White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is open to selling the club and is in “active discussions” with a group led by Dave Stewart, reports Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic . It’s unclear how possible a sale is or how much progress the talks have made, but it would be a seismic shift for the franchise if it comes to fruition. Reinsdorf, now 88 years old, is one of the more controversial owners in the sport.
He bought the club in 1981 for about $20M and has since developed a reputation for being on the meddlesome side, leading to reports of tumult from within the organization. Reinsdorf only owns an estimated 19% stake in the club, according to Forbes , but is nonetheless the principal owner of the club. The club has had some success during his tenure as owner, including winning the 2005 World Series, but the Sox are at a very low ebb right now.
They didn’t make the playoffs from 2009 to 2019, finishing below .500 during the majority of that stretch. A new core seemed to emerge and helped them make the postseason in 2020 and 2021, but that quickly proved to be unsustainable.
They dropped to .500 in 2022 and lost 101 games last year before things got even worse in 2024. They lost 121 games this year, setting a new record for losses in the modern era.
Amid that downward slide, plenty of changes have taken place. In August 2023, president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn were fired after many years with the club. However, that shakeup was followed by the club promoting.
