Bell excited about being named Sox assistant GM

When Kenny Williams took over as White Sox general manager following the 2000 season, he brought in Roland Hemond as a special assistant.

With a long history in the game — including 15 years as Sox GM (1971-85) — Hemond helped Williams navigate through some early challenges on the job.

Last Friday, assistant general manager Rick Hahn replaced Williams, who was promoted to president of baseball operations.

A week later, Hahn announced Buddy Bell has been promoted to vice president/assistant GM.

Bell, 61, has a wealth of major-league experience.

He played 18 seasons with the Indians, Rangers, Reds and Astros and was a five-time all-star and six-time Gold Glove winner at third base.

Bell then spent 13 years on major-league staffs, including managing stints with the Tigers, Rockies and Royals.

For the past nine seasons, he has worked with the White Sox as director of minor-league instruction, director of player development and, this past season, VP of player development and special assignments.

In his new role, Bell will assist with major-league roster and staffing decisions and handle amateur and special assignment scouting duties in addition to maintaining his current responsibility of overseeing the Sox player development system.

“I like being busy, so this particular title gives me a chance to do a lot of different things,” Bell said Friday on a conference call.

Bell’s expanded role this past season should help make for an easy transition, and he is looking forward to working more closely with Hahn.

“One of the great things about Rick is, obviously he’s very intelligent and he’s a great listener,” Bell said. “I think that obviously helps when you’re talking across the table from somebody. I’ve had a great relationship with Rick from the very beginning.”

While most assistant GMs spend the majority of their time on the major-league side, Bell is still going to be heavily involved in scouting for the draft.

“I love doing that,” he said. “If you would have asked me 20 years ago if I enjoyed amateur scouting, we would have went to something different really quick. I really, really like doing that, along with the player development.

“Player development is really a passion of mine and that’s not going to change. Amateur scouting and special assignment stuff will still basically be there. The only change I can see is I’ll probably be more involved in major-league decisions.”