So now what?
With Ken Williams and Rick Hahn both jettisoned as executive vice president and general manager, respectively, on Tuesday, who will be in charge of the White Sox’ front office operation?
All that’s known is chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, 87, will begin a search for a single decision maker to lead the baseball operations department. He will have his guy by the end of the season.
The Sox have two assistant general managers, minor league operations and player development director Chris Getz, and Jeremy Haber, both 39. Getz is in his seventh year overseeing a farm system that hasn’t distinguished itself but is well-respected in the organization, and Haber, who plays a key role in contract negotiations and payroll management, is in his 11th year in the organization including nine as an assistant GM.
Strong sentiments around the league, as well as from some within the organization, exist for even more drastic change that would bring a completely fresh perspective from outside the organization. But it’s possible Reinsdorf aligns a setup with someone like former Royals general manager Dayton Moore as the top guy with Getz, who worked under Moore, 56, in the Royals front office, as GM in a similar setup as the Bulls’ with Arturas Karnisovas as director of operations and Marc Eversley as GM.
It’s also a possibility that manager Pedro Grifol, the Royals’ former bench coach, is given another chance in the dugout despite the Sox’ dismal performance under his leadership in the first year of a three-year contract.
“We have started implementing some stuff that we feel is going to be important for us moving forward into ‘24,” Grifol said before the surprising announcement of the firings. “Some of the stuff is different. Some of the stuff has been around but is going to be tweaked a little bit. And there’s going to be a hell of a lot more stuff that’s going to be implemented. It’s a slow process.”
On the topic of internal and player evaluations, Grifol said he has looked at himself in the mirror.
“One hundred percent, I look at myself,” Grifol said. “But I’ve done that since the very beginning. I ask people around me. I’m not afraid to listen to people who tell me that I could’ve thought about this another way. I’m not afraid of that. I’m not afraid of being evaluated and people sharing with me different ways of doing this. That’s my DNA. That’s how I’m wired. I’m always going to be that way. But make no mistake about it, everybody here is getting evaluated.”
This and that
Williams and Hahn, who were not available to talk after they were fired, were both seen on the field and in the clubhouse before Tuesday’s game.
*Mike Clevinger, who entered with a 1.83 ERA over his last eight starts, allowed four runs in five innings, walking four and allowing six hits including a homer by Josh Rojas.
*The Sox were trying to avoid their eighth loss in the last 10 games.
Tim Anderson returns from his five-game suspension Wednesday for his involvement in a benches clearing brawl in Cleveland Aug. 6.