The Chicago White Sox have been arguably the worst team of the 2020s. Their 2024 season set a record for incompetence and failure. During this time, almost everybody has laid the blame on cheap team ownership and poor management. Now, a new hope has emerged as current White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has announced that the team will be being sold over the next few years to billionaire businessman Justin Ishbia. Can new ownership redeem this once proud franchise?
Reinsdorf Sells White Sox, Bright Future Ahead?
Legacy of White Sox Futility
The White Sox won the World Series 20 years ago in 2005. Since then, it has been mostly downhill for the team, as they have never come close to replicating that success. In those 20 years, they have made only 3 playoff appearances and never went further than the division series in any of those three appearances. They finally seemed to be putting together a good core in the late 2010s, but they fumbled it away through a combination of poor trades, bad drafting, and terrible decisions on who to sign to long-term contracts(though they did manage to completely fleece the Houston Astros with Jose Abreu, which is not nothing). There is also the previously mentioned 2024 season, where they set the single-season record for most losses.
Currently, the White Sox appear absolutely rudderless. They are last in their division, over 21 games behind 1st place. They are on pace to lose over 110 games yet again this year and probably again next year. There is very little hope that this team is going anywhere anytime soon.
White Sox Future
Enter new management. Billionaire Justin Ishbia and Jerry Reinsdorf have agreed to a transition of ownership for the White Sox over the next 9 years. This could be the shot in the arm the White Sox need. However, it could also be a continuation of previous poor ownership, just in a different form.
Ishbia, along with his brother Mat, currently owns the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. As an avid basketball fan and former basketball writer, the Suns are not run very well. The Ishbias are definitely an improvement over former owner Robert Sarver. However, they have still managed to take a roster that was close to winning the NBA Finals in 2021 and mismanage it to the point that the Suns didn’t even make the play-ins this year.
Ishbia’s ownership of the Suns has been characterized by wildly ambitious swings for top talent that have almost universally backfired on the Suns. An example of such is their acquisition of Bradley Beal and his awful contract. Ishbia will most definitely invest more into the White Sox than Reinsdorf would. However, there is a pretty good chance that those investments will not pan out as expected. Time will tell whether Ishbia’s tenure as owner of the White Sox will turn out better than his tenure as owner of the Suns.
The Last Word
Despite some nerves about Ishbia’s previous ownership mistakes with the Suns, this is a very exciting time for White Sox fans. This could be the jolt that the team needs to wake up from their decades of slumber and return to their former glory. The league would be better if they did renew their once-exciting rivalries with the Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins, and Cleveland Guardians. Hopefully, this sale and change in ownership are the beginning of a new and successful era for the White Sox.
Main Image Credit: © Jon Durr-Imagn Images
The post White Sox Finally Sold: Can Team be Saved by New Owners? appeared first on Last Word On Baseball.