Is Rob Manfred on the Chicago White Sox fans' side or Jerry Reinsdorf's?
The MLB Commissioner briefly spoke about FS1's Breakfast Ball about the team's long-term future in Chicago.
The long-term future of the White Sox staying in Chicago is murky.
The report that owner Jerry Reinsdorf was open to finally selling the Sox was immediately clouded when Dave Stewart was revealed as a potential buyer. The former Oakland A's ace and Arizona Diamondbacks general manager has been linked to Nashville's attempt to bring the MLB to the Music City.
There is speculation he could be interested in bringing big-league baseball back to his hometown area after the Athletics left town.
The Sox leaving Chicago is nothing new in franchise history. The team nearly relocated to Milwaukee in the late 1960s. Reinsdorf nearly moved the team to Tampa in the late 1980s before the Illinois legislature gave him a sweetheart deal to build New Comiskey Park, now Guaranteed Rate Field.
There are reports that if a new stadium is built on a vacant plot of land known as the 78, then there will never be any worries that Chicago will not have an American League team. Jerry is hoping to get that same sweetheart deal from the state to get another new ballpark built.
However, this time, the political environment does not favor Jerry. It does not mean he is not going to try to leverage Nashville to get Illinois to pay $1.7 billion of the estimated $1.9 billion it would take to build his legacy stadium. Reinsdorf is only willing to pony up $200 million of his cash.
He can threaten relocation all he wants or at least try a creative way to distance himself from being the one who uses the threat. It will not matter if MLB does not approve relocation for Jerry or any new owner.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was on FS1's Breakfast Ball and he was asked about the Sox's future in Chicago.
He envisions the Sox staying in Chicago. It is hard to breathe a sigh of relief as his brief answer alludes to him possibly parroting a Jerry Reinsforf talking point.
Analyzing his comments about the park's location means he could be on the side of Jerry instead of the fans.
Reinsdorf has used Bridgeport as a reason for wanting to move to the South Loop. He does not feel that the Bridgeport neighborhood is posh enough to financially support the Sox long-term. Even though the Sox have been in that neighborhood for 124 years.
The location has also fought stereotypes of the area being unsafe for decades, even though the neighborhood, especially around the ballpark, in reality, is relatively safe. There are plenty of empty parking lots that can be developed around a still useful Guaranteed Rate Field after it was renovated two decades ago.
Hey, the Rate faces the Dan Ryan when the new park could face the famous Chicago Skyline--like what New Comiskey Park should have had in the first place.
However, Jerry was reportedly against Manfred becoming the commissioner back in 2014.
Manfred could see this as the perfect way to get back at Reinsdorf for trying to get in the way of Rob moving up into the big seat--even if Manfred might not like baseball.
Jerry was one of the owners who led the charge against Manfred in the 2014 commissioner vote and I could see him awarding the expansion team to Nashville out of spite. https://t.co/39MaYQJoVT
— Rob Hart (@RobHartWBBM) October 23, 2024
It would make more sense for MLB to collect a $2 billion or more expansion fee to have a team in the growing city of Nashville and a second pro team in Chicago--the third biggest market.
Chicago has 600,000 residents without cable alone, and that is roughly half of the Nashville metropolitan area. Plus, two teams are in New York and Los Angeles (well, the Angels are in Anaheim, but act like they are in LA).
Sox fans have proven they will support a winning team. Get Jerry out of the way, and maybe that will happen again. Plus, no one is against the Sox building a new stadium. Folks are just against the proposal for funding the construction.
The Sox stadium issue does have to be resolved by 2029, as that is when the lease runs out.
It is the biggest reason Reinsdorf is motivated to build a new park on the 78. He might be willing to abandon his quest for the state funding the majority of the park now that he might have another professional sports franchise as a partner to help in their quest to develop the 78.
The Chicago Fire are reportedly interested in building their new soccer stadium on the 78. Their owner however is willing to pay for the construction costs and that can a create conflict between the two parties.
Jerry privately funded the United Center when he had the Wirtz family there to co-sign the mortgage. So maybe it will not be much of a problem if the two billionaires can work out a private funding arrangement to get both projects off the ground since the 78's developer, Related Midwest, is willing to accommodate both clubs.
It could also motivate Jerry to focus on the state to pay for infrastructure costs instead. That is the one area Illinois politicians have hinted they would consider using taxpayer money toward this project.
Manfred setting up to retire in 2029 also sets up nicely to be an advantage to the Sox fans. If he truly believes baseball is better served with two clubs in Chicago, then he will be around as this stadium issue plays out. However, he said the same thing about Oakland right up until another city agreed to help build the A's a new stadium.
That is why you cannot really count on Rob Manfred to be an ally.
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