Chicago White Sox scouting director Mike Shirley has resigned and is no longer with the organization after allegations of verbal harassment, multiple reports said.
Scott Merkin of MLB.com reported that Shirley, who was elevated to scouting director in September 2019, stepped down Saturday, and the White Sox announced the move before that night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Chicago Sun-Times, citing multiple league sources, reported that Shirley had been on administrative leave while the club conducted an internal investigation.
Brittany Ghiroli and Keith Law of The Athletic reported that Shirley resigned during that investigation into allegations of verbal harassment. Their reporting, citing multiple team and league sources, said Shirley allegedly made inappropriate racial and sexist comments about coworkers and in front of coworkers.
Shirley’s departure comes after a major year for the White Sox scouting operation. The club held the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB draft for the third time in franchise history and had a record draft pool of $20,498,500, according to Merkin.
Chicago used that first pick to select UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, who signed for a $10.35 million bonus and is now playing at the team’s Class-A Advanced affiliate in Winston-Salem.
Merkin also reported that the White Sox have a policy of not commenting on personnel decisions and have not said who will replace Shirley. Preparations for the 2027 draft are already underway.
The White Sox enter Monday’s game at 76-73, having lost seven of their last 10 and 10 of their last 14. They hold a half-game lead over the Guardians, who are 76-74, atop the AL Central, and a 1 1/2-game edge over the Toronto Blue Jays, who are 75-75 and a game behind Cleveland for the third and final AL Wild Card spot.
The White Sox and Guardians are set to play at 5:40 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, then at 12:10 p.m. Wednesday.
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