By: Mike Rifkin
On August 22nd, the Chicago White Sox announced that the team had relieved Executive Vice President Ken Williams and General Manager Rick Hahn of their duties. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf said, “ I have come to the conclusion that the best decision for the organization moving forward is to make a change in our baseball department leadership.” Reinsdorf also said, “ The White Sox would begin a search for a single decision maker to lead the baseball operations department and having an individual in place by the end of the season”.
That search lasted nine days; on Thursday, the White Sox announced that assistant GM Chris Getz was promoted to GM and Senior Vice President. This season is the second straight season the White Sox have underachieved. Here is my issue regarding Getz: If the organization knew what they would do the entire time, why not just promote simultaneously? IT TOOK NINE DAYS to promote the assistant GM. The statement released in the announcement of Hahn and Williams being relieved of their duties was just to show the fans they did something.
Getz announced during his introductory press conference that Manager Pedro Grifol will return for a second season. So, the General Manager was hired in-house, and the manager is staying, which means that changes must be made to the roster. Outside of Luis Robert Jr., who is having an outstanding season, everyone else should be available for trade or not brought back next season. The team will only accept the options of Liam Hendriks and Tim Anderson if they have a trade partner. Yasmani Grandal won’t be back in free agency either. If Chris Getz wants to make an immediate impact, there are two names I am watching: Dylan Cease and Eloy Jimenez. If the White Sox deal with either of the two, the return should be solid, but it can also send shockwaves through a clubhouse that we have heard has some cultural issues.
After winning 93 games in 2021, the White Sox have underachieved the last two seasons. If I’m a White Sox fan, I’m not thrilled about what happened. Not because Chris Getz doesn’t deserve an opportunity, but because if an outsider came in, everybody would be put on notice. It also shows that the White Sox didn’t conduct an extensive search because it took nine days. The White Sox are immensely talented but haven’t put it together. Staying in-house was the smart choice because they play in the lousy AL Central. In my opinion, I would have gone bold with someone on the outside and seen how they handled this upcoming offseason.
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