For his sake, Jerry Reinsdorf better be able to separate his emotions as a fan from those as an owner. Otherwise the Chairman might be heading toward a breakdown before this season, if not this weekend, is over.
With Comiskey Park packed on a gorgeous, semi-perfect Friday afternoon, the White Sox staged a comeback against Kerry Wood that perfectly illustrates the twisted dilemma in which Reinsdorf finds himself.
On the one hand, there was something absolutely magical about Paul Konerko hitting two homers after Wood had plunked him in the head. It was the kind of inspired play that could awaken the flagging pulse of the underachieving White Sox, who Konerko says have been “mediocre” since the start of 2001.
“At some point you get sick of being mediocre,” Konerko said after the 13-9 Sox victory. “Hopefully this is the last time we get tired of it and we take off on a roll.”
Sounds great. But you know what they say about talk. Baseball salaries, on the other hand, definitely aren’t cheap.
By continuing to be the Sox’s most productive hitter, Konerko has kept the meter spinning on his future value. His 4-for-4 day, with one two-run homer off Wood and another off Joe Borowski, left him batting .341. He’s on a pace to hit 42 homers and lead the league with 147 runs batted in.
But what will it mean if the Sox continue to flounder behind Minnesota? And, in no small consideration, what will it cost?
For the long-term interest of Reinsdorf and his franchise’s fans, it would be better if Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez were putting up the Konerkian numbers. They are signed through 2006 and 2004, respectively.
Konerko, who is in the last season of a two-year deal, is eligible for salary arbitration next winter. Unless the White Sox can be very creative with the terms of a long-term extension, his salary will jump from $3.8 million to more than $6 million.
There are only two real questions: How much more? And will Reinsdorf want to pay Konerko, Thomas and Ordonez a combined $25 million in 2003?
The guess here is there’s only one way this will happen: If the Sox heat up in a hurry, start drawing crowds when they play teams from outside Cook County and somehow salvage this most disappointing of seasons.
If the Sox can’t make things interesting through September, if not into October, Reinsdorf will be forced to do one of two distasteful things: trade Konerko or Ordonez, or abandon the attempt to break even for his investors.
What about Thomas, you ask? Forget it.
Reinsdorf may be able to defer all but $250,000 per season–a big help in the short term–but he’s going to have to pay it at some point. Thomas has the right to walk away if Reinsdorf does invoke the revised payment right in his contract, but he won’t. How is he going to get a better deal anywhere else, $39.7 million over four years, which is what will be left on that deal he signed back in 1997?
Against his better instincts, Reinsdorf allowed general manager Ken Williams to enter this season with a $57 million payroll. That meant his break-even point would be about 2.3 million in attendance. The Sox could fall below 1.7 million.
They survived despite drawing less than 1.4 million in 1998 and ’99. But that was when Ron Schueler was rebuilding after the surrender of ’97, and the payroll–like the average age of Williams’ acquisitions–was thirty-something.
When Reinsdorf signed off on the White Flag trade, the only casualties were Roberto Hernandez, Wilson Alvarez, Danny Darwin and Harold Baines, all of whom were headed for free agency. If he has to do it again, he can save about $15 million by replacing Ray Durham, Royce Clayton, Sandy Alomar Jr., Kenny Lofton and the invisible man, Jim Parque, with kids.
But raises for Konerko, Ordonez, Keith Foulke and Carlos Lee will eat more than $8 million. If Todd Ritchie bounces back, he could present another contract issue. So much for having flexibility.
Konerko knows the stakes are high. That’s part of the reason he talked manager Jerry Manuel into leaving him in after the Wood curveball to the coconut. The other part is he is as hard-headed figuratively as it turns out he is literally.
Could Reinsdorf follow the example of the Cleveland Indians, cutting his losses after concluding that this isn’t the year?
“There’s a feeling in the clubhouse that’s really good,” Konerko said. “It has been ever since the first game in Minnesota. If that changes, if we aren’t going in the right direction, everybody’s not working together, definitely that could happen. [But] I feel like this team is ready to roll. . . . If we can finish strong, like we did last year, we should win this division.”
Make Seattle Mariners general manager Pat Gillick the White Sox’s GM, give him $15 million to fix what’s wrong with the pitching staff, and maybe you could buy what Konerko was selling. But nothing currently indicates this is a team that will reach the playoffs, let alone become the first Chicago team since 1917 to win a postseason series.
Trade Magglio? Trade Paulie?
Those are painful thoughts. But they aren’t out of the question.
