To paraphrase former Chicago White Sox announcer Ken "Hawk" Harrleson, "They gone!"
The team has announced that executive vice president Kenny Williams and senior vice president/general manager Rick Hahn have been let go by the team as the White Sox find themselves 28 games under .500.
Following a disappointing season in 2022 in which the team finished 81-81, the White Sox have been even worse this season as they are well out of the playoff hunt.
Being on the outside looking in on the playoffs is nothing unusual for the White Sox during Williams' and Hahn's tenures.
They have posted winning records only six times since winning the World Series back in 2005 and have posted an amazingly poor 834-970 mark going back to 2012 which ranks 26th in all of baseball.
That collective cheer you hear belongs to White Sox fans who have been calling for Williams and Hahn to be fired for a while.
The Chicago White Sox are finally free of Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams.
Despite the team achieving back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in club history between 2020 and 2021, the team has floundered under their tenure.
What has happened this season so far left owner Jerry Reinsdorf with no other choice than to find a new voice to turn things around.
Now comes the interesting part as the team will look to fill both of those voids. According to reports, the team will be looking for one person to oversee baseball operations and hope to have that person in place by the end of the season.
Who that voice may be is now the question of the day.
According to Bob Nightengale, should the White Sox go with someone from inside the organization, assistant general manager/player development Chris Getz would be the guy to take over:
If the Chicago #WhiteSox stay internal for a GM, Chris Getz is a leading candidate.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 22, 2023
That news might not excite a fan base who would likely view the hire of Getz as being as much as things change, they just remain the same. Real change would come in the hiring of someone without any connection to the team who has experience in putting together a winning organization.
The rebuild of the ballclub looked promising a few years back when Williams and Hahn made moves to bring in a young core of players such as Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Dylan Cease, and Eloy Jimenez.
Many in baseball viewed those deals as being very favorable to the White Sox who would develop that talent and mold the club into a consistent winning franchise.
However, that has not been the case as injuries and overall poor play have led the team to be on pace to finish either fourth or fifth in the American League Central Division for the seventh time in the last 11 years.
What's worse is that player development-of which Getz is involved-has been an issue as well. The White Sox have not gotten players like Moncada, Kopech, and Jimenez (players viewed as having major star qualities when acquire)to reach their potential.
Under the Williams/Hahn regime, the farm system has not been highly rated over the years. Bringing the farm system up to a level that churns out good talent should be high on the priority list for whoever takes over.
There is a lot to fix in the White Sox organization and the responsibilities will be great for the person Reinsdorf chooses to run the team. How quickly that person can adapt and make positive change remains to be seen.
The hope is the moves made today bring about the change necessary to become a championship organization.