Chris Getz is expected to be named the next general manager of the Chicago White Sox.
On Tuesday MLB insider Jon Morosi reported that multiple people in the MLB have told him that the White Sox are likely to promote their next head of baseball operations from within. This comes after USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote in a recent article that Chris Getz is “expected to be named the next White Sox GM.”
The news should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the team over the last decade. Rick Hahn was given the title in 2012 after an internal promotion after his predecessor Kenny Williams was given an internal promotion to Executive Vice President.
It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. After Williams and Hahn were fired all eyes immediately turned towards Chris Getz.
The 39-year-old former player has spent the last seven years handling the White Sox Minor League Operations and Player Development System. The 2022 season also marked his third as assistant general manager. Getz was part of the process that resulted in hiring Pedro Grifol and his coaching staff. Grifol has been a disaster in year one. He also had his fingerprints all over the hiring of Ethan Katz which has had mixed results.
The department he heads has been a weak point for the organization. The White Sox have struggled to develop talent and their farm system consistently ranks in the bottom half of the league.
The White Sox trade deadline firesale brought in a collection of young talent that shot the White Sox up six places on MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings. Despite the increase, the organization still ranked just 20th in the league.
The White Sox only have three prospects on MLB.com’s top 100 rankings, Colson Montgomery, Edgar Quero and Noah Schultz. Quero they just received after trading Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez to the Angels.
Not all of that is on Getz. However, it is not a very good sign if the person you are promoting was working under the two people you just fired and didn’t excel at his job. Getz may be great as general manager so it is unfair to judge him until we actually see him in action. Unfortunately for him, the White Sox have done nothing to earn the benefit of the doubt.
The White Sox would be wise to bring in someone outside of the organization because it is clear the way things are currently being run isn’t working. Even if the White Sox did want to promote from within it wouldn’t hurt them to do their due diligence and conduct a proper interview process because there are plenty of more qualified candidates than Getz.
See what I mean, Reinsdorf wants lackies, not guys who are going to come in making a lot of organizational change. Same thing with the Bulls…ran that club into the ground after Jordan retired.