The Chris Getz era has officially begun on the Southside. On Thursday the White Sox introduced Getz as their newly appointed general manager.
The news was met with pushback from many White Sox fans who feel that Getz getting promoted internally does not represent the change that the organization desperately needs.
After Thursday’s introductory press conference, we now have a better idea of Getz’s vision of the future. As we saw with Pedro Grifol, winning the press conference doesn’t translate to winning on the field. But Getz left a lot to be desired and fans have good reason to be concerned.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from Getz's first day on the job.
Grifol Will Be Back
Chris Getz played a significant role in part in hiring Pedro Grifol while he was serving as the White Sox assistant general manager. So it was no surprise when he confirmed that Grifol would be back for the 2024 season.
"Pedro will be back next year," Getz told reporters Thursday.
"I think it's important to provide stability for our players. There have been a lot of changes the last couple of years, and certainly here recently, and I believe that we need to get back to playing baseball, focusing on baseball so when these players show up each day, they can just focus on the game and not the leaders in the organization."
Grifol’s first season as manager has been mired in failure. He failed to set a tone early and clean up the locker room issues that have been plaguing the team for the last several seasons. The White Sox also got off to a slow start and were essentially out of contention by the third week of the season.
An 7-21 record to start the season was a tough look for a manager who was preaching preparation and showing up ready to play when he was hired.
There were plenty of organizational failures this season that were not Grifol’s fault. However, he really hasn’t done anything this season to inspire confidence in 2024.
Anderson’s Future In Question
While Grifol will be back for another season with the White Sox there is no guarantee that Tim Anderson will be. Anderson has a $14 million team option for next season that needs to be picked up by Getz.
However, the 39-year-old general manager was non-committal when asked about Anderson’s future.
“We’ve seen the best years out of TA and we’ve also seen some struggles and we know what he is capable of doing on the field and he is an important piece of the organization,” Getz said
“Now a decision like that takes time and now that this is day one I certainly want to sit down with TA. Sit down with Pedro and really exhaust that decision because he deserves that.”
Not exactly a vote of confidence for the two-time All-Star and former batting champion. Anderson wants an extension. Jerry Reinsdorf indicated that he wants the White Sox to contend as quickly as possible. Given the state of the division, both he and Getz believe the White Sox can be back into the mix as soon as next season.
Because of this, it is hard to see Getz letting Anderson walk in free agency. There will be no shortstops on the market who are better than Anderson, and cheaper than $14 million. Where Getz's decision really lies is whether or not to offer Anderson an extension.
Colson Montgomery is waiting in the wings ready to replace Anderson so given Getz’z comments 2024 may very well be Anderson’s last in a White Sox uniform.
Giving Rivals Bulletin Board Material
At the time of Getz's press conference the White Sox sit in fourth place and are 16 games back in the AL Central lead. Their 53-81 record is the 27th best in baseball. So it was pretty bold of Getz to call out the rest of the AL Central as being weak when the White Sox are one of the main culprits.
“We are fortunate to play in the American League Central and we’ve got to find ways to build depth and balance this roster for next year and beyond. We need to look at our roster, and if that means we need to talk to other clubs or fill gaps in other ways, we’re going to do that.”
Technically nothing Getz said is incorrect. The White Sox are fortunate to play in the AL Central they have just failed to take advantage of it in back-to-back seasons. But we have already seen the Guardians use the White Sox as motivation. Last year Elvis Andrus inadvertently lit a fire on Cleveland’s ass last season in the middle of a tight division race.
“If we keep winning series,” Andrus said. “we know that sooner or later they’re gonna crumble, the closer we get.”
The White Sox would ultimately lose that race and the Guardians mocked them in the locker room after clinching the division. Getz comments seem harmless. But when the owner and general manager of a team are both calling the competition weak it rivals some unnecessary motivation.
Sending A Message
In an effort to change the culture, Getz fired a warning shot across the bow of the current roster.
"The approach is that no one is untouchable," Getz said. "If we have an opportunity to multiply or upgrade our major league team from our roster or system, we will exhaust it."
Getz plans to sit down with Pedro Grifol to discuss the current staff and the players to discuss the clubhouse chemistry.
"This feedback and all feedback is critical in developing a necessary, long-term plan," he said.
Getz highlighted adding depth to the roster as his goal moving forward.
"There's certainly players that we have on this roster that we feel like could help us compete in the future," Getz said. "I think it would be shortsighted to think that we don't need to add to the group. We need to look at our roster, and if that means that we need to talk to other clubs or fill gaps in other ways, we're going to do that."
"The major league team is a byproduct of the depths of the organization. So I'm going to pursue excellence in all of those areas, and hopefully that helps clean up our team.”
Loading comments...