Jerry Reinsdorf doesn’t talk publicly like he used to, so when he gets in front of a microphone, people listen. White Sox fans listened with interest Monday when he spoke on a panel of the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles. The topic was “Game Changers: The New Business of Sports.”
Some highlights:
“If you think you know more than your GM or head coach, then you’ve got the wrong GM,” the White Sox chairman said. “Sometimes you just have to bite your tongue and have faith. But you can’t make the decisions for your baseball people ... You’ve got to let them make the decisions.”
For the most part, Reinsdorf allows his baseball people to do their jobs, but it’s no secret he brought back Tony La Russa, who was not general manager Rick Hahn’s choice, to manage the team before the 2021 season.
“I think the important thing to fans is, while they want you to win championships, they want to know that when they get down to the last month of the season you still have a shot,” Reinsdorf said. “You’re still playing meaningful games. If you can do that consistently you’ll make your fans happy.”
Fans have not been happy seeing the Sox make the postseason three times since they won the World Series in 2005. And many recall July 31, 1997, when Reinsdorf oversaw the “White Flag Trade” that sent three three veteran pitchers to the Giants for six minor league players. The Sox were 3 1⁄2 games behind Indians for the AL Central Division lead.
“My approach has been I never really cared about making any money, I just want to win,” Reinsdorf said. “Now, that’s not what I wanted to do in business. ... The first week I was in sports somebody said to me ‘If you listen to the fans, you’ll soon be sitting with the fans.’ ”
The Sox (8-21), Athletics (6-23) and Royals (7-22) are the only teams without a $100 million player contract, although in 2022 the Sox’ $203 million payroll ranked seventh in baseball, per Spotrac. They cut payroll to $182 million (13th) this season.
Multiple owners, led by the free-spending Mets owner Steven Cohen, care little or nothing about financial losses when it comes to trying to win.
“Sometimes I sit in ownership meetings and I think ‘How in the world could these guys have made money to buy a team,’ ’’ Reinsdorf said.
