(670 The Score) White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said the quiet – and perhaps obvious – part out loud Thursday afternoon.
His club won’t be contenders in the sweepstakes for two-way star Shohei Ohtani when he hits free agency this offseason.
“We spent a lot of money this year,” Reinsdorf said during a media session addressing the promotion of assistant general manager Chris Getz to senior vice president/general manager. “People talk about, ‘Why won’t the White Sox spend?’ I think we had a payroll $185 million this year. We’ll do what Chris thinks we ought to do that will make us better. Look, we’re not going to be in any Ohtani race, I’ll tell you that right now. I’ll tell you that. And we’re not going to sign pitchers to 10-year deals, but we’re going to try to get better. And that means trades. It potentially means free agents. It means playing smarter baseball. It means a lot of things.”
Ohtani, 29, is on track to win the American League MVP award for the second time in three years as he continues to amaze everyone in the game with his two-way talent. He’s hitting .307 for the Angels with an MLB-best 44 homers, 95 RBIs and a 1.071 OPS in 132 games at the plate this season. Ohtani has a 3.14 ERA and 1.06 WHIP in 23 starts in 2023.
Ohtani was recently diagnosed with a torn UCL, which is expected to sideline him from pitching in 2024. He was widely expected to ink a contract of $500 million or more before that injury.
Reinsdorf fired longtime executive vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn on Aug. 22 amid a miserable season in which they sat at 53-81 as of Thursday. The 87-year-old Reinsdorf hopes that Getz can help turn around the team quickly, because at his age, he doesn’t want to waste another year.
“I don’t have a lot of time left,” Reinsdorf said. “I don’t want to go through a long rebuild. I only expect to be here another 10 years.”