The Chicago White Sox have relieved executive vice president Ken Williams and senior vice president and general manager Rick Hahn of their responsibilities, effective immediately, the organization announced Tuesday.
“This is an incredibly difficult decision for me to make because they are both talented individuals with long-term relationships with the White Sox,” White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. “I want to personally thank Ken and Rick for all they have done for the Chicago White Sox, winning the 2005 World Series and reaching the postseason multiple times during their tenures.”
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 22, 2023
According to the White Sox’s statement, Chicago will begin a search for a “single decision maker to lead the baseball operations department and anticipate having an individual in place by the end of the season.”
Advertisement
How surprising is this?
To say this was unexpected in Chicago would be an understatement. I would’ve been only slightly more surprised if Michael Jordan announced he was coming out of retirement to play for the Bulls. This was announced an hour-and-change before a home game and after the reporters were off the field and out of the clubhouse.
The White Sox were so bitterly disappointing the last two seasons it makes sense to fire the baseball people in charge, but you have to understand that Reinsdorf rarely makes front-office changes. So it makes no sense on a provincial level.
Williams has been the top baseball executive with the club since 2001. Hahn was promoted to GM before the 2013 season. That Reinsdorf made this move, at 87 years old, shows how frustrated he is with the direction his team has taken.
On Monday, a media relations person for the team told the beat writers that a USA Today story about internal meetings to figure out the root causes of this organizational downfall was misleading. They’re always having meetings! Also on Monday, Crain’s Chicago Business reported that Reinsdorf might want a new stadium to replace Guaranteed Rate Field and floated a possible move out of Chicago proper or the market.
To top off the night, the Sox lost 14-2 to fall to 49-76. And there’s no Tony La Russa to blame anymore.
After making the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history in 2020 and 2021, the team has regressed to also-ran status. In 2022, the Sox went 81-81 but finished 11 games back in the division. This year, they’re one of the worst teams in baseball. They’re showing the biggest attendance decline in the game to boot. Last year, fans were chanting “Sell the team!” almost on a nightly basis.
Hahn executed a fire sale at the trade deadline and then had to defend himself when two of the players he traded, Keynan Middleton and, to a lesser degree, Lance Lynn, publicly criticized the team.
Advertisement
That was just two weeks ago. Now it seems like Reinsdorf might’ve agreed with the players, for once, and not his executives. — Greenberg
Where does this leave the White Sox?
Wow. This is one move people in the industry did not see coming, not because Hahn and Williams had performed well, but because of the White Sox’s history under Reinsdorf and his loyalty to his employees. Indeed, the statement makes clear that this was a painful move for Reinsdorf, though necessary. (You could argue it was overdue, as the White Sox last won the World Series in 2005 and have not won a playoff series since.)
If you were betting, this is just the start of a mass exodus for an organization in dire need of change that has had issues developing players, signing free agents and creating cohesion in the clubhouse, the latter of which boiled over when Middleton spilled the beans about the team’s lack of accountability and direction. Williams had been with the Sox since 1992 while Hahn joined the Sox in 2002.
Who could lead the White Sox moving forward? Hopefully someone outside the organization with fresh ideas. The White Sox Way, which the organization proudly referenced for years internally in the time around the championship, lost its allure a long time ago. — Ghiroli
What Williams, Hahn said
“I’m not really a ‘Statement’ kind of guy and had no intention of releasing one,” Williams said in a statement later Tuesday. “That said, the volume of messages I have received in the wake of the news compels me to say something. First, I never knew so many people had my number.”
He thanked Reinsdorf and White Sox fans and mentioned the team, former employees and Hahn.
“As I told (Reinsdorf) when he gave me the news of his decision, nothing changes with us. I will be there for him as I always have been and respect his decision to look for a new voice to lead the organization. He deserved better,” Williams said. “A big thanks to Chicago, you have been good to us. Zoraida and I will miss you dearly.”
Advertisement
Hahn thanked Reinsdorf, Williams and members of the White Sox organization, among others.
“I am truly humbled by the many friends, colleagues and members of the extended baseball family who have taken the time to offer their kind words, support and humor,” Hahn said in a statement Tuesday. “I promise to get back to each of you individually at some point soon and look forward to working with many of you again in the future.
“In the meantime, I will be rooting for the Sox to win that next championship soon — as loyal White Sox fans deserve nothing less.”
Required reading
(Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski / USA Today)
ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57k3BwcWhgbHxzfJFsZmlwX2d%2FcMPHoqueZaOkxW6%2BxKWgnq6VYrK5scKuq6KulWLDqq%2FEZqernaOesaa602ainqZdrLatuMiapKxll5q7pr7ApWSmmZ6WtKa%2BjKugnKNdna6puoyonWaqlai9sLrSopmipJmptqa%2Fjg%3D%3D