All eyes will be on the White Sox front office this offseason. With the current make up, can Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams turn this team around?
The Chicago White Sox are on the verge of a fourth-straight losing season and haven’t made the playoffs since 2012. With lots of improvement needed it will be important for everyone to be on the same page. The first order of business, Jerry Reinsdorf needs to have a sit down with GM Rick Hahn and Executive VP Kenny Williams.
I imagine this meeting happening right after the season ends. Maybe a week after their final game. I see Reinsdorf summoning both Hahn and Williams to his office and saying one thing. What do we need to do to fix this?
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First and foremost, they need to decide whose team this really is. Is this Hahn’s team or is this Williams’ team? The whole structure of the front office is not confusing but no one knows who has the final say over baseball operations.
Hahn wanted to start from scratch and Williams wanted to stand pat. Reinsdorf sided with Williams and the only move made was to trade Zach Duke. As owner, Reinsdorf will always have say in the direction of the team, but he has two guys who are not on the same page, trying to run this team.
The biggest thing that needs be addressed is what exactly is the hierarchy within this front office. If Hahn is going to be the GM then he needs to be able to act as one. Clearly Hahn really has no say in how to run his team. He constantly has to seek approval and get the blessing of Williams to do his job. It is almost like Williams is running the show from behind the scenes.
If this team is going to be good, then that needs to change immediately. Last time I checked, Williams was executive vice president, whatever that means. Nowhere in his title does it say the words ‘baseball operations.’ If that was the intention, then he needs to be named executive vice president of baseball operations, not just act like one because he feels like it.
Just a title and no definition allows him to meddle in team affairs while undermining his GM. Hahn’s job then becomes a lot more difficult because he isn’t the one calling the shots. If he wants to run the day-to-day operations of the team then he should have remained GM.
Honestly, there is no reason they cannot be successful and work together, but they need to be on the same page. We see plenty of organizations, including the one on the North Side, where it’s working like a charm.
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Hahn and Williams need to work together, not against each other. If they can figure out a way to get on the same page, then they can start making progress. Once Hahn and Williams understand they can work together, the White Sox can start the process of building a championship caliber team. Until then, expect more of the same mediocre baseball.