Chicago Cubs: Comparing the Cubs and White Sox rebuilds

The front offices

While the Cubs rebuild started with a complete overhaul of the front office, the White Sox rebuild began with more of a change in mindset as opposed to a change in personnel.

Just after the 2011 campaign came to a close, the Cubs brought on Theo Epstein as President of Baseball Operations. Epstein had successfully rebuilt the Red Sox organization and helped Boston snap their 86-year World Series drought in 2004. Soon after, Epstein brought on Jed Hoyer and Jason McLeod to serve as General Manager and Senior Vice President of Player Development and Amateur Scouting, respectively. The three had worked together in Boston to bring the Red Sox World Series titles in 2004 and 2007. The acquisitions signaled a shift towards scouting and developing talent for the long-term future.

Meanwhile, the White Sox front office remained significantly unchanged since the time of the 2005 World Series championship. Kenny Williams, who was responsible for bringing the White Sox a World Series title in 2005 as General Manager, was promoted to Executive Vice President in 2012 while Assistant General Manager Rick Hahn was promoted to GM. Williams and Hahn had been with the White Sox since 2000 after Williams became GM and hired Hahn to the front office.

The two continue to head the front office as the White Sox move on in their rebuild.