is so loyal to his employees that another executive said “they have people there with no business being in Major League Baseball.” While his loyalty is commended, it has negatively affected the team.

While Reinsdorf’s intentions may be pure, he has committed many faults to the detriment to the White Sox, many of which the article highlight. I’m not sure that this well done article that exposes the White Sox organization will change anything, but it should light a fire under Reinsdorf, as I would imagine as more information will come out about the organization as people continue to leave.