Theo's Dime

The Cubs just announced they’re designating right-handed starter Edwin Jackson for assignment.  Two years ago, Cubs’ president Theo Epstein signed Jackson to a four-year $52 million contract.  Guess who’ll be on the line for the $15.6 million still due on that contract?  Hint:  It won’t be me.

But it would’ve been had Jackson signed with the White Sox.  Like the great majority of U.S. professional sports’ teams, the Sox play in a publicly funded arena.  Better yet (for them), rent is, or was, based on attendance, which means the worse the team plays (think Tyler Flowers), the less it hurts.  The public stadium authority is loath to disclose particulars of the lease agreement, so it is theoretically possible that things have changed and the Sox now pay a flat fee, sort of like renters in the real world, but I wouldn’t stake my life on it.  

Now, back to the Cubs.  The Jackson contract is a $52 million dollar hit to the organization, a very expensive lesson and a mistake Epstein will be slow to repeat.  (For what it’s worth, the Sox also had Jackson once upon a time, but he wore out his welcome inside of a year.)  This is the kind of market lesson conservatives love, or should.  And when the White Sox signed Adam Dunn to a four-year, $56 million deal back in 2011, that  constituted government interference  in the marketplace.  Jerry Reinsdorf  money not spent on a mortgage and property taxes for his own facility was money wasted on a big donkey. 

All of which means I’m not laughing too much at Theo Epstein eating crow today.  I know from experience how it tastes.