The Chicago White Sox have never handed out a contract north of 100 million dollars in team history. They are only one of a handful of teams to never do so. Yasmani Grandal and Jose Abreu each make a pretty penny but nothing that lucrative.
Their owner, Jerry Reinsdorf, also owns the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association. Going into this year’s NBA free agency period, they had also never headed out a 100 million dollar contract. They were the only team in the NBA with that hanging over their head.
Well, Reinsdorf finally caved as he allowed the Bulls to sign All-Star Zach LaVine to a five-year deal worth 215 million dollars. Not only did he go past 100 million, but he also went way past it into the 200 million range. It was honestly shocking news as it seemed like LaVine could walk.
Now, with LaVine in the mix, the Bulls have themselves s a nice little team there after being so bad for so long. Reinsdorf, between the White Sox and Bulls, has seven championships as an owner which is the most in Chicago sports history by a lot.
NBA All-Star Zach LaVine has agreed to a five-year, $215.2 million maximum contract to return to the Chicago Bulls, with a player option in Year 5, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul told @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2022
The White Sox are hoping that Jerry Reinsdorf opens his wallet for them too.
Before this contract, the Bulls had the 24th highest payroll in the NBA. The White Sox, however, have the seventh-highest payroll in Major League Baseball. They aren’t very good because the money isn’t used right and they have a bad manager.
With that in mind, it would still be nice to see the White Sox take a step like this. It looked like they might have a few years ago with Manny Machado but he chose the San Diego Padres instead. They haven’t been in the mix for a guy like that since.
Reinsdorf has officially opened the checkbook for a max contract in the NBA which is a great step. However, they need to make a move like that on the MLB side of the table. The White Sox have a lot of talent that needs a few more big boys to push them over the edge. We can only hope that this LaVine contract leads to a Jerry Reinsdorf shopping spree.