The Buried Lead: Jerry Reinsdorf Cares More About His Baseball Team Than He Does His Basketball Team

Ben Gordon hides his laughter after learning the White Sox had acquired Alex Rios, and his nearly $60 million remaining contract.

Kenny Williams is getting a lot of praise these days. Sure, he's engineered a pair of deals to bring in Jake Peavy and Alex Rios to the White Sox. And while he deserves that praise, it re-affirms something that Chicago sports fans know all too well.

Jerry Reinsdorf doesn't care about his basketball team.

Money was one of the big issues when it came down to letting Ben Gordon, the Bulls' leading scorer, sign with Detroit via free agency this offseason. However, I am not sure how Reinsdorf could spin this injustice.

There is no way I can justify not extending the contract the only guy who has proven to hit a big shot since M. Jeff skipped town in the same summer he added the $60 million paycheck of a guy currently hitting .264 with a .317 on-base percentage.

Even Jim Hendry thinks throwing a shade under $60 million at a fourth outfielder is laughable.

Taking a brief look at the 2010 free agent class and you'll notice guys like Matt Holliday, Jason Bay, Johnny Damon, Bobby Abreu and Vladimir Guerrero litter the outfield market. There's no way you can justify Rios at $12 million per year when legit All-Stars will be coming to the market place.

As for the Peavy acquisition, I still contend that was a good move. But in the end, a little bit of simple math unearths the buried lead in the recent praise the White Sox's GM has earned.

The White Sox have obtained more than $100 million worth of remaining contracts. Meanwhile, the Bulls refuse to dabble in the free agent market and hesitant to dip their toe in trade market.

Bulls fans, prepare yourselves for a winter of mediocrity followed by a summer that will feature more teases than amateur night.

D'oh!

When it comes to teases, the pretty girls in Wrigleyville have nothing on Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf.

As a Bulls fan, I'm tired of Reinsdorf jerking my chain.

We heard the T-Wolves wanted to punch the Big Ticket out of Minnesota, but the Bulls couldn't come with the right package.

We heard Pau Gasol was certainly coming to the Bulls (eventually). However, the Bulls were unable to pull the trigger.

Then, we heard that we had a chance to bring in the best player in the game. He even told us to go buy a Bulls jersey.

Unfortunately, the Bulls were unwilling to deal Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Wallace.

And now, this.

Mike D'Antoni wanted to coach the Bulls, bringing his fun-and-gun style to a city that has practically slept on professional basketball since No. 23 officially hanged it up.

The Bulls wanted D'Antoni to lead its youthful roster, which he saw fit for his style.

So, why isn't he coaching the Bulls?

Because Reinsdorf and Co. sat on their hands and waited to be outbid. And they were.

They low-balled their top choice and will likely have to settle for their third choice.

Chicago, I hope you're ready for some more bad basketball.

The roster is in flux. There is no plan in place. They have no stinkin' coach. A Bulls fan's only hope is that the ping-pong balls bounce to the point where the Bulls can land either Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley.

The Bulls offseason plan should have been this:

1. Sign D'Antoni and let the run-and-gun put Chicagoland McDonald's restaurants out of business.
2. Rig the draft, pick up Michael Beasley.
3. Sign Baron Davis, let him run the point.

Instead, it will look like this.

1. Sign nameless, faceless assistant coach for cheap.
2. With the 9th pick in the NBA Draft, select Kevin Love because we all know John Paxson loves good college players from powerhouse programs.
3. Keep the roster in tact and hope last year was just a fluke.

The Bulls should be thriving right now. Instead they are struggling because they couldn't take advantage of the ultimate recruiting tool: the Jordan Era.

Instead, Reinsdorf treats the Bulls like a second-rate hobby.

While this city starves for a winner (that isn't lead by ranting lunatic from Venezuela), it might get it from a franchise that has provided 100 years of punchlines. Or a professional hockey franchise that isn't located in a Chicago suburb. Maybe a football team that is one year removed from a Super Bowl appearance can make it happen.

OK, maybe not.

Instead, the team that has provided Chicago with the most championships sits on its laurels, hoping the right situation happens instead of making the right situation happen.

-LMed