Chicago White Sox fans most likely watched the whole thing with Shohei Ohtani going to the Dodgers with awe. We all knew, at the start, that Ohtani was never even going to “sniff” the Chicago White Sox as a possibility to come and save this ailing franchise. Now, he’s a Dodger and the White Sox are still the White Sox.
A team in a state of transition.
There was no way that the White Sox could have ever afforded Ohtani. The asking price was so much higher than the White Sox could afford and it wasn’t even a question as to whether or not the Sox would be able to grab a guy like Ohtani. In fact, could the White Sox afford anyone of his caliber or even just below his caliber in the free-agent market this year? That’s highly doubtful.
The White Sox are going to have to make do with what they can afford and unfortunately for everyone, that isn’t much.
The title of this article calls for White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf to loosen the purse strings and spend a little more money bringing in some talent that will help this team win in the short term rather than the long term. But just how much can Reinsdorf loosen the strings on a rather tight purse? Unfortunately for the White Sox and their fans, Reinsdorf doesn’t have a lot of money to spare for top-end players so he needs to find a bunch of middle-of-the-road guys that can help them win.
The White Sox have a prime opportunity in front of them if they can get even a little aggressive
It's not impossible to win a World Series Championship with a bunch of middle-of-the-road guys. They did it in 2005 and they can do it again. They just need to stretch the almighty dollar far enough to get good-quality players with enough talent to help them win.
There may not be that many affordable stars out there for the White Sox to get. Most everyone that’s left may command a high price, not Ohtani-type numbers but prices that will put them out of the White Sox budget. And that’s too bad. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a player like Yoshinabu Yamamoto, Josh Hader or Jordan Montgomery be a part of the Sox pitching staff? Can you imagine what they would be like with a guy like Yamamoto in the lineup? I could see the wins stacking up and it would be awesome.
But folks, it’s not going to happen. Still, we can dream a little bit, can’t we?
The Chicago White Sox are eventually going to have to give up some money for a big-time free agent to help them win. Reinsdorf and General Manager Chris Getz are going to figure that out, aren’t they? Still, good old Jerry must loosen his purse strings to help bring talent to the team and help make them a winner. If he keeps the wallet closed and finds it hard to pull any money out to pay for a big-time free agent, the Sox may never reach their ultimate goal of getting to a World Series as long as he owns the team.