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Rick Hahn talks rebuild and collapse


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47 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

One of the most interesting things he said in here was the phrase "free agent signings" which would be "tolerated".  

 

 

I'm guessing that was a deliberate choice of words and a direct indictment of JR.

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1 hour ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Hey look at that!  Hahn has taken a break from calling and texting people in the front office bitching and crying about getting blamed for absolutely destroying the organization he was in charge of.  Good for you, Rick! 

Hahn did acquire two of the current starting position players in Quero and Sosa.

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1 hour ago, southsider2k5 said:

One of the most interesting things he said in here was the phrase "free agent signings" which would be "tolerated".  

 

 

It's most the same empty laywer speak that we got from him as GM, with some moments where he seems to consciously navigate around placing blame on those above him. I'm just curious as to the point of the appearance. If he's trying to rehab his name to land another gig in baseball, I'm not sure what this accomplished.

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13 minutes ago, Tnetennba said:

It's most the same empty laywer speak that we got from him as GM, with some moments where he seems to consciously navigate around placing blame on those above him. I'm just curious as to the point of the appearance. If he's trying to rehab his name to land another gig in baseball, I'm not sure what this accomplished.

It probably paid him money.

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He's dead to me. Liked him once and then soured as his teams flailed and he kept up the corporate speak about "competitive offers" and blah blah blah. If you don't like the budget you have, just resign, don't try and make excuses in the press.

He must be angling for another job in baseball if he's doing this interview. Doubt he got paid, the exposure is the pay.

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2 hours ago, chitownsportsfan said:

He's dead to me. Liked him once and then soured as his teams flailed and he kept up the corporate speak about "competitive offers" and blah blah blah. If you don't like the budget you have, just resign, don't try and make excuses in the press.

He must be angling for another job in baseball if he's doing this interview. Doubt he got paid, the exposure is the pay.

Agreed. According to some reports at the time, he had opportunities to leave.

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Posted (edited)

If he knew that 2016's start was "smoke and mirrors", why did he continue to squander more resources into that team, such as the trade for Shields (fresh off of a 10 run drubbing in Seattle) and a  first round pick on a reliever?

 

 

Edited by GreenSox
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12 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

He's dead to me. Liked him once and then soured as his teams flailed and he kept up the corporate speak about "competitive offers" and blah blah blah. If you don't like the budget you have, just resign, don't try and make excuses in the press.

He must be angling for another job in baseball if he's doing this interview. Doubt he got paid, the exposure is the pay.

He didn't have to trade Semien, Bassitt and Tatis Jr. He didn't have to bank on signing Machado or Harper when he knew Reinsdorf sucks. He could've drafted better in the first round - of the 12 picks Hahn made, only Anderson, Rodon, Burger and Crochet have provided any value, with none of them still on the team. Jury's still out on the last couple, of course.

Point is, he needs to look in the mirror. 

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1 hour ago, GreenSox said:

If he knew that 2016's start was "smoke and mirrors", why did he continue to squander more resources into that team, such as the trade for Shields (fresh off of a 10 run drubbing in Seattle) and a  first round pick on a reliever?

 

 

Because he wasn’t actually in charge and it doesn’t matter he thought? 

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24 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

Because he wasn’t actually in charge and it doesn’t matter he thought? 

I've said this a dozen times or more but have some pride if that's the case. If you're being over ruled by JR and KW after they get out of the C-Suite cigar lounge session have some pride and quit. But he was happy to keep cashing the checks while talking out both sides of his mouth. If he thought he needed more resources or whatever bring it to the man that signs your checks. Don't make passive aggressive comments to the media and certainly don't be doing it long after you've been fired and placed into the dustbin of MLB GM history.

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11 minutes ago, chitownsportsfan said:

I've said this a dozen times or more but have some pride if that's the case. If you're being over ruled by JR and KW after they get out of the C-Suite cigar lounge session have some pride and quit. But he was happy to keep cashing the checks while talking out both sides of his mouth. If he thought he needed more resources or whatever bring it to the man that signs your checks. Don't make passive aggressive comments to the media and certainly don't be doing it long after you've been fired and placed into the dustbin of MLB GM history.

It also means that Chris Getz is doomed to fail because Jerry isn't letting go of power as long as he in involved. 

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8 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

It also means that Chris Getz is doomed to fail because Jerry isn't letting go of power as long as he in involved. 

It certainly doesn't portend anything good. But we all know that. Getz might be better than Hahn but the fact he's working for JR is one massive, negative data point for his ability.

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The White Sox were 10th in FA spending from 2020-2024.

Over $320 million.

They just didn't spend (or allocate) it very well...and the young hotshot prospects got injured or under performed. 

Also, Tim Anderson All-Star/league leading hitter, collapsed after the Ramirez knockout, on top of the knee injury from our own Hahn-picked lousy ex-Royals utility 3B.  

In many ways, he was the heart and soul of those teams, at least how they were perceived from the outside and in terms of marketing.

 

 

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Posted (edited)
24 minutes ago, DFAthewave69420 said:

rick hahn is a rat.  100% had a connection to get into MLB Network to use this as a platform to get his name back out there around the league.

Nobody's going to give him an interview based on THAT interview.  He still, to this day, hasn't proven to be good at identifying talent on the amateur or FA side, with very very few exceptions.

He's better off with a consulting/McKinsey/law firm type of position...that's 100% not public facing.

 

And his hand-picked henchman Haber might have been even worse, somehow.

Edited by caulfield12
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Posted (edited)
31 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

Trust fund baby.  He doesn't need the money.

Those net worth websites put him at around $5 million, and that's probably low by at least $2.5-5.0 million.

Housing values alone in Winnetka or Wilmette or wherever he lives.

Edited by caulfield12
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1 hour ago, WBWSF said:

Are there any White Sox fans who care what Hahn Says? I was hoping he would just go away.

Basically he has, no one else in baseball has hired him to do anything. 

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https://www.mlb.com/mets/video/rick-hahn-discusses-his-tenure-with-the-white-sox?msockid=03c2413601076bcf19e3529f00f66aa7

 

According to Hahn, the organization's habits following the 2005 World Series carried on for over a decade. In 2016, the Sox were still using the same model that they had been using to win in all in '05.

All it had gotten them was mediocre baseball teams that stayed out of last place, but made the playoffs just one time (2008) in the decade immediately following the championship. Hence why Hahn said the Sox were "mired in mediocrity," a tragically accurate and poetic way to summarize the problems at hand.

"That really was the motivation," Hahn said on MLB Network. "When I first got there in '01 and joined Kenny [Williams] in his first year as GM, winning a World Series as quickly as possible and breaking an 88-year drought was of the utmost importance."

Hahn told Brian Kenny that he believed the White Sox had an even better team on paper in 2006 than in 2005. The run from 2005-2008 was a fleeting window of contention for Chicago. It fueled the front office to try and chase the magic of 2005 over and over again.

"We had a little but of a run where we tried to keep feeding the beast. We may have tried too long to keep feeding the beast, doing short-term gap fits....ultimately, that's not satisfying," said Hahn. "When we were stuck there in the middle and not winning consistently enough, we had conversations with Jerry [Reinsdorf] that were very honest that were like 'we need to take a step back.'"

 

"We certainly felt in '22 like we were going to be able to sustain this thing," Hahn said to MLB Network. "We had some bad luck in injuries, but everyone does. The '21 team, we had a lot of injuries and we wound up being able to plug those holes from internal options. We had nine guys taken in the 1st round between 2013-2021 contribute to that '21 team. It was a tremendous organizational win. So we go into '22 feeling good about ourselves."

In the blink of an eye, the White Sox finished 81-81 in 2022 and had turned into a 100-loss team by 2023.

"Perhaps we overestimated a little bit in terms of our players growth," Hahn admitted. "We obviously made some bets on some young players thinking they were going to grow into the level we projected them to be...that boxed us a little bit from a payroll standpoint. The injuries hurt and our culture wandered a little bit. The vibe changed in that clubhouse and we sort of lost a little bit of that competitiveness."

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10 hours ago, chitownsportsfan said:

If you don't like the budget you have, just resign, don't try and make excuses in the press.

Not many people quit high paying jobs. Don't understand the hate. We should forgive him for flaws considering he works for JR the worst owner in sports history maybe.

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