Less than five months after putting the amateur scouting department on notice, White Sox general manager Ken Williams fired longtime talent evaluator Duane Shaffer with the team in the midst of one of its worst ruts in recent memory.
“Would you have preferred I waited eight [months] or only two?” Williams bristled Friday. “The timing is what it is. It was recognized that we needed to head in a different direction.
“In that particular area, I take full responsibility of our shortcomings over the years. Simply, my management style is that you hire good people, you set a plan in action and you let them carry it out. I’ll carry the weight of that.”
Shaffer was let go after 35 seasons as a player, coach, roving instructor, minor-league manager, scout, scouting supervisor and scouting director with the Sox. He wrapped up his final draft only two weeks ago and signed first-round pick Aaron Poreda within 10 days of his selection.
He expressed his appreciation to Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf for his support.
“I couldn’t have worked for a better owner than Jerry Reinsdorf,” said Shaffer, who declined to accept another position within the organization.
“I don’t want to work where I’m not wanted,” he said.
Shaffer fell under scrutiny recently because several of the White Sox’s top picks haven’t blossomed. Williams told an overflow crowd at a SoxFest seminar that the amateur scouting department had been put on notice.
But the Sox haven’t had a top 10 pick in the amateur draft in 17 years, and they stopped selecting top prospects advised by Scott Boras this decade because of acrimonious negotiations involving Bobby Seay, Jeff Weaver and Bobby Hill — thus eliminating the chance to select some of the nation’s top prospects.
Williams said Shaffer’s position would be filled internally and soon. Among the potential candidates are Doug Laumann, who once held the position and assisted with this year’s draft in addition to his pro coverage duties, and national cross-checker Nathan Durst.
“This is an overall assessment in our player development and our scouting areas and at the major-league level that we are looking at ourselves in the mirror and making the necessary adjustments to continue to get better,” Williams said.
He expressed support for the minor-league staff, but that department also could fall under scrutiny. The development of top prospects such as Brian Anderson, Robert Valido, Ray Liotta and Pedro Lopez (now with the Reds) has stagnated after promising starts.
