Former Chicago White Sox player bashes Jerry Reinsdorf's old-fashioned decisions

The Chicago White Sox can’t catch a break.

They are enduring their worst season in history and have tied the 1962 New York Mets’ record for the second-highest number of losses in a single season at 120. On top of being the laughingstock of the league, former players are revealing their experience with the organization.

San Diego Padres Hall of Famer Jake Peavy aired Chicago’s dirty laundry in an interview with RG.org recently. He joins pitchers Dylan Cease and Liam Hendriks as one of the many people to call out the Sox after departing.

Unlike Cease and Hendriks, though, Peavy primarily critqued owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

Peavy first revealed that Reinsdorf’s loyalty is a major issue. "He is loyal to a fault. He loves his guys so much, he sticks with them through thick and thin,” he stated. He cited Reinsdorf’s decision to allow Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan to leave because he was friends with Jerry Krause, the general manager at the time, who didn’t get along with Jordan.

Sox fans know very well that Reinsdof’s relationships have done no favors, especially recently. Reinsdorf hired Tony La Russa to manage the Sox in 2021 despite his antiquated management style, likely due to their friendship dating back to 1986. He also kept former Vice President Kenny Williams around arguably five years too long because he was “like a son” to him. 

Piling on the criticism, Peavy exposed Reinsdorf's inability to keep up with modern baseball. He remembers, “Everybody was evolving and analytics and science was making its way in, and the White Sox were doing none of that."

It’s no surprise that the front office refuses to get with the times. The Sox passed on the opportunity to name AJ Hinch manager in 2021, who was known for helping the Astros win a World Series using analytics.

Instead, Reinsdorf stuck with the status quo and Hinch went to the Tigers, who have made an impressive comeback in the Wild Card race this year. Another example of not prioritizing analytics was trading Michael Kopech for three relief pitchers who aren’t ranked top-10 in a minor league system.

Had analytics usage been a strong, established practice, that trade would never have happened. Reisndorf has yet to step out of his comfort zone and make progressive hiring decisions that will pay dividends.

Simply put, the Sox live in Reinsdorf's outdated view of baseball. Peavy summarized, “It's just been a very slow to change and evolve (organization), and for a little bit, it doesn't seem to bite you in the butt, but after years and years and years and years of you not evolving with the rest of what the sport is doing, until you wake up one day with what you thought was a little problem, now you end up with a glaring hole."

While there’s nowhere else to go but up after this season, the Sox will spend years digging themselves out of a hole dug by Reinsdorf and his reluctance to change. Sox fans beg that he sells the team, but that’s even less likely than Chicago winning a World Series title within the next five years.

Under Reinsdorf’s control, it will take plenty of patience and a GM whose only goal is to win to turn this shell of a team into an organization that players truly respect.