Idle speculation ~ Kenny Williams' Sox Future

[Texsox]

I was just thinking, what is K-Dubs next position in baseball? With the Sox? Moving to a bigger stage? He's about at the point where his personal value is probably peaked or slightly down from a few years ago. But he has proven he can GM a team to a WS win, then keep them around the top for years after. He is doing it with a larger payroll than most, but still has a knack for pulling guys off the scrap pile.

 

And to think not that long ago, I, and others, wanted his head.

[Jordan4life_2007]

I was just thinking, what is K-Dubs next position in baseball? With the Sox? Moving to a bigger stage? He's about at the point where his personal value is probably peaked or slightly down from a few years ago. But he has proven he can GM a team to a WS win, then keep them around the top for years after. He is doing it with a larger payroll than most, but still has a knack for pulling guys off the scrap pile.

 

And to think not that long ago, I, and others, wanted his head.

 

We've missed the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years ( two of those years being sub .500). And thank god that kid called heads (I think it was heads) when determining who would get homefield in the event of a tiebreaker game (I think it's safe to assume we get slaughtered if we have to play the tiebreaker game in Minny). I give Kenny all the credit in the world for putting the '05 team together. And I think he's a good GM. But I wouldn't say he's kept us around the top.

[southsider2k5]

Psst, its Kenny Williams's

[Texsox]

Psst, its Kenny Williams's

 

Thank you. However, what do you think? Will he be here in three years?

[southsider2k5]

Thank you. However, what do you think? Will he be here in three years?

 

Unless we have two to three bad years, with no good years mixed in, I think he will be here for 10 years. Ozzie will be gone before Kenny. He is a much easier target.

[southsider2k5]

We've missed the playoffs 3 of the last 4 years ( two of those years being sub .500). And thank god that kid called heads (I think it was heads) when determining who would get homefield in the event of a tiebreaker game (I think it's safe to assume we get slaughtered if we have to play the tiebreaker game in Minny). I give Kenny all the credit in the world for putting the '05 team together. And I think he's a good GM. But I wouldn't say he's kept us around the top.

 

It was Rick Hahn's young son.

[Texsox]

Unless we have two to three bad years, with no good years mixed in, I think he will be here for 10 years. Ozzie will be gone before Kenny. He is a much easier target.

 

I could also see him on either coast. The path is murky, but NY or LA could come calling. Perhaps a team Pres. He doesn't strike me as someone who will be happy in the same job for 20 years.

[chw42]

Honestly, are you questioning the man who got Jake Peavy without cleaning the farm and Alex Rios for free?

 

How dare you!

[IamPabloOzuna]

Psst, its Kenny Williams's

 

 

Psst...Williams' is fine as is. When indicating singular possession for words ending in "s," a single apostrophe is fine. Adding the additional "s" as you noted is also acceptable but not absolutely necessary.

Edited November 26, 2009 by IamPabloOzuna

[Texsox]

Psst...Williams' is fine as is.

 

I changed it, it was wrong. SS was correct before I added "sox" to the title.

[Texsox]

Honestly, are you questioning the man who got Jake Peavy without cleaning the farm and Alex Rios for free?

 

How dare you!

 

just the opposite, promoted to ????

[sircaffey]

I could also see him on either coast. The path is murky, but NY or LA could come calling. Perhaps a team Pres. He doesn't strike me as someone who will be happy in the same job for 20 years.

He won't be a team President. He's a baseball man making baseball decisions. He doesn't strike me as someone wanting to put up with the non-baseball decisions, nor do I think he would be a great candidate for such a position (Hahn, on the other hand, with a law degree from Harvard and a MBA from Northwestern, would be a fantastic candidate). When he's done being a GM, he'll get a cushy special assistant position.

[southsider2k5]

I could also see him on either coast. The path is murky, but NY or LA could come calling. Perhaps a team Pres. He doesn't strike me as someone who will be happy in the same job for 20 years.

 

I don't see Kenny leaving the Sox. There is just something that burns inside of him for our team. I could see him promoted to a President position with Rick Hahn taking over as GM to keep them both together. That is the only way I don't see Kenny as our GM for the forseeable future.

[Kyyle23]

JR put up with many mediocre years out of Schueler and never canned him, Schueler left on his own terms. I think KW will do the same thing unless something extremely out of character and dramatic happens with him. JR loves the people around him, and they feel the same way about him.

[scenario]

Reinsdorf isn't going to be around forever.

 

And given the way JR operates (building traditions, rewarding loyalty, etc.), I picture him putting together a succession plan that includes elevating KW to some level of ownership.

 

Which means Kenny could be around for a long long time.

 

 

 

[greg775]

Things can change quickly.

For instance if Oz wants to stay here, he might make sure his team appears to be playing with passion this year. I know that's very subjective, but we do often seem like dead men walking.

I guess what I'm saying is we better win more if Oz wants to stay here.

We keep hearing about all the talent we have and our team has pretty much been blah the past year and a half.

 

Same with KW. Nobody will last forever if they aren't competing for championships.

I like them both, however, but Al Davis' saying is the best ever. You are never safe unless you just win.

Edited November 26, 2009 by greg775

[caulfield12]

Williams' job is more secure than Guillen's, of course, but the Peavy and Rios acquisitions were his riskiest yet, since the Todd Ritchie and David Wells moves in 2001/2002.

 

Both have the potential to pay off big, and both could be seen as huge albatrosses, but would have to be considered legit risks (based on cost/benefit analysis at the time of those moves).

 

As someone said earlier, those pesky Twins have made KW look silly consistently winning with lower payrolls and a much better farm system, not to mention teams that simply don't beat themselves very often. For that matter, Dombrowski has looked bad, too. Then again, the White Sox and Tigers both went to the World Series, and the Twins have now lost 10+ playoff games in a row.

 

But you really would be hard-pressed to argue how KW was better than Terry Ryan, except for that 2005 season. On a consistent basis, and especially taking into consideration payroll, Ryan beats him hands-down. Then again, the biggest move for that franchise was a non-move, them "lucking" into Mauer when the Cubs took Prior. Thanks to that move, they inherited the best young player in the game at the most important position. Even without Morneau, they were able to make the playoffs, and with Scott Baker as their "ace." Very impressive, although Smith has been a pretty lousy GM, comparatively.

 

It's amazing (that Hahn's son guessing right) has turned the comparison to 3 White Sox division titles versus 5 for the Twins to what just could just as easily have been an unforgiveable 6 to 2 ratio for the Twins over the White Sox (with 2002 and 2007 going to the Indians and their underachieving Shapiro/Wedge combo). Then again, that WS title in 2005 makes a lot of give both KW and Ozzie Guillen a TON of slack/rope.

 

 

[Kyyle23]

Things can change quickly.

For instance if Oz wants to stay here, he might make sure his team appears to be playing with passion this year. I know that's very subjective, but we do often seem like dead men walking.

I guess what I'm saying is we better win more if Oz wants to stay here.

We keep hearing about all the talent we have and our team has pretty much been blah the past year and a half.

 

Subjective? That doesnt make any sense at all. How do you make a team appear to be playing with passion? The team either performs or it does not. There is nothing Ozzie can do to make his players do anything while on the field, he puts them in position to succeed and once the first pitch is thrown it is up to them to perform up to their abilities.

[bmags]

Subjective? That doesnt make any sense at all. How do you make a team appear to be playing with passion? The team either performs or it does not. There is nothing Ozzie can do to make his players do anything while on the field, he puts them in position to succeed and once the first pitch is thrown it is up to them to perform up to their abilities.

 

maybe the can do cartwheels after catches.

[Kyyle23]

maybe the can do cartwheels after catches.

 

 

*fistpump*

[iamshack]

I think the key here is that Kenny loves his job.

 

Can anyone honestly imagine Kenny being able to keep his nose out of Hahn's business if Kenny was President and Hahn was GM? I think KW will always want to be the man making to moves, reshaping the roster every year, trying to add that final piece at the deadline, etc (this is where DA comes in and says "Prior to this year, he really hasn't added anyone impactful...").

 

I'm just not sure there is anything Kenny would rather be doing, so I can't really envision him moving on unless he was given the reigns to the Yankees or Red Sox or something...

 

I will say this though...if Kenny ever does go on to GM another franchise, I am going to be really hard-pressed not to be a big fan of that team...

Edited November 27, 2009 by iamshack

[ptatc]

Subjective? That doesnt make any sense at all. How do you make a team appear to be playing with passion? The team either performs or it does not. There is nothing Ozzie can do to make his players do anything while on the field, he puts them in position to succeed and once the first pitch is thrown it is up to them to perform up to their abilities.

 

I know most people on this board don't believe it but there is more to baseball than just reading numbers. It is the most difficult sport to make the playoffs. Thus GMs and owners look to see if the team continues to play in the face of adversity and slumps. Baseball more than any other sport has ups and downs with playing everyday and over a 6 month period. How the player react is a big part of evaluation as to if they aren't playing well now but have the potantial to improve later.

 

I realize many people take out the fact that these are people with emotions and mental aspects (after all 90% of the game is half mental). You can't just judge everything by the performance at this very second and need to have a larger picture of what is going on.

[WCSox]

JR put up with many mediocre years out of Schueler and never canned him, Schueler left on his own terms. I think KW will do the same thing unless something extremely out of character and dramatic happens with him. JR loves the people around him, and they feel the same way about him.

 

An at-the-time girlfriend of a friend of mine worked in the Sox front office about 10 years ago. She described Reinsdorf as "grandfatherly" and a great boss. And it showed in the way that she put in long hours for a not-whoppingly-huge salary.

 

I don't see why Kenny would want to go anywhere else any time soon (within the next 5 years). But if he does, my guess would be the Angels. He's a California guy and Arte Moreno is another outstanding owner with deep pockets and a rock-solid organization. I don't see somebody like Kenny working for the Steinbrenner trust fund babies and I don't see Theo Epstein leaving Boston any time soon. That would leave the Mets or Phillies, and both of those organizations are a step down prestige-wise from the former two.

 

[iamshack]

An at-the-time girlfriend of a friend of mine worked in the Sox front office about 10 years ago. She described Reinsdorf as "grandfatherly" and a great boss. And it showed in the way that she put in long hours for a not-whoppingly-huge salary.

 

What the heck were you thinking letting her go?

[WCSox]

Williams' job is more secure than Guillen's, of course, but the Peavy and Rios acquisitions were his riskiest yet, since the Todd Ritchie and David Wells moves in 2001/2002.

 

I don't think that the Peavy and Wells deals are comparable at all. Peavy won a Cy Young two years ago, is still in the prime of his career, and Kenny gave up very little for him. David Wells was entering the twilight of his career, was getting cortisone shots in his shoulder the previous year, was in the last year of his contract, and the guy that Kenny traded for him never pitched in the bigs again.

 

On the other hand, I agree that the Rios deal was a huge reach. This is a guy who has been trending downward for the past couple of years and was laughably bad at the plate after the trade. Rios putting up a .700 OPS for the next few years would definitely be a negative on an otherwise excellent resume.