Chicago White Sox fans are celebrating on the south side despite being 27 games under .500 and neck deep in a failed rebuild.
87-year-old Jerry Reinsdorf, the Bulls and White Sox owner, made waves on Tuesday afternoon. He fired Ken Williams, the executive vice president, and Rick Hahn, the General Manager, just 45 minutes before the first pitch.
Williams brought a championship back to the south side of Chicago in 2005 as the GM. Hahn was under him as the assistant GM. The two were together in the front office for 23 years.
Since the White Sox won the World Series in 2005, they have had only seven winning seasons and have had the same amount of seasons finishing ten games under .500. Since 2007, the White Sox have finished at least ten games back of the AL Central lead ten times and have made the playoffs twice.
Due to terribly aging trades, Chicago’s front office will forever live in infamy. On June 4th, 2016, the White Sox were 29-27 and third in the AL Central when they traded for James Shields. The deal has come to be known as one of the worst trades of all time. The White Sox sent back one of the most electric players of this generation, Fernando Tatis Jr.
The White Sox finished the season fourth in their division and 16.5 games back of the lead. That’s when they decided to blow it up, trading their ace and one of the nastiest pitchers since Randy Johnson. The White Sox traded the (at the time) five-time All-Star Chris Sale to the blossoming Red Sox. They also moved long-time center fielder Adam Eaton to the Nationals.
In return, the White Sox got a bundle of players with immense potential. The White Sox received Yoán Moncada, Michael Kopech, Dane Dunning, and Lucas Giolito.
With all that talent and more, the extent of the ‘rebuilt’ White Sox saw two back-to-back playoff appearances. In the wonky shortened season, Chicago went 35-25 and snuck into the Wild Card. They traveled to the bubble to lose the three-game set against the Oakland Athletics.
The White Sox won 93 games the following season and topped the AL Central. They bypassed the Wild Card just to lose the five-game set against the Houston Astros 3-1.
The White Sox are 27 games under .500 and have resold at this year’s trade deadline, digging themselves deeper into the rebuild. But with this new overhaul in the front office, Chicago could become a big buyer during the Winter Meetings in December.
