Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn. Lucas Peltier-USA TODAY Sports

White Sox make sweeping changes to front office as rebuild fails

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 8/22/23

The Chicago White Sox announced on Tuesday evening that they have fired team vice president Kenny Williams and general manager Rick Hahn as the team stumbles through another disappointing season.

White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said it was an extremely difficult decision because both men have such long tenures with the White Sox, but concluded that professional sports is a results oriented business and that the results were simply not there.

Williams has been a part of the White Sox front office since 2000 and was the general manager who built their 2005 World Series-winning team. It was the White Sox's first championship since the 1917 season.

Hahn has worked with the White Sox since the 2002 season.

Here is the White Sox full statement on the dismissals.

pic.twitter.com/l6EBrb7j3g
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) August 22, 2023

It was just five years ago that the White Sox looked like an emerging power in the American League with a loaded prospect pool and young roster that seemed destined for great things.

But it has never really transpired.

The White Sox did end up making the playoffs twice over the past four years, but one of those playoff appearances was the shortened 2020 season with an expanded field. They followed that with a 91-win season in 2021 that would end up being the high point for this rebuild.

The past two seasons, however, have been an absolute mess. After finishing with an 81-81 mark a year ago, the White Sox are one of the worst teams in the American League this season and are on pace to lose 99 games.

Injuries and a lack of consistency from players like Eloy Jimenez, Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada and Yasmani Grandal all contributed to the disappointment. Instead of seriously competing for a World Series title, the White Sox now find themselves in a position where they need a rebuild to fix their most recent failed rebuild. Before that happens, they need to find a new general manager and executive vice president to orchestrate it all.

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