Jack's Take: Biggest Question About Jerry Reinsdorf’s Agreement With Justin Ishbia

CHICAGO — Changes are coming to the south side, but how soon?

When reading the White Sox news release on Thursday — an announcement that Jerry Reinsdorf, 89, who’s owned the team since 1981, and billionaire Justin Ishbia, a part majority owner of the Phoenix Suns and Mercury, have reached a long-term investment agreement — that was my initial reaction.

In simplest terms, the agreement allows Reinsdorf to sell controlling interest of the team at any point from 2029-33. After the 2034 season, it’s Ishbia’s option. So it’ll be at least five years, and maybe even nine, until any impact from Ishbia is felt, right? Well, not necessarily. 

One sentence in the news release stood out to me. It read, “Ishbia will make capital infusions into the White Sox as a limited partner in 2025 and 2026 that will be used to pay down existing debt and support ongoing team operations.”

There was no specification regarding the value of these capital infusions, so it’s impossible to draw any certain conclusions at the moment. But let’s wonder for a minute. What could “support ongoing team operations” mean?

The White Sox are rebuilding after a 41-121 season in 2024, the worst record in modern MLB history. Their record isn’t much better in 2025 at 20-43, second-worst in MLB. But they also have 16 one-run losses, a few highly ranked prospects who’ve debuted this season, and four more in MLB Pipeline’s top 40.

With Ishbia on board to potentially own the team as early as 2029, is the door open for him to bankroll a big free agency budget next offseason and fast-track the rebuild? Would he have come to this agreement if that wasn’t an immediate possibility?

Or will Reinsdorf still set the budget, meaning Ishbia’s cashflow won’t really be felt until he has controlling interest? After all, the release also read that Reinsdorf remains the sole day-to-day decision-maker for the club.

It also quoted him saying, “I have always expressed my intent to operate the White Sox as long as I am able and remain committed to returning this franchise to the level of on-field success we all expect and desire.”

Young players like Shane Smith and Chase Meidroth, plus a highly regarded farm system, provide a foundation and some hope the White Sox can one day compete again. But winning at the highest level will require significantly more financial commitment than the team’s 2025 payroll, which ranks 27th in MLB at $82 million, per Yahoo, and has just two players – Andrew Benintendi ($75 million) and Luis Robert Jr. ($50 million) – under contract for more than $5 million. 

So White Sox fans may have to be patient for now, and wait at least until more details come out in regard to how much Ishbia can really support the team in 2025 and 2026 before getting too excited. Or until 2029. Or 2034. 

Or they can hope Reinsdorf and general manager Chris Getz can execute a successful rebuild before then. But for now, it seems to be business as usual at Rate Field, despite Thursday’s franchise-altering news.