It has been an afternoon full of information from the fallout after Jerry Reinsdorf fired Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams yesterday. Today, we received updates on Hahn and Williams’ dynamic when it came to trades, the Chris Getz rumors, and some stories about Rick Hahn trying to resign before he was fired.
This and much more below.
Report: Rick Hahn tried to resign “multiple times” before being fired
David Kaplan reported on ESPN 1000 this morning that Rick Hahn tried to resign several times in the past – the first time once Tony La Russa was hired. However, Jerry Reinsdorf told him that if he were to do so, he would not let Hahn take another job with a different team, as Hahn still had several years left on his contract.
Here is part of Kapman’s quote:
“…Rick tried to resign multiple times, the Tony La Russa hiring being the first… And Jerry said, ‘Well you have multiple years left on your deal. I’m going to hold you to the contract. If you don’t want to work, that’s fine, but you can’t take a job with another team.'”
– David Kaplan (via ESPN 1000)
More questions arise after such a baffling statement: What was Reinsdorf’s rationale for such an action? How many other times might Hahn have tried to step down? After such big news yesterday, it will be fascinating to see what other stories come out of the Hahn/Williams era.
Report: Chris Getz would be the “single decision maker” if promoted
In yesterday’s press release on the firing of Hahn and Williams, hiring a “single decision maker” was highlighted by most Sox fans. Today on 670 The Score, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Chris Getz would be considered that “single decision maker” if the White Sox decided to promote him. Dayton Moore would come in as an assistant to Getz, with whom he has a “father/son relationship,” according to Nightengale.
Here is more from Nightengale’s time on 670 The Score today:
“It would definitely be Getz… The Moore component is simply because of Getz… Dayton Moore would actually be working for Chris Getz.”
– Bob Nightengale (via 670 The Score)
Things seem as though they could be moving quicker than just “end of the season” – especially with how much Reinsdorf likes Getz and advisor/consultant Tony La Russa like Dayton Moore. It would create an interesting power dynamic between the two, especially as Moore has 16+ years of experience in a role similar to the one Getz would be taking on for the first time in his career.
Getz worked in the front office for the Royals under Moore in 2015-2016 and also played for him during Getz’s short stint in Kansas City.
Report: Kenny Williams had the power to make trades without Rick Hahn’s approval
For a while now, people have speculated about just how much or little power Rick Hahn had in his own role. This was further emphasized by Ryan McGuffey and Chuck Garfien on the White Sox Talk podcast last night when the two explicitly said the following:
- Kenny Williams had the power to trade with two teams: the Yankees and Marlins
- The Jake Burger/Jake Eder trade was completely Kenny Williams’ idea; Rick Hahn did not want to trade Burger
Bob Nightengale took this a step further today, stating the following:
“A lot of times, it was Rick Hahn making the deals and Kenny Williams either rubber-stamping or vetoing… Obviously, Kenny was always in charge… Kenny Williams could actually make deals without ever telling Rick Hahn or at least having him approve, whereas Rick Hahn couldn’t make a deal without going through Kenny Williams.”
– Bob Nightengale (via 670 The Score)
The last line of that quote from Nightengale is absolutely mind-boggling and speaks to the incredible levels of dysfunction that were taking place within the organization.
Grifol meeting with La Russa, Reinsdorf on Wednesday Night
In this morning’s article on the White Sox’s situation, Bob Nightengale mentioned that Tony La Russa was back and working with Jerry Reinsdorf through this time period. Part of that work, apparently, involves sitting in on a conversation this evening between himself, Pedro Grifol, and Jerry Reinsdorf on the state of the team.
Nightengale explained further:
“Grifol is scheduled to meet Wednesday night with Reinsdorf and Tony La Russa, who is back working as a White Sox consultant. La Russa resigned as manager after last season to deal with lengthy cancer treatments, but has been medically cleared to work again, and recently scouted the White Sox’s minor-league system. Grifol is expected to be asked what went wrong this year, how does he plan to fix it, and what personnel changes are needed.”
However, on his appearance on 670 The Score this afternoon, Nightengale called this nothing more than a “dinner meeting” to get Grifol’s thoughts on personnel and what has gone wrong – it’s not expected to have a substantial impact on his future for next season and beyond. But, the fallout from the conversation will certainly be something to keep an eye out for.
Report: Mike Rizzo could be a candidate for White Sox’ “decision maker”
Let’s just say, for a moment, that the White Sox haven’t actually decided on Chris Getz to lead the White Sox’ front office moving forward. Could Mike Rizzo of the Nationals be a fit?
According to Bruce Levine of 670 The Score, Washington’s President of Baseball Operations would make sense for the role, given his connections to the team and Jerry Reinsdorf.
Here’s a quote from Levine’s article on the topic today:
“Rizzo has many ties to Chicago and the White Sox. He grew up in the city in a baseball family, as his father, Phil, was a baseball scout for more than 50 years for the Angels, White Sox, Brewers, Diamondbacks and Nationals.”
“Mike began his professional career as a White Sox scout, working under then-general manager Larry Himes, who drafted Rizzo to the Angels in 1982. Rizzo caught the attention of many in the baseball industry when he scouted and signed future Hall of Fame slugger Frank Thomas, whom the White Sox drafted in the first round in 1989. He later had a successful stint as the Diamondbacks’ scouting director from 2000-’06 before joining the Nationals.”
“Rizzo and his family have always had a good relationship with White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, going back 40 years. Rizzo’s contract with the Nationals is set to expire Oct. 31.”
If Chris Getz truly isn’t the guy just yet, then this could be something to watch for.
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“More questions arise after such a baffling statement: What was Reinsdorf’s rationale for such an action?”
Serriously??? The rationale is that Jerry thought Hahn was talented and didn’t want that talent to go elsewhere, so he leveraged his contract against him. Jerrry let Dave Dombroski and Tony LaRussa go and regretted it.
George Halas did the same thing to George Allen.
You have a talented guy under contract and you refuse to let him go. That seems way too obvious. The problem here is that Hahn’s brilliance didn’t show up in the results.
Kenny being gone is a step in the right direction. The litany of poor decisions in his wake is indefensible. The Burger trade as the most recent example of Kenny calling his “friends” and getting a “deal”. Eder will be another bust while Burger will become a 35 homer a year 3rd basemen for Miami. Reality is Kenny had Jerry convinced he was smarter than anyone, could see things others could not, and was Rick’s adult supervision. It will take 5 years to flush his legacy out of the system. Jerry is 30 years older than me so the next milestone for me as a Sox fan is his exit and hopefully we get an ownership group similar to the Braves or Dodgers.