Tone deaf owner is preventing a blockbuster Chicago Cubs trade this offseason

For as much as Chicago Cubs fans have grown upset with Tom Ricketts and his handling of what Jed Hoyer can and can't do with the team's baseball operations, it could be worse.

All Cubs fans need to do is look to the other side of town.

Jerry Reinsdorf has become a punchline for Chicago White Sox fans considering his involvement in the series of events that led to the White Sox making history in 2024 for how bad they were. Reinsdorf hasn't been afraid to meddle with the White Sox's baseball operations with his biggest gaffe, in recent memory, happening in 2020 when he vetoed general manager Rick Hahn wanting AJ Hinch to be the team's next manager and hired the then-retired Tony La Russa.

It was a move that highlighted how out-of-touch Reinsdorf has become with Major League Baseball. It's a sentiment that the Cubs may be realizing this offseason. In the latest mailbag episode of their podcast, NorthSide Territory, Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney were asked about the idea of the Cubs pursuing White Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet this offseason.

While Crochet would be an ideal fit for the Cubs as they look to add a starting pitcher to the top of their rotation, Sharma and Mooney indicate that the White Sox aren't considering the Cubs a suitor. This is not because the Cubs do not have the prospects to make the deal but because Reinsdorf does not want to make this magnitude of a trade with a crosstown rival.

OFFSEASON READING: One of Cody Bellinger or Nico Hoerner may be traded.

It's a peek behind the curtains of why any White Sox rebuild may be destined to fail. Chris Getz has seemingly started off on the right note with the pitching prospects he has acquired over the past year, but there is a need for the White Sox to add blue-chip position player prospects to that mix. The Cubs would have been a perfect fit.

While the Cubs and White Sox have connected on several notable trades over the past decade, it seems that Crochet will not be added to that list due continued short-sidedness by Reinsdorf.