CLEVELAND — Ken Williams was asked to talk about his life after baseball.
“Who told you I was done with baseball?” he asked the Sun-Times by phone Wednesday.
The former White Sox executive vice president, whom chairman Jerry Reinsdorf fired last August along with general manager Rick Hahn in a surprising pair of moves, has been busy as executive chairman and founder of CLARA, a company whose AI screening tool is designed to mitigate bias in hiring processes, level the playing field for candidates and help organizations find untapped talent. Williams vowed to do something about the lack of diversity in board rooms and got this operation going before the Sox let him go, he said.
But he wants back in the business of baseball. For the man who famously said, “Stay out of White Sox business,” it won’t be White Sox business, but there’s unfinished business nonetheless.
“To be part of winning a championship is a very special thing,” said Williams, 60, who oversaw the Sox’ 2005 World Series title as GM with Hahn as his assistant GM. “Once you have, it kind of gnaws at you. And, man, over the last few years, especially knowing the talent we had, it’s an achy feeling, almost a crippling feeling, to not accomplish that goal. So, yeah, I’d love to be part of one more, and then I can say goodbye.”
With Reinsdorf’s backing, Williams and Hahn set their sights on one more World Series title with a rebuild that started in late 2016. It resulted in a wild-card berth in 2020 and the American League Central title in 2021, but those Sox teams failed to advance in the postseason, and everything unraveled in 2022. Another rebuild is ongoing under current GM Chris Getz.
Williams lamented a rash of “odd and crippling” injuries that kept the Sox from their goal.
“The end result wasn’t good, and sports is an unforgiving world,” he said.
Failure notwithstanding, the firing hit him hard.
“I can’t deny that it did, but I had had conversations with [Reinsdorf] that, ‘Hey, if you feel like you need a different voice, it’s not going to affect our relationship,’ ’’ Williams said. “I made that promise and kept it. I don’t comment on anything White Sox. You haven’t heard me say one word about that whole scenario and the replacements in effect, and you won’t . . . out of respect for Jerry. Just Jerry.”
So don’t ask about the 2024 Sox and the direction of the organization.
“As I used to say back in the day, that’s White Sox business, and it’s not my business anymore,” Williams said.
If he gets a call from a team he believes he can help win, he’ll listen.
“If I don’t get that call, then you can write about life after baseball,” he said.
“I don’t know if it’s sitting in the [GM] chair again — my ego doesn’t need it — or serving as an advisor. Accomplishing the goal is accomplishing the goal. It’s a desire to help a club in whatever capacity seems to be the best fit.”
Williams stays in contact with Reinsdorf “all the time,” he said. But a future baseball job would likely be with another team.
“I don’t think I have to worry about [returning to the Sox] because when you’re relieved of your duties, that is a strong indication you’re not wanted,” Williams said.
Hearing him laugh at length after saying that is to believe he’s not bitter.
“I would have liked to be saying goodbye to the people in the front office and any fans that supported us in my tenure, but it didn’t unfold that way, and that’s the way it goes,” Williams said.
With a résumé that includes periods as a player, scout, director of player development, 12 years as GM and 11 as Sox vice president, it’s no surprise Williams had “some feelers” out during the offseason, but he needed to be away. He said he was oblivious to the Sox’ awful start this year.
“Somebody a month into the season had to tell me what was going on, and I was like, “Oh, wow,’ ” said Williams, who went “cold turkey” to distance himself from baseball and says he’s just now paying attention again. “I needed a break, and I needed to miss it. I needed to feel that thing, right? They say when something in your life happens unexpectedly, you should give it a year before making decisions.”
August will be a year.
“It may be a situation where the wind takes you away,” he said. “Sometimes you take time off and are forgotten. Or people reassess you and determine you’re better than what the last guy thought and will give you an opportunity.”