Former Royal Executive Jin Wong Tapped As White Sox New Assistant GM

The White Sox are reportedly shaking up their front office once again. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the White Sox are adding Jin Wong from the Kansas City Royals as an assistant general manager. Wong will replace current assistant GM Jeremy Haber. 

Buried in the most recent addition of Nightingale’s notebook, he writes:  

“The White Sox are shuffling their front office staff and bringing in Jin Wong from the Kansas City Royals to be an assistant GM. White Sox assistant GM Jeremy Haber is expected to depart on his own before spring training, with Jin fulfilling part of his duties.” 

Nightengale's Notebook Jan. 7 2024

Wong spent the last 24 years in the Royals organization. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported back in October that Wong left the organization on his own accord. 

It was a decision that left many Royals fans in shock.  

Wong had just finished his second season as the team Vice President of Baseball Administration. He began his career as a scouting operations coordinator and worked his way up the ranks under former GM Dayton Moore. The White Sox were reportedly interested in adding Moore to their front office earlier this offseason.  Moore possibly put in a good word for Wong. 

According to MLB.com’s Anne Rogers, Wong “had a major role in the negotiations of multi-year player contracts for the Royals.” He was the team's Manager of Scouting Operations from 2001-02, Baseball Operations from 2002-03,  Director of Baseball Operations from 2004-05, Director of Baseball Administration from 2006-14 and Assistant General Manager of Baseball Administration from 2015-21. 

According to the Royals website, Wong played a crucial role in negotiating over $825 million worth of player contracts. These deals included multi-year agreements with Zack Greinke, Joakim Soria, Billy Butler, Alcides Escobar, Salvador Perez, Kelvin Herrera, Eric Hosmer, Yordano Ventura, Lorenzo Cain, Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas, and Danny Duffy. Wong was rewarded for his efforts with a World Series ring in 2015.

Jeremy Haber fulfilled a similar role with the White Sox. Haber spent 11 seasons in the White organization and nine as an assistant general manager. He was first promoted in February 2015 and worked with Rick Hahn on player evaluations and acquisition, payroll management, and contract negotiations. 

Haber reportedly negotiated over $225 million of player contracts which included orchestrating long-term deals with Jose Quintana, Adam Eaton, Tim Anderson, Aaron Bummer, and Yoan Moncada. His long-term deals with Quintana and Eaton helped the White Sox net a massive haul of prospects in trades which included Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Dylan Cease, and Eloy Jimenez. 

Haber was also part of the search process that led to the hiring of manager Pedro Grifol and his coaching staff. The staff included hitting coach Jose Castro, bench coach Charlie Montoyo, third base coach Eddie Rodriguez, and assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson. The White Sox cut ties with Castro after one season and reassigned Johnson to coach in the minor leagues.