On Tuesday afternoon, the Chicago White Sox announced that they fired general manager Rick Hahn and executive vice president Ken Williams.
The moves to fire both Hahn and Williams did not come as any surprise considering the White Sox's struggles once again this season. What was shocking to executives around baseball was the move was made in the middle of the regular season.
White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf should attract plenty of interest in the GM opening, a position that he hopes to fill by the end of the regular season. Chicago is a big market, there is talent on the major-league roster, and there should be money available long-term and, in the words of one rival executive, "an attractive rebuild." But it will be an extensive rebuild, with that same executive saying: "The team is in shambles, the stadium sucks, and their system isn't very good."
Here are three candidates that make sense for the opening:
White Sox: 3 replacements for Rick Hahn as GM
3. Chris Getz
Getz, 39, is currently in the White Sox organization. He has spent the past seven seasons overseeing the team's minor-league operations and player development system. Before that, he had spent seven seasons as a player with the Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays and White Sox.
He is expected to be a candidate and, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, is the top candidate to replace Hahn and "expected to be named the next White Sox GM."
If Getz is hired, Nightengale says that the White Sox could hire Texas Rangers senior advisor Dayton Moore in a key front office role. It would give Getz a veteran sounding board – Moore was previously the Royals' general manager – though it's unclear if he would leave the Rangers less than a year after joining them.
2. Steve Sanders
Sanders is an under-the-radar candidate, but those who have worked with the now Pittsburgh Pirates executive have raved about him and called him a future GM.
and Sanders, 35, joined the Pirates in 2019 after an extended stint in the Blue Jays' front office. He is currently the Pirates' assistant general manager and has been lauded for his people skills, his work in talent evaluation and has played key roles in rebuilding Toronto and Pittsburgh's farm systems.
It's unclear if Sanders is on the White Sox's radar, but he went to school at Northwestern and those close to the young executive believe he'd be a perfect fit in Chicago.
For a team in need of a culture reset, as well as an infusion of young talent in the minors, Sanders would seemingly check a lot of boxes for the White Sox.
1. Brian Sabean
This is a bit out of left field, but White Sox team owner Jerry Reinsdorf has shown that he isn't afraid to do the unconventional (see: hiring Tony La Russa as manager).
GiantsReinsdorf, 87, could prefer to hire a candidate with previous general manager experience. If he does, there aren't many better candidates than Sabean, who was the architect of the San Francisco Giants' championship teams in 2010, 2012 and 2014. Sabean, 67, is now working in the New York Yankees' front office as an executive advisor to the general manager and could be open to running a franchise once again.
It's unknown if Reinsdorf and Sabean have any sort of working relationship, but considering both have been in baseball for so long, it's likely that they have at least spoken. A Sabean-to-White Sox scenario should be put in the "highly unlikely" category, but with Reinsdorf and the White Sox, you truly can't count anything out.
