White Sox fire GM Rick Hahn, VP Ken Williams amid dismal season
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Amid a disastrous season that has seen them sink to 23 games below .500 following a failed rebuild, the White Sox have fired executive vice president Ken Williams and general manager Rick Hahn.
"This is an incredibly difficult decision for me to make because they are both talented individuals with long-term relationships at the White Sox," White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. "Ken is like a son to me, and I will always consider him a member of my family. 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. I have nothing but the greatest respect for them as people and appreciate the commitment and passion for the White Sox they exhibited over the years."
Williams and Hahn both released statements late Tuesday, thanking Reinsdorf and the White Sox for their support over the years, understanding it's a bottom-line business.
"I will forever be indebted to Jerry Reinsdorf and Kenny Williams for giving me the opportunity almost 23 years ago to realize my dream of working for a Major League team. Their faith, support and mentoring allowed me to grow both as an executive and as a person while with the White Sox, and I look forward to our continued friendship for many years to come," Hahn wrote. "Additionally, 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. Because of them, I firmly believe that many vital ingredients of a championship team are in that clubhouse and within the minor league system."
Williams said he didn't plan on releasing a statement, but felt compelled to do so given the volume of messages he's received since his ouster.
"I want to take time to first thank White Sox fans who went out of their way throughout the years to offer support and encouragement. Often this would happen on the street or in a restaurant or on one of my morning walks, and it always surprised me. It would come at times when I least expected it or even deserved it, but definitely when I needed it, and I was grateful they would take the time," he wrote. "I thank Jerry Reinsdorf for the opportunity he gave me to head baseball operations and will forever be proud of the World Series Championship we all celebrated together. At my inaugural presser, I spoke of winning multiple championships. That was my goal, our goal, and we failed. I am a bottom line guy, and the bottom line is we didn't get it done. This is what happens as a result. There is a lot of talent on this club, and I wish the players, Pedro and the coaching staff the best in reaching their goals. I believe they will rebound and give the baseball world a great 2024 campaign."
Williams has been with the club since 1992, starting as a scout. He became the general manager after the 2000 season, and helped put together the 2005 World Series championship team. He became the executive vice president in 2012, when Hahn was named general manager.
Hahn has worked for the White Sox since 2001, and was Williams' assistant general manager from 2002 until he was promoted to general manager in 2012. In the time Hahn and Williams have been together at the helm of the White Sox, the team is 1,763-1,824, a .491 winning percentage, with only 12 winning seasons out of 23, and reaching the postseason only four times in that span.
Hahn and Williams led a major overhaul of the White Sox roster after the 2016 season, trading away star players like Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, and Adam Eaton for top prospects like Yoan Moncada, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, and Eloy Jimenez, but few of their prospects have turned into bonafide stars.
While the White Sox showed signs of becoming a contender in 2020 and 2021, with back-to-back postseason appearances, and an AL Central title in 2021, they have regressed significantly since the controversial decision to bring back Tony La Russa as manager in 2021, despite him not having managed a team since 2011.
After leading an injury-riddled White Sox team to the playoffs in 2021, the team floundered in 2022, finishing with a .500 record after starting the season among the favorites to make the World Series, and leading to La Russa's ouster. First-time manager Pedro Grifol hasn't been able to right the ship, seeing the team suffer a 10-game losing streak in April, as they limped to an 8-21 record by the end of April, and have never recovered.
The team has had little postseason success since the 2005 World Series win, making only three playoff appearances since then - in 2008, 2020, and 2021 - with no series wins.
The World Series is obviously a gigantic deal and Williams -- and to a lesser extent, Hahn -- deserves a lot of credit for that. Still, we're nearing 20 years since then and the bottom line is the White Sox haven't been a very successful baseball franchise for a while. Since that World Series title, the White Sox have only made the playoffs in 2008, 2020 and 2021. They didn't advance a round in any of those years, either, losing three games to one in the ALDS twice and two games to one in the 2020 Wild Card Series.
Meanwhile, this will very likely be the seventh time in the last 11 seasons that they've finished in either fourth or fifth place in the AL Central. Since the 2005 World Series, they've had a winning record just six times. Since 2012, they are 834-970, which ranks 26th in the majors.
In the market of Chicago, that just isn't even close to acceptable and Reinsdorf pointed out the results-oriented nature of Major League Baseball. Though it personally might have been a very tough decision for Reinsdorf, from a baseball perspective, this was a move that needed to happen for the betterment of the White Sox.
"Ultimately, the well-worn cliche that professional sports is results-oriented is correct," Reinsdorf said. "While we have enjoyed successes as an organization and were optimistic heading into the competitive window of this rebuild, this year has proven to be very disappointing for us all on many levels. This has led me to the conclusion that the best decision for the organization moving forward is to make a change in our baseball department leadership."
The announcement came less than 90 minutes before the White Sox took on the Mariners at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Fans needed something to clear their throats as word spread about the big changes in the front office.
"Is this April Fool's in August?" Chris Brown asked.
Fellow fan Dave Goldenberg said sometimes change is necessary, but added, "I'm more worried about that news from yesterday they might move down to Florida."
The firings came on the heels of a Crain's Chicago Business report that Reinsdorf could be looking to move the team out of Guaranteed Rate Field when the team's lease expires in six years, or to sell the team outright.
For some Sox fans, the firings offered new optimism for the team's future.
"We want a return to the winning ways of back in the day, right? How long is that going to take?" Sach Diwan said. "Hopefully it'll be a shakeup, but will it be good shakeup, bad shakeup? Hopefully … I don't know."
The White Sox said they will begin searching for a single person to lead the team's baseball operations going forward, and hope to have that person in place by the end of the season.
A possible internal candidate could be assistant general manager Chris Getz, although it's likely they'll explore external options given how the Williams-Hahn tenure has gone.