The Bernstein Brief: What Complicates A White Sox Rebuild
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) Urging the White Sox to "do what the Cubs did" is facile and pointless, because they aren't those Cubs, and also they can't.
When the Cubs started their rebuild back in October 2011, they had new owners looking at big, bad contracts for declining older players, a barren farm system, a massive and loyal fan base, a valuable marketing brand and visionary executives in charge.
With the same ownership and management, the White Sox have their most valuable players in their prime years under team-friendly terms, a barren farm system, a tiny and cranky fan base and a minimal branding footprint.
And even if the White Sox wanted to try, MLB rules have changed to dissuade it. Draft-pick compensation for veteran free agents has changed, the international signing binges have been curbed and a global draft is likely. Owners are also discussing changes to revenue-sharing rules that deny financial advantages that currently come with low payrolls and losing.
Another matter of concern, team sources tell 670 The Score, is their TV rights deal that's up for grabs in 2019, with negotiations beginning at least a year before then, meaning less than two years from now. The White Sox have to consider how being in the depths of a burn-down rebuild during that time could affect that critical revenue.
They could end up closer to a championship by competing enough to be valued as desirable programming and then maximizing their TV money to have more competitive resources. That also would allow them to maintain their small ticket base that they worry would never return from a self-imposed exile from contention, despite pledges otherwise from a handful of voices.
Whether the White Sox choose to accelerate their reconstruction by trading assets for prospects right now, there are still no short-cuts for them. They need to draft and develop a core of talented, cost-controlled players as the backbone of sustained success.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.