The Chicago White Sox have gone from winning a division title in 2021 to being on track toward breaking the 162-game, single-season loss record.
It all comes back to one man, owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
According to the Athletic, everything Sox fans can possibly imagine that is terrible about Jerry is true.
An owner who “thinks he knows everything” led the White Sox to historic disaster. Deep dive with @Britt_Ghiroli: https://t.co/SnreiBvGyP
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) September 19, 2024
There are tales of the team chartering a plane for road trips that are not up to big-league standards. The front office's dysfunction during the contention window was way worse than anyone can imagine.
His distaste for analytics has put the Sox at a competitive disadvantage because it defies simple business practices.
My favorite part of The Athletic feature on Jerry Reinsdorf is not only is he bad for today's current baseball ops, but he's also bad for today's business ops on professional sports.
— Josh Nelson - Sox Machine (@soxmachine_josh) September 19, 2024
That last part is what gets you most in trouble with MLB and the other owners.
Practically every business uses data to measure success and where it can improve. Jerry thinks it is taking the club to terrible places and violates some golden baseball rule.
At least, it takes away from when he was the king of baseball, like, say 1992. That was the most revealing about the Athletic's piece as a former staffer stated that...
“You got a baseball fan owner who thinks he knows everything, and maybe he did in 1992,” said a former employee, “but the amount of info has skyrocketed in the last 30 years and he’s put his middle finger up at that.”
“As long as Jerry’s philosophy is the overarching one,” another former employee added, “they won’t ever succeed.”
The Sox front office has become such a joke, and it all comes back to the owner. His reluctance to use analytics has left the team unprepared to be properly positioned defensively. No wonder why the team is so bad defensively since the fielders do not know where to be the bulk of the time.
This thinking that baseball should operate like it is 1992 or even 1958 has crippled the franchise to now the team is about to become the worst team of all time.
Yes, the Sox will be considered the worst club ever since it should be nearly impossible with all the technology, scouting, and forward-thinking franchises have at their disposal.
Not the White Sox, that is because the owner thinks he has all the answers. Too bad his answers are always wrong.