Kenny Williams had overriding authority to trade with 2 MLB teams: sources originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
“Kenny Williams had the authority to make trades with two teams,” NBC Sports Chicago’s Ryan McGuffey reported on the “White Sox Talk Podcast” on Tuesday night. “Think about what I just said. The president had the authority to make a trade with two teams. If you want to make trades, go back in and be the GM. How in the hell does the general manager have the rug pulled out from under him? How is that OK?”
The surprising arrangement yielded at least one stunning trade, as McGuffey and Chuck Garfien also reported the Jake Burger trade to the Marlins for Jake Eder was Williams’ decision.
Part of the White Sox organization was reluctant to trade Burger, who had arguably their second-best bat behind Luis Robert Jr. at the trade deadline.
The revelation comes after the White Sox cleared out the top of their front office on Tuesday, firing Williams and Hahn after decades at the helm.
Their joint firings stunned the baseball world, especially in the case of Williams, who had been with the White Sox since they drafted him in 1982. He became a scout directly after finishing his MLB career in 1992 and worked up to Executive Vice President.
While more details will likely emerge about the hierarchy within the White Sox front office, the question remains over who was calling the shots.
“Whose plan was it? That’s my end question,” McGuffey said. “That’s why they both had to go. They both failed. One guy wanted to sign Bryce Harper. The other guy wanted to sign him his way. One guy wanted to sign Manny Machado, but they wanted to give him a cheap a– contract, so when he was 36, he would get his $35 million. That is not the same page.”
There are a lot of organizational kinks to work out before the White Sox can move forward with a front office they’re confident in.
How will the structure fare this time around? Does one person have all the power? Or, is it divided amongst multiple people and severed between ego and power?
To McGuffey, that’s what ruined the whole thing at the top.
“What got in the way, and what killed this whole thing is ego.”
