The answer is Rick Hahn.
Yeah, John Paxson and Gar Forman have been getting crucified for the past five years or so, but they even had a good run of success. But that’s the point. It’s not about how good or bad a team has done it’s about the perception that fans have for the guys in charge.
This is all about how fans feel toward the guys in charge of running the five big teams in Chicago.
So, Stan Bowman and everyone with the Blackhawks have the Stanley Cups that has bought them plenty of leeway after 2015. Sure, Bowman and Joel Quenneville aren’t free from criticism, but the three championships are plenty to ease any over the top reaction from fans. Not saying there aren’t some out there, but in general there’s no beef, plus the team was literally the face of the NHL for six years. Can’t really complain there.
But again, they still hear the criticism and the acts are getting old in the eyes of some fans. Even with the success, the top job of any NHL team is far from easy.
Basically the same story for Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer with the Cubs. You bring the first World Series championship to the North Side since 1908 and you will be treated as a savior. Yeah, there are the crazy fans who still think Jim Hendry was better running the team than Theo and Jed, but just let those folks scream into the wall by themselves.
So yeah, still not too much noise coming from fans, but there is a little. Still, pretty calm for Theo and Jed. But the high expectations make their job not the easiest.
It’s still a football city and it sucks that the Bears haven’t been good in far too many years. Yet, from Ryan Pace to Ted Phillips and George McCaskey, Bears fans let them have it every season. That is no easy job. Everyone is always under the microscope at Halas Hall.
Fans literally campaigned to have John Paxson and Gar Forman fired.
That brings me White Sox GM Rick Hahn, who has the by far the easiest job in Chicago sports at the moment.
Think about it. He’s the figurehead in the White Sox rebuild and it’s obviously great that the franchise finally decided not to keep running in mud. Hahn has made some incredible trades and international free agent signings.
All the love that Hahn receives is deserved. Not taking anything away from Hahn. Yet, think about anything that could go and has gone wrong with the White Sox since Hahn has been appointed the GM.
Hahn was promoted after the 2012 season to the position of senior vice president and GM. From 2013-16, before the White Sox started their current rebuild, the team was still going all in, but they only won 63, 73, 76 and 78 games.
Who would always get the blame for the bad free agent signings or trades those years? It wasn’t Hahn because Kenny Williams would be the one getting grilled. And you’re right, Williams does have the higher position and should be held responsible, but why doesn’t that happen when things go right?
Any move now and Hahn gets the praise. Anything goes wrong and the first instinct is to blame to Kenny Williams.
It goes beyond that too, though, because look ahead to the 2018-19 free agent class. It is loaded, headlined by Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. The White Sox are going to be in play for one of the two, right?
Hahn was asked that recently and his answer was that the team will have the resources to go down swinging in free agency.
From my good friend Rick (Hahn’s) mouth to your ears: the White Sox will not have any money constrictions in free agency
(Poor video quality)l but the sound is all you need) pic.twitter.com/B6tCNzb2XD
— whitesoxdave (@barstoolWSD) August 3, 2018
And again, that’s not really too far of a stretch because the White Sox at one point had a top-five payroll for three straight years after winning the 2005 World Series and were in the top-10 three more times until 2014.
Yet, for this conversation let’s say the White Sox sign a few free agents, but still no huge star player. Guess who gets the blame then?
“Oh, Jerry didn’t want to spend the money.”
Rick Hahn is so bulletproof among White Sox fans at least for now. I mean, it’s year six of Hahn being the GM and he’s really just begun the honeymoon stage with fans.
So, good for Rick, who has Kenny and Jerry as the fall guys on the South Side.
