A rare win for White Sox: Not the game, the Angels reportedly waive Giolito, Lopez
Rick Hahn's seat started warming last season, when the White Sox went 81-81 after making the playoffs in 2020-21.
This year, it was on fire.
A 7-21 start all but knocked the Sox out of contention, even though they reside in baseball's weakest division, the AL Central.
Last Tuesday, Hahn was fired just over a month shy of completing his 11th season as GM. Executive vice president Kenny Williams was also let go.
The bottom line is neither executive got the job done, forcing chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to finally make a change.
The duo's replacements have yet to be named, although assistant general manager Chris Getz remains the leading candidate to become the White Sox's next top executive.
As for Hahn, he probably gave himself a little pat on the back Tuesday. ESPN's Jeff Passan's reported starting pitcher Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo Lopez were among multiple players the Angels placed on waivers.
On July 26, Hahn traded Giolito and Lopez to Los Angeles for a pair of minor leaguers: catcher Edgar Quero and left-handed starter Ky Bush.
The Angels were desperate to make the postseason for the first time since 2014 and they were in the thick of the playoff race at the time of the deal.
But Los Angeles fell apart in August and Giolito was 1-5 with a 6.89 ERA in 6 starts with his new team. Lopez was 0-2 with a 2.31 ERA in 12 appearances for the Angels.
Sox starter Mike Clevinger (6-6, 3.32 ERA) has reportedly also been placed on waivers.
On Thursday, teams with the worst record who make waiver claims get their desired player.
The White Sox were going nowhere with Giolito in the rotation and Lopez in the bullpen.
Looking to the future, Hahn landed a promising prospect in Quero. The 20-year-old catcher is hitting .314/.400/.471 with 3 home runs and 19 RBI in 19 games with Class AA Birmingham.
In his first 5 starts for Birmingham, Bush is 1-3 with an 8.46 ERA.
Evaluating prospects is the best way to get through the rest of the season as the Sox (52-81) continue to struggle.
They fell to the Orioles 9-3 Tuesday night at Camden Yards after losing to Baltimore 9-0 Monday in the series opener.
Jesse Scholtens started for the White Sox Tuesday and allowed 1 run over 5⅓ innings. Relievers Aaron Bummer and Bryan Shaw combined to pitch 1 inning and they gave up 8 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks.
Rookie second baseman Lenyn Sosa was 3-for-3 with a solo home run.