CHICAGO WHITE SOX SCOUTING DIRECTOR RESIGNS AMID HARASSMENT CLAIMS

The Chicago White Sox have confirmed that scouting director Mike Shirley is no longer with the organisation, saying he resigned from the role on Saturday. The announcement came ahead of the team's game against the St Louis Cardinals. Shirley had held the scouting director position for seven seasons, having joined the organisation in 2000, according to reports. His departure follows reports of alleged verbal harassment claims made against him, which the White Sox say they are investigating internally. Asked about the resignation, the White Sox said in a statement reported by the Chicago Tribune: "We cannot comment on personnel matters."

According to The Athletic, the White Sox received an anonymous tip raising questions over Shirley's conduct during the Area Code Games in Long Beach, California, an annual event held in early August in which area scouts lead eight teams of around 200 secondary school players. Shirley was reported to be one of the scouting directors who attended the games. Sources told The Athletic that Shirley had allegedly made inappropriate, racist and sexist comments about and in front of colleagues, including "vulgar" remarks about women. The White Sox human resources department launched an investigation shortly after receiving the complaint, according to The Athletic, and reportedly interviewed multiple members of the amateur scouting division as part of the process. Shirley was placed on administrative leave before resigning on Saturday amid the allegations.

The Athletic reported that this is not the first time the White Sox have looked into complaints against Shirley. In 2022, a former employee anonymously alerted Major League Baseball to concerns about his conduct towards scouts from underrepresented groups, according to the report. That investigation reportedly found no concrete evidence to support the claims, and the White Sox took no disciplinary action against Shirley at the time. The Athletic also found that the organisation investigated Shirley in 2021, when it ran an anonymous survey among its department's employees. The internal investigation into the latest allegations was continuing at the time of his resignation, according to The Athletic.