It is only a matter of time before the 2024 White Sox become the worst team in modern MLB history. Rock bottom is here, and it seems impossible for the organization to fall any more than it already has. Yet somehow, they keep proving that hypothesis wrong. Chris Getz's quote in a conversation with the media today is alarming and further proves he is not the right man for the job.
Topics Of Discussion
Getz addressed several topics in his discussion with the media. He mentioned that the team is not actively shopping Garrett Crochet but will "see what the market holds" for him. Getz also talked about Yoán Moncada and how he will continue rehabbing in AAA.
Getz's Alarming Quote
However, Getz's comments about how poorly the season has been stand out from everything else he said this afternoon. Apparently, even he knew it would be a bad year despite being the team's architect. He stated, "If you would have told me we were going to end up flirting with the record, I would have been a little surprised. Now if you would have told me prior to the year that we would have ended up with over 100 losses, 105, 110, I wouldn't have been as surprised." He is not exactly wrong, as everyone knew the team would be bad from day one. Yet it is startling that the GM of an MLB team would admit that a team that he constructed was that bad from the start.
Getz Has Made A Bad Situation Worse
In Getz's defense, this season is not entirely his fault. He inherited a mess and had few resources to work with this past offseason. Jerry Reinsdorf slashed payroll this past winter, and the roster lacked talent to begin with. Yet Getz is the guy who famously said he "does not like our team," only to assemble a roster that will be the worst team ever. All of his offseason moves flopped for the signing of Erick Fedde, who he then traded for Miguel Vargas who has been awful since arriving in Chicago. The organization is arguably in worse shape now than when he took over, and they were not in a good spot to begin with. Getz certainly has not earned himself the benefit of any doubts thus far.
White Sox Had No Incentive To Tank
Getz's comment is even more baffling because of the organization's situation heading into the season. Because of the new draft rules, the team cannot pick higher than 10th overall in the 2025 draft regardless of how bad they were this year. In other words, they had no incentive to tank. With that in mind, there should have been an effort to field a somewhat competitive team in 2024. His comment today cements the fact that he never expected them to win. He punted on this season even though there was no reason to do so.
Final Word
Given the history of the White Sox organization and Jerry Reinsdorf's loyalty, Chris Getz's job will likely be safe moving forward. But that does not mean it should be. His tenure has not been successful so far and that is putting it lightly. Quotes like today's are not helping his case and add further fuel to the fire regarding fan resentment. At the time of Getz's promotion, Reinsdorf said that he did not want to rebuild again and that hiring someone from outside the organization would cause them to "lose a year." It sure looks like they lost a year by promoting Chris Getz.
