Has Reinsdorf ever cared?

Jerry Reinsdorf shocked fans Tuesday evening with the firing of his two longtime top executives, Rick Hahn and Ken Williams. The White Sox have underperformed this year, and have been known for doing that with Hahn at the helm. The move, at the time, left many hopeful, wondering if this could be some kind of turning point for the organization.

Then reporters started tweeting. I know, who actually trusts Bob Nightengale, but this type of decision screams White Sox.

For those who might not know, Chris Getz has spent the past seven years overseeing the White Sox minor league operations and player development after a seven-year playing career and a couple of years working in Kansas City’s front office. And certainly with the Sox, Getz has been unsuccessful in his role thus far. The White Sox seem to be in Rebuild 2.0 on paper, despite insisting they will be competing next season — yet player development is mostly to blame for the failures of the original rebuild and present-day dysfunction.

The only reason the prospect rankings for the franchise have recently improved from rock-bottom is deadline trades — not in-house players being developed within the organization improving under the watchful eye of Getz.

Unrelated:

Before we jump into Dayton Moore, I want to share a few things that have been noticed in regard to Reinsdorf’s money, and how he chooses to spend it.

Federal Election Commission website

If you visit the Federal Election Commission public site, you’ll notice a few things. In 2022, Jerry donated to Greg Stanton, a Democrat House Representative in Arizona. He tends to donate to both parties frequently, but typically leans more center and left. This year, Jerry has donated a very hefty amount to ... South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott and his Tomorrow Is Meaningful PAC, a group that has given $320,027 to 93 different Republican filers spanning the last nine years. These are the same people who have worked to strip away rights from women, minorities and the LGBTQ+ community. Most are old white men, like Mitch McConnell.

I have previously discussed how Major League Baseball has turned a blind eye to women and LGBTQ+ members. Seeing where Reinsdorf’s allegiances lie once again makes it quite discouraging as a fan, and a person who covers this team. It comes as no surprise, as there will never be an ethical billionaire, especially when the one in charge constantly takes sponsorship money from He Gets Us. (If you are unfamiliar, this organization came about in 2022 with help from private donors. The campaign wants to bring Jesus and the bible back into the hands of younger demographics. However, He Gets Us has faced criticism over the extensive spending and its donors’ support of anti-abortion and anti-LGBT groups, and disputes over claims that the campaign is apolitical.)

That brings us to Dayton Moore, who currently serves as senior advisor of baseball operations for the Texas Rangers. Let’s see how the former Royals GM did during his tenure:

Not great. But his story only manages to get weirder. Let’s talk about some problematic things Moore has been directly linked to.

First, there’s Luke Heimlich, a former Oregon State pitcher who pleaded guilty to a felony: Sexually molesting his six-year-old niece when he was 15. Moore not only defended him but also felt as though Heimlich should have a future in baseball.

This is not the only twisted moralizing Moore has been public about. The K.C. GM made the Royals the first major sports franchise to conduct an anti-pornography seminar, led by the nonprofit organization “Fight the New Drug.” Moore mandated that Royals minor league players attend, but due to the CBS could only suggest that major league players take part; Moore stressed to his players that he not only believes that pornography is the “root of evil” but that it can also “become a detriment to a player’s career and destroy his personal life.”

On its website, Fight the New Drug claims ”repeated consumption of porn causes the brain to literally rewire itself,” and that “porn happens to be fantastic at forming new, long-lasting pathways in the brain.” While it also cites academic research, a group of eight neuroscientists debunked many of Fight the New Drug’s claims in a 2016 Salt Lake Tribune editorial: “Based on our expertise in neuroscience and clinical psychology, we find that FTND is systematically misrepresenting science.”

With all that said, this could be our new front office: Someone who is not even the correct choice for his current job in Getz, and another who has primarily worked with the Royals and kept them at bottom-dweller status.

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