The reports that surfaced early last week have already come to fruition. The White Sox have their next GM, and they found him in-house.
Today, the club announced that Chris Getz would operate as the club’s single-decision maker moving forward under the title of Senior Vice President/General Manager. This is the same title that Rick Hahn held.
Here is the White Sox press release on the topic:
“CHICAGO – Chris Getz has been named the new senior vice president/general manager of the Chicago White Sox, the club announced today.
Getz, a former player and front office executive with the Kansas City Royals and White Sox, is in his seventh season with the Sox baseball operations department, including the last three as assistant general manager. In that role, he was involved in player evaluation, acquisition, staffing decisions, the amateur draft and the sports science department. He has overseen the club’s minor league operations and player development system since 2017.
‘Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and experience within our organization to this role,’ said White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf. ‘Most importantly, he knows our players, both at the major league level and in our system, knows our staff and is familiar with all aspects of our baseball operations department.’
‘Chris has impressed me greatly over the past seven years,’ Reinsdorf said. ‘In our conversations together this season, I have become energized by his vision, approach and sense of what this organization needs to become competitive again. With his existing knowledge of the organization, top to bottom, I believe his leadership will provide us with the quickest path forward to our goal, a consistently successful baseball team that competes and plays the game the right way. He will re-energize this organization.’
‘I am honored and humbled to be given this leadership responsibility,’ Getz said. ‘I understand what this team means to White Sox fans, and I am excited to begin the work today and during the remainder of this season. There is a great deal of talent within this clubhouse and within this ballpark, and we are going to diligently begin to do the work and lay the foundation for an organization and a team we can all take pride in, from the staff, to the players, to our fans.’
Getz was hired by the White Sox in October 2016 after spending two seasons as a baseball operations assistant/player development with the Royals, including being a part of a World Series-winning organization in 2015.
He served as director of player development with the White Sox from 2017-20 before being promoted to assistant general manager in 2021. For the past seven seasons, Getz has handled day-to-day operations of the minor-league system, including individual development plans for every player, player evaluation, personnel and staff decisions, contract negotiations, affiliate relations and overseeing the Dominican Academy. In 2022, Getz implemented ‘Project Birmingham,’ an innovative program in which many of the organization’s top prospects, as well as the development staff, were assigned to Class AA Birmingham from August 23 through the end of the year. Getz also supervised operations of the alternate training site in Schaumburg, Ill., in 2020-21, helping Andrew Vaughn and others prepare to play successfully in the major leagues.
Originally drafted by the White Sox in the fourth round in 2005, Getz played seven major-league seasons with the Sox (2008-09), Royals (2010-13), and Toronto (2014).
A native of Grosse Point, Mich., and a graduate of University of Michigan, Getz played collegiately at Wake Forest (2003) and Michigan (2004-05), earning First-Team All-America honors in 2005. He and his wife, Nicole, reside in Winnetka, Ill., with their three children.”
Reports first surfaced that Getz was a candidate early last week when USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweeted that Getz was viewed as a “leading candidate” for the team’s GM role if the White Sox decide to stay internal with their search. 670 The Score’s Bruce Levine later added that both Getz and fellow assistant GM Jeremy Haber were “highly thought of” by White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.
The reports didn’t end there. Just the next day, Nightengale came out with another report, the first that was willing to speak incredibly directly: Getz was likely the next GM
“Chris Getz, 39, who spent the past seven years overseeing the White Sox minor league operations and player development after a seven-year playing career, is expected to be named the next White Sox GM.”
– Bob Nightengale (USA Today)
While insiders such as Jon Morosi floated the idea of names like Mike Rizzo, James Click, or Preston Mattingly, one name was always consistent: Chris Getz.
Getz, 39, is currently in his seventh season overseeing the White Sox Minor League Operations and Player Development System and third as Assistant General Manager. Before his promotion in January 2021, Getz served as Director of Player Development from 2017-20 after being hired by the Sox in October 2016. As of last night, Getz was considered the “leading candidate” to become the next GM of the White Sox, so this report doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise.
Before his days in the White Sox front office, Getz was selected by the team in the fourth round of the 2005 draft, and he made his major league debut late in 2008. After a rather lackluster professional career, Getz spent 2015-16 as a Baseball Operations Assistant/Player Development with the Kansas City Royals, who won the 2015 World Series.
Previously, Dayton Moore was rumored to be coming over to the organization as well – however, nothing more has surfaced from those reports. As of now, Getz will still look to hire other people to surround him.
In previous years, the idea that Chris Getz would be the next White Sox’s GM probably wouldn’t have been received as negatively. On a recent Sox On 35th Podcast, Barstool Sports’ Dave Williams mentioned that when Chris Getz was hired, multiple sources reached out to him to describe Getz as a “home run hire.” However, the fan base is looking for a move much bigger than the one that the White Sox have just made in order to turn things around.
Getz’s most innovative idea as Director of Player Development was “Project Birmingham” – an attempt to bring together all of the organization’s top prospects from all levels together to train and compete as one club. It was hyped up by the team and seemed generally well-received, but nothing substantial seems to have come from it. The bigger problem is that the phrase “nothing substantial seems to have come from it” certainly describes the entirety of the White Sox’s farm system since Getz has been in charge. Even some top prospects – Andrew Vaughn, Yoan Moncada, and Michael Kopech, to name a few – haven’t reached their potential, not to mention the fact that the club really hasn’t had any “diamonds in the rough” come up and become key contributors.
Getz was also in charge of the farm system when the club hired Omar Vizquel and Wes Helms and subsequently fired both of them after misconduct issues related to a clubhouse attendant. Vizquel is the subject of those horrible accusations, while Helms was placed on “indefinite leave” after he was identified as someone who laughed at the victim here. It certainly doesn’t help that Getz went out of his way to be complimentary of Vizquel on his way out either.
Getz’s deal is reportedly for four years; though, this was not confirmed by the ballclub. Stay tuned for some of the fan reactions to this move to come, as well as any additional information regarding how Getz may be reforming this ballclub.
And, one this is already clear, based on the comments from the announcement: fans are not happy thus far.
Follow us @SoxOn35th for more throughout the season
What a clown show, continuing with Chris Getz, another Reinsdorf stooge!
As I have stated in past commentaries, is someone who is part of the organization responsible for creating this mess, or should I say nightmare, supposed to be the one to clean up this mess! Getz was in player development, and we have seen how that has gone! While Williams and Hahn should have been gone long ago, it appears that their firings were just window dressing!
Everyone has seen this show before…. wash-rinse-repeat = mediorcity.
August 31st, 2023… the day White Sox baseball offically died.
You say that everyone has seen this show before! You can’t complain about the lack of consistency (laugh, laugh)! You call today’s date the day White Sox baseball officially died! It could be argued that it died long ago, and that today an immovable boulder was put over the grave to make sure it remained dead!
I have no issue with a promotion from within. I wish Getz well. Frank Thomas made it known he wishes to take Getz old job, which he believes he will be better at. I very much like the idea of our one and only homegrown Hall of Fame Super Star. I tend to also believe he will assemble a team of crack coaches, scouts, and trainers. Change culture on the Southside? He is the Southside culture.
Just the problem-promoting from within! Is someone within the organization that created this mess, or should I say disaster, going to be the one to clean up this mess? You need people from the outside, who would have clear, unbiased views of the current situation to get at the root of the organizations’s problems and to draft solutions, which by the way won’t happen overnight! Reinsdorf showed his complete lack of understanding of this by stating that an outside hire would need time to learn the organization!