Sox conducting internal interviews to see if dramatic changes are needed

[Timmy U]

Here’s my interview: “Your major league team is 26 games under, your AAA team is 33 games under, and your AA team is 31 games under. That’s 90 total games under. What do you think?”

[CWSpalehoseCWS]

6 hours ago, reiks12 said:

This is PR. It is coming from Bob who gets his orders from Jerry himself. Its going to calm the fanbase, another 'carrot on the stick' approach by Jerry. Get everyone thinking change is coming when it most certainly is not. 

We have a winner. Nothing will change until Jerry is dead. This is a big ol fugazi attempt to give the illusion that change is coming.

[caulfield12]

Knowing the Sox, they'll probably use it to uproot anyone who is honest enough to question the ruling cabal...in Keynan Middleton whistleblower fashion.

[Highland]

If there is any serious evaluation and interview process, it should be done by someone outside the organization. Someone who can look at things with an objective eye. In addition, this should have been done a long, long time ago, like at the end of 2011.

[Stinky Stanky]

4 hours ago, JoshPR said:

Just proof he hasn't been paying attention for a while... Sad

That would mean that he's the cause of everything but not responsible for anything.  Now I get it.

[JTB]

43 minutes ago, Highland said:

If there is any serious evaluation and interview process, it should be done by someone outside the organization. Someone who can look at things with an objective eye. In addition, this should have been done a long, long time ago, like at the end of 2011.

Peter is Hahn.  Lumburg is KW.  
edit:  I’m not sure who The Bobs are 

Edited August 20, 2023 by JTB

[Boopa1219]

If this is genuine…

I applaud that JR is doing something to fix the problem but why is he leading this process? It would be better if he had hired an independent party to conduct this process. People will be afraid to be candid when they’re talking JR because he’s the owner.

If JR was smart, he would formed an independent committee (like the Bears did) to review the entire org and the performance of the FO. 

[tray]

JR is looking to buy time to interview a replacement for Hahn. Any new GM will likely want to hire a new Manager and coaching staff. JR needs someone on the level of Theo Epstein in order to replace both KW and Hahn at this point. This has to be a painful moment for JR. He got burned by these guys who as it turned out talked a good game but in the end, only dragged down what JR had built. The White Sox should be a perennial contender and make it to the play-offs more often than not. Instead, KW and Hahn presided over a s%*# show that made Jerry's White Sox a laughing stock. I am sure he has seen enough of it.

[South Side Hit Men]

1 hour ago, Stinky Stanky said:

That would mean that he's the cause of everything but not responsible for anything.  Now I get it.

Yes, just like his pal Rocky Wirtz.

[Sarava]

10 minutes ago, tray said:

JR is looking to buy time to interview a replacement for Hahn. Any new GM will likely want to hire a new Manager and coaching staff. JR needs someone on the level of Theo Epstein in order to replace both KW and Hahn at this point. This has to be a painful moment for JR. He got burned by these guys who as it turned out talked a good game but in the end, only dragged down what JR had built. The White Sox should be a perennial contender and make it to the play-offs more often than not. Instead, KW and Hahn presided over a s%*# show that made Jerry's White Sox a laughing stock. I am sure he has seen enough of it.

It's not just the manager and coaching staff. It's the scouting, analytics, drafting, development, international spending (beyond Luis Robert Jr.), etc. If Jerry is unwilling to spend in a serious way on the infrastructure of this organization, the new guys that replace Hahn or KW will meet similar failures.

They will never get a Theo Epstein to come here and work with one hand tied behind his back.

Edited August 21, 2023 by Sarava

[Boopa1219]

21 minutes ago, tray said:

JR is looking to buy time to interview a replacement for Hahn. Any new GM will likely want to hire a new Manager and coaching staff. JR needs someone on the level of Theo Epstein in order to replace both KW and Hahn at this point. This has to be a painful moment for JR. He got burned by these guys who as it turned out talked a good game but in the end, only dragged down what JR had built. The White Sox should be a perennial contender and make it to the play-offs more often than not. Instead, KW and Hahn presided over a s%*# show that made Jerry's White Sox a laughing stock. I am sure he has seen enough of it.

Yeah, they totally need to hired a President of Baseball Ops and let that person hire their own GM and manager 

[Bob Sacamano]

9 hours ago, reiks12 said:

This is PR. It is coming from Bob who gets his orders from Jerry himself. Its going to calm the fanbase, another 'carrot on the stick' approach by Jerry. Get everyone thinking change is coming when it most certainly is not. 

This. Maybe a base coach or hitting coach gets fired max.

Edited August 21, 2023 by Bob Sacamano

[South Side Hit Men]

@Dick Allensaid down payments will be charged to people who spread their season tickets out over multiple monthly payments. Need to sell something to stem the tide of cancellations.

Too bad they didn't dump Hahn before the deadline, keep Pedro through year end unless the new GM had someone in mind and available to bring in now.

Primary comfort is the fact Kenny said he isn't extending after his deal (likely through 2024 like Hahn's reported deal), so he can be an "advisor" like Paxson is now during the final year and let others run the show.

Will be interesting to see who they bring in from the outside. Hopeful it is a good hire and process, will wait to see how it plays out and hope for the best. They have time to do things right and have a new FO in place by November, get back to contention in 2026 with their current prospects plus acquisitions over the next two years.

[caulfield12]

3 minutes ago, South Side Hit Men said:

@Dick Allensaid down payments will be charged to people who spread their season tickets out over multiple monthly payments. Need to sell something to stem the tide of cancellations.

Too bad they didn't dump Hahn before the deadline, keep Pedro through year end unless the new GM had someone in mind and available to bring in now.

Primary comfort is the fact Kenny said he isn't extending after his deal (likely through 2024 like Hahn's reported deal), so he can be an "advisor" like Paxson is now during the final year and let others run the show.

Will be interesting to see who they bring in from the outside. Hopeful it is a good hire and process, will wait to see how it plays out and hope for the best. They have time to do things right and have a new FO in place by November, get back to contention in 2026 with their current prospects plus acquisitions over the next two years.

Deciding what to do with Robert and Cease are the primary considerations at this point.

Hard to be optimistic when the Twins made one of the worst FA moves in recent memory (Carlos Correa) and they're still likely to end up in first place.

Hard to be optimistic when the Guardians have hung in there for most of the season down 2-3 of their best/veteran pitchers (and traded Civale ostensibly for a 2024 piece)...yet they still have one of the top-rated farm systems and almost everything has gone wrong with their bullpen and "clutch hitting" that possibly could compared to 2022.

And even the Tigers are on an upward track...heck, Witt Jr. has looked like one of the best young players in baseball in KC, their equivalent of Luis Robert, Jr.

 

 

(At any rate, hat's the sign of a really strong organization...look at how many first rounders the 49ers have lost, mostly due to the Lance acquisition, and they've still managed to work around all those hits to their potential talent pool.  In the same way, the Twins' minor league system has covered for the falloff from Correa, especially on the pitching side.)

[South Side Hit Men]

13 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Deciding what to do with Robert and Cease are the primary considerations at this point.

Hard to be optimistic when the Twins made one of the worst FA moves in recent memory (Carlos Correa) and they're still likely to end up in first place.

Hard to be optimistic when the Guardians have hung in there for most of the season down 2-3 of their best/veteran pitchers (and traded Civale ostensibly for a 2024 piece)...yet they still have one of the top-rated farm systems and almost everything has gone wrong with their bullpen and "clutch hitting" that possibly could compared to 2022.

And even the Tigers are on an upward track...heck, Witt Jr. has looked like one of the best young players in baseball in KC, their equivalent of Luis Robert, Jr.

(At any rate, hat's the sign of a really strong organization...look at how many first rounders the 49ers have lost, mostly due to the Lance acquisition, and they've still managed to work around all those hits to their potential talent pool.  In the same way, the Twins' minor league system has covered for the falloff from Correa, especially on the pitching side.)

I want a quality guy in there in November, so they have a proper game plan for the offseason and spring training. Have time to review everything they have and determine who is an asset going forward and who should be moved.

The Sox don't have someone who can do that now. It goes beyond Robert and Cease. And I understand the Burger angst, because the new person (if Ng is a candidate for EVP) should have made the call on him as well. The others were FAs.

The Dodgers are the only team playing well since the deadline among Sox trade partners, and they have benefited from a soft August schedule (Oakland, Padres, Colorado) and home series vs. Milwaukee and Miami. Joe Kelly only has 11 outs with them before hitting the IL. Lance Lynn has wins against Oakland, Colorado and San Diego.

August Records

• Los Angeles Dodgers (Joe Kelly and Lance Lynn) 17-2
• Houston Astros (Kendall Graveman) 10-8
• Miami Marlins (Jake Burger) 7-11
• Los Angeles Angels (Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez) 5-13
• New York Yankees (Keynan "Loose Lips" Middleton) 5-13

Edited August 21, 2023 by South Side Hit Men

[Texsox]

Yawn. It's a good time for Kenny to take a well deserved retirement. Thank you for 2005.

Hahn needs to be promoted. Nice job fooling Vegas and most baseball analysts for a couple years. Then stay in your office reorganizing paperweights and watching your investments. 

Hire someone with a nice resume for GM. It really won't change anything, it will be the same make the playoffs once every ten or fifteen years organization, but with a new shinier smile. 

New guy promises to get Pedro the players he needs blah blah blah

 

 

[Quin]

7 hours ago, Swingandalongonetoleft said:

First thing I thought of when I read about this was The Gathering of the Ents from Lord of the Rings. 

 

7 hours ago, wegner said:

Wait, was this rebuild on Old Entish Time? Maybe we have been overly harsh to consider results so soon??

 

7 hours ago, RTC said:

After four days: “weeeeeeee have just agreeeed, that we won’t win the 2023 World Series …..”

I just really want to highlight this fantastic strong of comments.

[GreenSox]

They are interviewing the very people who should be out of a job, to find out whether they should be out of a job.

We already know that Hahn thinks he's the right man for the job, via his continued presence:  "If it ever got to the point where I felt that I wasn’t the right person in my role, I’d step aside.”  Hahn from post season 2022 press conference."  He's still here, 

 A normal organization might bring in some outsiders to evaluate things.

This is so bizarre. 

[Tnetennba]

Ok ok, so this is Bob, so it means they want this out there.  Is this just a token piece of red meat for the fan base?  Because the mind boggles if this is earnest statement. 

The White Sox are doing an internal review.  The most closed minded insular org around is talking to themselves about whether change is needed.  I mean, holy f***. 

[caulfield12]

1 minute ago, Tnetennba said:

Ok ok, so this is Bob, so it means they want this out there.  Is this just a token piece of red meat for the fan base?  Because the mind boggles if this is earnest statement. 

The White Sox are doing an internal review.  The most closed minded insular org around is talking to themselves about whether change is needed.  I mean, holy f***. 

A bit like the Vatican undertaking the same series of internal measures over the last 10-15 years...policing themselves.

[Rey21]

Fully expecting Buddy Bell to return or Jerry is seeking advice from Bell, he’s involved somehow  

Edited August 21, 2023 by Rey21

[Balta1701]

The independent consultant’s report.

Numerous issues were identified throughout the organization where they do not meet the standards of best practices for either businesses in general or for baseball specifically. Major themes are outlined below.

At the ownership level:

• Quality ownership in sports trends to bring in people based on previous success and evaluate bases on results. This does not happen in Chicago.
• Ownership interferes inappropriately with baseball operations, including but not limited to the choices of players, coaches, and managers.
• Ownership imposes restrictions on management that hurt the teams performance beyond financial limitations. Important mechanisms for improvement such as the international market and player development are neglected because ownership has decided arbitrarily that they have other priorities.
• Ownership has an unhealthy focus on short term profits at the expense of organization stability and growth. Opportunities to grown the business are ignored if they cost money.
• Ownership has developed an unhealthy insularity and allowed a “yes men” culture to flourish. No criticism is allowed from inside the organization, and voices from outside the organization with alternate opinions are ignored as though they are personal attacks regardless of their experience. This relates to ownerships interference in the team operation as criticism of those decisions is justifiable, but ownership treats that criticism as personal attacks rather than opinions about operations.
• Ownership has failed to maintain a professional attitude with management and are too familiar with them to enable evaluations and accountability. This affects all levels of the business.

At the management level:

• Management has underperformed the market by any objective measurement. This has damaged the business long term and wasted huge financial resources.
• Management is key to the “yes men” culture and takes full advantage of it. Statements that need to be made to ownership are not made if they would make ownership feel bad, so important facts are treated as though they do not exist so as to avoid upsetting ownership. 
• Hiring and promotions are most commonly made based on support for management rather than quality. Family members and friends are commonly employed and promoted. This creates an environment where accountability is rare as people are judged for long term loyalty and praise for management rather than accomplishments. Employees who could develop their careers based on their skills leave for employers who will evaluate them fairly. This also eliminates any way ownership could receive an independent review of management strategy and performance.
• Management has become insular and opposed to any new concepts in the business. Choices made by competitors are judged as the wrong way to do things because they are different, rather than evaluated based on their performance. 
• A lack of professionalism is tolerated at all levels.

At lower levels:

• Cliques are tolerated and encouraged. This has led to a culture of groupthink.
• The organization is dramatically understaffed. Overwork is rampant, leading to mistakes that could be easily caught. This is negatively affecting customer experience.
• The understaffing is affecting baseball performance as other teams are more successful at baseball aspects such as player development and performance. This is also raising costs as well - short term cost cutting in this part of the business is failing to produce lower overall costs.
• The staff is generally underpaid, this has led to abnormally high levels of turnover and the loss of high performing employees. This has also produced a negative customer experience.

Full detailed report will be made available when the $125,000 consulting fee is paid in full. 

[BamaDoc]

 

23 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

 

Full detailed report will be made available when the $125,000 consulting fee is paid in full. 

Balta agree with the review.  You think Jerry is spending money on a report?

[Balta1701]

4 minutes ago, BamaDoc said:

 

Balta agree with the review.  You think Jerry is spending money on a report?

I will write the rest with detailed examples and market surveys if actually paid to do so. Wouldn’t take that long tbh.

[Eminor3rd]

lol