Bernstein: What Is Kenny Williams Doing?
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) So much for what appeared to be an easy transition for the White Sox.
As we understood it in October 2012, Rick Hahn took control of the baseball side of the team when he was named senior vice president and general manager. Outgoing GM Kenny Williams was promoted to executive vice president, with chairman Jerry Reinsdorf explaining that Williams would focus on larger issues and long-term organizational planning, while Hahn assumed control of all player personnel matters, coaching staff decisions and scouting and development operations.
Then last week, Williams told the Tribune he's still essentially in charge, blustering about his responsibility and power.
"I hired the manager, I hired the general manager," he said. "Ultimately, I sign off on offseason acquisitions or anyone signed to a contract or trades or anything else. At the end of the day, that's put in front of me."
Williams explained that Reinsdorf comes to him to talk about the team and not Hahn, because the GM "hasn't graduated to that point yet, and I've told him that."
If Williams was trying to insulate Hahn, he instead emasculated him. And he wasn't done. On Sunday, USA Today quoted Williams describing a plan for the Sox that hadn't existed until that point.
"It's important that we not lose sight of what our organizational goal was," Williams said, "and that was to give us the best three-year window."
Huh? Nobody ever said that, at any point.
"If we do anything, it will be consistent with trying to maximize this three-year plan or window that we set out originally," Williams said.
Except they didn't. This is new to all of us. Williams is so retroactively in charge of everything, he can apparently make things up.
It is unclear how Williams thinks that executive ambiguity is good for his team, particularly headed into the critical pre-trade-deadline period that could allow them to strike useful deals. How does this help anything internally or externally, making outsiders wonder who's really running the White Sox?
What motivated this?
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. Follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.