OT: White Sox Off-season Thread

[ScrantonBulls]

For the sake of inclusivity... If the Cubs have one, so should the Sox.

In latest White Sox news, Jerry Reinsdorf is indeed still alive. He visited the Nashville mayor with his most trusted friend/advisor Tony La Russa, likely to try and pressure the city/state into a ridiculous stadium deal like last time.

Cease will bring an absolute haul. Eloy will be a salary dump.

[gardenofsound]

I’m checked out as a Sox fan until Jerry is no longer the controlling owner.

[ThisGuyFawkes]

It's been difficult to follow this team this last year. I'm pretty checked out at this point. The Cease trade should be interesting.

[Bandit King]

They might move to Nashville

[Kurt Heimlich]

They might move to Nashville

As a Cubs fan with friends and family who (inexplicably from my eyes) are sox fans I regret that possibility.

As a Bulls fan I see this PR debacle as a total win. Yeah jerry move a chicago team out of town. See how the fan base responds to your cash cow monopoly franchise still left in town after you do so.

[ScrantonBulls]

They might move to Nashville

As a Cubs fan with friends and family who (inexplicably from my eyes) are sox fans I regret that possibility.

As a Bulls fan I see this PR debacle as a total win. Yeah jerry move a chicago team out of town. See how the fan base responds to your cash cow monopoly franchise still left in town after you do so.

They aren't moving to Nashville. First off, I doubt the league would approve it. The next issue is having a stadium to play in and completing the actual move. That would take at least 5-6 years. Reinsdorf is 87, soon to be 88. It just doesn't make sense.

[Jcool0]

Read on Twitter

[madvillian]

Read on Twitter

A franchise and city changing plan. It sounded a bit too good to be true when I first saw it reported but after talking with a bunch of Chicago and Chicagoland guys on various forums it sounds like the perfect scenario for everybody. Sounds like JR even wants to pay for at least half of it. That's amazing.

[ThisGuyFawkes]

Read on Twitter

A franchise and city changing plan. It sounded a bit too good to be true when I first saw it reported but after talking with a bunch of Chicago and Chicagoland guys on various forums it sounds like the perfect scenario for everybody. Sounds like JR even wants to pay for at least half of it. That's amazing.

My big question:

Why are they not hitting home runs into the river?

[SalmonsSuperfan]

Read on Twitter

I hate it. Stay in Bridgeport. The Related Idiots are screwed because they can't find a tenant for their "entertainment district" and this feels like a win-win for Related Idiots/Rein$dorf yet a loss for the citizenry. They will eventually find a tenant whereas Bridgeport is never redeveloping 100+ acres of vacant lots unless the Fire moves there.
There's a wonderful business opportunity for Reinsdorf or whoever owns the team next to develop the current area and make their own "entertainment" district or otherwise create some places for yuppies to spend money. The city might even demand they build something like a non-profit sports complex on the Stateway Gardens site. Bridgeport needs the city's support to maintain and expand its local businesses and public amenities, even offering the Sox incentives to stay put and develop the area; downtown will be just fine, BJ's administration should not be encouraging this.

[madvillian]

Read on Twitter

I hate it. Stay in Bridgeport. The Related Idiots are screwed because they can't find a tenant for their "entertainment district" and this feels like a win-win for Related Idiots/Rein$dorf yet a loss for the citizenry. They will eventually find a tenant whereas Bridgeport is never redeveloping 100+ acres of vacant lots unless the Fire moves there.
There's a wonderful business opportunity for Reinsdorf or whoever owns the team next to develop the current area and make their own "entertainment" district or otherwise create some places for yuppies to spend money. The city might even demand they build something like a non-profit sports complex on the Stateway Gardens site. Bridgeport needs the city's support to maintain and expand its local businesses and public amenities, even offering the Sox incentives to stay put and develop the area; downtown will be just fine, BJ's administration should not be encouraging this.

Someone was arguing that Bridgeport would actually be better served long term if the park and parking lots were torn down and redeveloped. Someone even said the alderperson for the district had said as much. Not sure if this is true or not, but I've seen the argument that the Sox are actually a net negative economically for the area around the park.

[SalmonsSuperfan]

Read on Twitter

I hate it. Stay in Bridgeport. The Related Idiots are screwed because they can't find a tenant for their "entertainment district" and this feels like a win-win for Related Idiots/Rein$dorf yet a loss for the citizenry. They will eventually find a tenant whereas Bridgeport is never redeveloping 100+ acres of vacant lots unless the Fire moves there.
There's a wonderful business opportunity for Reinsdorf or whoever owns the team next to develop the current area and make their own "entertainment" district or otherwise create some places for yuppies to spend money. The city might even demand they build something like a non-profit sports complex on the Stateway Gardens site. Bridgeport needs the city's support to maintain and expand its local businesses and public amenities, even offering the Sox incentives to stay put and develop the area; downtown will be just fine, BJ's administration should not be encouraging this.

Someone was arguing that Bridgeport would actually be better served long term if the park and parking lots were torn down and redeveloped. Someone even said the alderperson for the district had said as much. Not sure if this is true or not, but I've seen the argument that the Sox are actually a net negative economically for the area around the park.

I tend to agree with this post with a few caveats. I believe when you say it does nothing economically for the area right now; as it is, it's just a ballpark and a bunch of parking lots. no reason to be there unless you're at a game, then there's no reason to stick around afterward because there's nothing to do. the new logic of ballpark construction could change that, which is to develop an entire district fit with restaurants, hotels, condos, etc (see Truist Park in Atlanta or Globe Life Field in Arlington or the forthcoming KC Royals proposal). I think that's good for the team and potentially good for the city, there's actually evidence to show that this kind of public expenditure for a stadium could actually return enough tax revenue to make the investment worthwhile while the team owner gets to play real estate developer and profit off that.
the present site is perfect for this. it's a huge chunk of empty land (over 100 acres) and I imagine it won't be easy to find several developers to come there and develop it piecemeal. the Sox already own the land and could get public money to build up the area. it seems like the path of least resistance but the city would have to buck up and nix this proposal and encourage the team to stay in Bridgeport. Lightfoot claimed to care about neighborhood development rather than focusing solely on downtown, I doubt Johnson has any opinions on anything though besides "hey I built a shiny new ballpark".