The Chicago White Sox, along with the Detroit Tigers, had a strong off-season in hopes of overtaking the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central. They landed Adam Dunn, one of the premier sluggers in the free agent market, with a four-year $56 million contract. The decision to sign Dunn apparently was not an easy one, and according to team owner Jerry Reinsdorf, it led to more signings by the team.
Reinsdorf explained at the team’s SoxFest ’11 event Saturday that the franchise was deciding between two different plans — one where they would cut payroll and go young, and another where they would spend money to try and win. He said “We reached this year. Last year was a difficult year. We weren’t as good as we thought we could be. Our attendance was down. Financially, it came out OK.”
Once the White Sox committed the money to Adam Dunn, it only made sense to bring back Paul Konerko and A.J. Pierzynski who were also free agents. Adding just Dunn without Konerko was essentially pointless, because then the team would be in a similar situation as last year. Hopefully the fans appreciate the direction the ownership took this off-season for Chicago. This also means that they may be likely to unload contracts if they fall out of contention by the All-Star Break.
