A Serious Review of Rick Hahn’s 8 Years As White Sox GM

It’s time to take a serious look at the job Rick Hahn has done in 8 years.

Rick Hahn has had a mixed record as Chicago White Sox general manager. That is not in question. But how much of it is his own doing and how much of it is owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s “Reinsdorfing“.

I want to start off by being honest with my readers.

I, like Rick Hahn, attended New Trier High School.

Okay, obviously, we don’t know each other. He graduated when I was little. But when I heard that the general manager of the Chicago White Sox and I shared a connection a la Six Degrees with Kevin Bacon, I was excited (Also, New Trier is Cubs territory. Like REALLY big Cubs territory).

Granted, NT is a big school with a lot of alum, but I still get excited hearing about famous Trevians like Raine Wilson and Joe Trohman (whom I also have a six-degree connection to, but that’s not the point). Heck, I loved seeing fellow Trevian Charlie Tilson playing for the Sox, although Tommy Wingels was the fellow Trevian I was most excited to see on a Chicago team when he joined the Blackhawks because I was friends with him at NT.

Point is, I may be biased to defend Hahn because we share an alma mater.

But putting my bias aside… what has Rick Hahn done to merit his job? It’s an honest question. The obvious answer is because “Jerry likes him”, but that’s not the point.

Hahn has been with the White Sox since 2002 and became general manager in 2013 after Kenny Williams was kicked up stairs.

The rebuild was clearly Hahn’s idea. Everyone had seen how the Cubs’ teardown brought them their first World Series since 1908, and Hahn wanted to replicate it as best he could. Also, he said the now-famous “mired in mediocrity”. Hahn set about removing key pieces, starting with trading Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox for Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech. He kept adding pieces; Andrew Vaughn, Luis Robert, Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito, and Eloy Jimenez, while keeping Tim Anderson, Carlos Rodon, and Jose Abreu.

The White Sox were young and exciting (remember that?) and in a pandemic-shortened 2020 season, went to the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

After that 2020 season, Hahn was named executive of the year by his peers.

And then Jerry “Reinsdorfed”, went over his own GM’s head and hired Tony La Russa. Just watch La Russa’s introductory press conference. Hahn looks dead inside.

But Hahn had an opportunity to add pieces to the puzzle after that successful 2021 season, winning the AL Central and achieving the franchise’s first back-to-back playoff appearances ever. We had to wait because of the winter lockout, but as the winter went on, the White Sox stayed put while players like Kris Bryant went to Colorado. The White Sox front office was confident going into 2022, but more than a few Sox fans could tell something was off.

We all know how it ended.

The fact is, the White Sox were not only complacent, but they were also arrogant going into the season. (“Ask me after the parade”, anyone?) In hindsight, the lack of moves in the off-season leading up to 2022 was worse than they were even at the time. Hahn had plenty of time and choices to pick for a right fielder and a second baseman, before or during the season. Their big trade deadline acquisition was… Jake freakin’ Diekman. So no, Hahn does not get off scot-free. He also traded away Fernando Tatis Jr for James Shields. The 2022 season was a complete organizational failure. As part of that organization, Hahn deserves some of the blame. There are no excuses. Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times laid out the evidence for the prosecution:

Hahn had losing seasons from 2013 to 2019, a winning record in the forgettable pandemic-shortened 2020 season (35-25), one division title in 2021 (93-69) and a 2-5 postseason record. Overall, the Sox have gone 700-817 (a .461 winning percentage) during Hahn’s tenure. Evidently, only the pandemic could make the Sox look good.

But since it is an organizational failure, not all of the blame falls on his shoulders. In fact, the progression of some of the players he acquired could not be predicted. No one knew that Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert were injury-prone, or that Yasmani Grandal would fall off a cliff this year. The Craig Kimbrel trade was seen as a smart move at the time. Hahn seems to be aware of the job ahead for him. Judging by comments at his end-of-season press conference, Hahn seems determined to do things his way this time. He might even be forced to be creative to fix the gaping holes in the White Sox lineup, because Reinsdorf doesn’t seem to like throwing money at everything like they’re Paris Saint-Germain or Manchester City. Importantly, Hahn believes in what he’s built and wants to see it succeed. Rick Hahn is not going anywhere… yet. Jerry Reinsdorf likes him, which means job security. But, as Laurence Holmes put it,

For the most part, I think Williams and Hahn have good intentions, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The last two years happened and are filled with consequences. Bloated salaries, positional redundancies and unfulfilled expectations will leave the Sox’ brain trust backed up against a Reinsdorf-imposed budget. It’s an excuse Sox fans have heard before. Hahn and Williams will have to get creative if they want to succeed, but, to be honest, their creativity has left a lot to be desired lately.

While his record is mixed, I think Hahn has done a solid job and deserves ONE (1) move chance to get it right (and I think he knows it, too). The fans are angry, and these players aren’t getting any younger. Even New Trier Trevians can lose their patience with each other.