The White Sox dismissed executive vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn on Tuesday, effective immediately.
“Ultimately, the well-worn cliche that professional sports are results-oriented is correct,” stated owner Jerry Reinsdorf in a statement. “While we have had successes as an organisation and were optimistic going into the competitive window of this rebuild, this year has proven to be very disappointing for all of us on many levels.”
“This has led me to the conclusion that the best decision for the organisation moving forward is to make a change in our baseball department leadership.”
After falling 6-3 to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night, the White Sox finished the day with a 49-77 record, 16 games behind the first-place Minnesota Twins.
The team went through a declared rebuild throughout the last decade, ending in playoff participation in both 2020 and 2021, but only won two playoffs games during that time. The White Sox finished 81-81 previous season before collapsing this year due to clubhouse turmoil.
Williams has been with the organisation since 1992, rising through the ranks to become general manager. Before being elevated to executive vice president in 2012, he led the club that won the World Series in 2005. That same year, Hahn was elevated to general manager.
Williams praised White Sox fans for going “out of their way throughout the years to offer support and encouragement” in a statement released later on Tuesday, and thanked the franchise for the chance to have a prolonged leadership position with the White Sox.
“I thank Jerry Reinsdorf for the opportunity to lead baseball operations and will be eternally grateful for the World Series Championship we all shared,” Williams stated. “At my first news conference, I mentioned winning several titles. That was my aim, and it was our goal, and we failed. I am a bottom-line man, and the bottom line is that we did not complete the task. As a consequence, this is what occurs.”
“I cannot thank enough the gifted coaches, scouts, analysts, sports performance professionals, and front office staff for their tireless work and dedication to the Club,” Hahn said in a statement. Because of them, I am certain that many key components of a championship team can be found in that clubhouse and inside the minor league system.”
During Hahn’s first five seasons, the club failed to reach the playoffs before starting on a rebuilding attempt not long after the Cubs did the same on the other side of town. The White Sox’s reconstruction yielded a treasure of youthful talent, but the total was never greater than the parts as they failed to achieve lineup balance or generate a competent defensive squad.
The squad has changed managers, elevating Rick Renteria in 2017 before being replaced by Tony La Russa, who retired in 2021. That season, the club won the AL Central by 13 games, but they deteriorated in 2022 before La Russa resigned again due to health concerns. Pedro Grifol, a former Kansas City Royals bench coach, was hired in November, but his debut season has been hampered by bad performance, an in-game brawl with the Cleveland Guardians, and a clubhouse that former White Sox bullpen pitcher Keynan Middleton said earlier this month had “no rules.”
“It probably shook everybody up in there,” Grifol added, describing the actions as “shocking.” “It’s like I said to the club, when you start the season with expectations and we don’t meet them as a group, unfortunately, this stuff happens, and two great men today lost their jobs after a long, long tenure here in Chicago doing a lot of great things.”
According to the announcement, the White Sox will begin a search for a “single decisionmaker” to manage the baseball operations department, with the intention of having someone in place by the conclusion of the season.
“This is an incredibly difficult decision for me to make because they are both talented individuals with long-term relationships with the White Sox,” Reinsdorf said. “Ken is like a son to me, and he will always be a part of my family.” I’d want to personally congratulate Ken and Rick for all they’ve done for the Chicago White Sox, including winning the World Series in 2005 and making the playoffs numerous times throughout their tenures.
“I have nothing but respect for them as people and appreciate their dedication and passion for the White Sox over the years.”
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