TORONTO – Ken Williams has seen what everyone else has seen. A 7-16 team, owning the third worst record on baseball through Monday.
“You have to know I’m not in a good place right now,” the Sox’ executive vice president told the Sun-Times Tuesday. “I’d be lying if I said I weren’t concerned.”
The Sox took a five-game losing streak and baseball’s third-worst record into their game against the Blue Jays Tuesday. Williams believes in the talent he and general manager Rick Hahn have assembled but would have a clearer picture of where it stacks up if Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada, Liam Hendriks and Garrett Crochet were not in the injured list. It’s “frustrating” that he can’t.
“But this is where we are,” he said, speaking by phone from his office in Chicago. “And I’m not so pleasant to be around right now, but you try to gain perspective. We have [139] games and five and a half months left to make up six games [behind AL Central leader Minnesota]. If we are who we think we are we’ll look back on this as a good test of character and drive.”
If the Sox aren’t who they thought they were – a team with the expectation of still winning the division, Williams said – “then changes have to be made, it’s as simple as that.”
“It’s professional sports,” he said. “There’s no way around it and that’s whether it’s in the clubhouse or here with us in the front office.”
Williams and general manager Rick Hahn embarked on a rebuild in 2016 that produced a Wild Card berth under manager Rick Renteria in 2020 and a division title under Tony La Russa in 2021 and no success in the postseason. An injury plagued 2022 resulted in a .500 finish. Since July 21, 2021, the Sox are 122-130.
“It’s really time to put our best foot forward here,” Williams said.
And if they don’t? Williams said he wasn’t putting Hahn or anyone else in the front office on notice by saying changes would have to be made if the Sox don’t win.
“No, that’s ultimately ownership call,” Williams said. “I’m talking about the realities of sports. When you do not accomplish the goal at hand, and you’ve been given the opportunities we’ve been fortunate to be given to try to rebuild this thing, to tear it down and rebuild it — and we were on the right track and right now the train is off the rails a little bit — it would be naïve of me to think if things don’t correct themselves that we wouldn’t be looked at as well. As it should be.
“Accountability around here is not a problem.”
A change was made in the manager’s chair when Pedro Grifol replaced La Russa in the offseason. It’s been a rough first ride for a first-time manager.
“He is who we thought he would be,” Williams said. “Very steady, positive and encouraging but in a very real way. He’ll stand up and tell you when he’s dissatisfied with something, then turn the page back to positivity. The in-game moves have been solid. The handling of the pitching has been exceptional.”
Hahn became general manager 11 seasons ago when Williams was promoted to his role. With Williams as GM and Hahn assistant GM, they built a World Series champion in 2005 but only six teams with winning records since.
Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has overseen them all.
“I just described my mindset; he’s in lockstep with my mindset and the frustration level,” Williams said. “But at the same time there is a realization that there are [139] games left and we’re six games out. And the healthier we get, the more dangerous we become.
“There is a reasonable expectation for these early trends to change. It’s not guessing, it’s not hoping, it’s looking at what you have and saying this is an aberration right now and the trends will start to change.”