Chicago White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf set the record straight about one aspect of the team’s rebuild.
“There’s a myth (the front office) had to talk me into it,” Reinsdorf told a pool reporter Thursday. “I wanted to do it just as much as they wanted to do it. It was an easy decision because (if) we didn’t make that decision we were going to be caught in mediocrity and that’s no fun.
“Going through it, it was painful watching the team lose individual games, but I always knew we had a plan and we were working our plan and ultimately the plan was going to work. (Executive vice president) Kenny (Williams) and (general manager) Rick (Hahn), I knew they were going to produce what we needed.”
The Sox on Thursday clinched their first division title since 2008, wrapping up the American League Central with a 7-2 victory against the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Progressive Field.
“It’s always a great feeling when you win something,” Reinsdorf said. “But this is only a step on our way to what we hope is a bigger prize.”
The Sox earned a postseason berth in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history. They qualified as a wild card in 2020, losing in three games to the Oakland Athletics in a best-of-three.
“I was disappointed last year that we didn’t win the division, but this is about where we thought where we were going to be,” Reinsdorf said. “The plan, we always say, we want to win multiple titles. The real plan is we want to be competitive year after year. It’s very hard to win one title, let alone multiple titles.
“I just want us to be playing meaningful games every October.”
Hahn credited Reinsdorf with being supportive in pursuit of veterans such as Yasmani Grandal, Dallas Keuchel and Liam Hendriks to add to the young core.
“That was always an important part of this plan and one that quite frankly doesn’t happen without the support of Jerry Reinsdorf and his comfort with us being able to sort of push our payroll and expand and take some chances,” Hahn said Thursday. “Part of the original rebuild plan that was presented to Jerry involved an economic strategy. That included signing some of these young players to multiyear deals early in their careers like we did with Luis (Robert) and Eloy (Jiménez) and Yoán (Moncada).
“But there was also the important part and perhaps the more challenging or uncomfortable part and that is being aggressive and adding finishing pieces, veteran finishing pieces. From the start, Jerry was supportive of that from Day 1 and then when it came time to make it happen, he was there to help allow us to deliver on that.”
The offseason moves weren’t just on the field. The Sox brought back Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa after parting ways with Rick Renteria. La Russa managed the Sox from 1979 until he was fired after 64 games in 1986.
“I absolutely felt he was the best guy for the job,” Reinsdorf said. “I never had any doubt in my mind. It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen him for 10 years. I saw him, I talked to him. I knew what he had left. What I wanted was somebody that I felt could really handle the pitchers and can relate to the players and I knew Tony could do it.
“Tony is fantastic at handling pitchers, and that’s what we needed.”
Said La Russa of Reinsdorf: “He loves the game and he’s excited about our chance.”
What Reinsdorf enjoys most about this team is “the way they don’t give up.”
“Even when we are down early in the game, they tend to come back and even when we lose (they) score runs late,” he said.
The Sox have the opportunity to extend that effort into the postseason.
“Any team that’s in the playoffs has a chance to win the World Series,” Reinsdorf said. “In a three out of five or a four out of seven, any team can beat any other team. Any team can look bad and any team can look great. In a short series anything can happen.
“I don’t see why we can’t go all the way, but if we don’t, I wouldn’t be stunned either.”
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