Promoting Chris Getz Would Be a Mistake

This season a lot of attention has been placed on the Chicago White Sox despite them having a terrible year. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf finally worked up whatever guts he has remaining to do right by the franchise. The White Sox recently parted ways with longtime executives Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams. According to the team, new leadership is going to be put into place before the end of the season. Reportedly, farm system director Chris Getz is a “leading candidate” to take over as general manager. If Chicago decides to make Getz the new GM, then the South Siders would be making a mistake.

Chicago Needs a Culture Change and Actual Leadership

Given how tumultuous the season has been, this team needs a big culture change. There is no leadership inside the front office or clubhouse. Heck, during an interview, Eloy Jimenez essentially gave off the impression that the players don’t really care about the team. All these issues happened on the watch of the current front office, still having someone from that regime will just prolong the problems. For the Sox to begin fixing the issues, hiring someone from the outside to run the baseball operation is necessary.

Getz Has a Lousy Track Record

Chris Getz has been overseeing the White Sox minor league baseball operation for the past seven seasons. Ironically, it has been the player development that has been a big reason for the Sox rebuild being a failure. While the Sox farm system jumped up in the rankings in the second half, that is due to the team selling off its key pieces during the trade deadline. Under Getz, whenever the Sox haven’t traded productive players for prospects, the Sox system has consistently ranked among baseball’s worst.

A big thing that should be working against Getz is his ability to lead. He oversaw the farm system when Omar Vizquel and Wes Helms were both hired. Both men were fired due to misconduct issues. The allegations against Vizquel are particularly disturbing. While Helms was managing the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, Helms was also placed on “indefinite leave” for an unrevealed issue. This team needs leadership and there are too many issues with what Getz has done to even consider him. His recent track record might be worse than Rick Hahn’s or Kenny Williams’s. At least Williams and Hahn can say they once built a World Series-winning team. I’m personally surprised Getz wasn’t shown the door as well.

Hiring From Outside the Organization Is Necessary

The Chicago White Sox as an organization has become too insular when it comes to hiring people for front-office positions. Given Getz’s track record, hiring him would essentially be “putting lipstick on a pig.” I suppose the analogy fits because the organization has been rolling around in the mud like a pig this season. This team will continue to be a lousy team to watch unless someone is hired from outside the White Sox organization to fix the baseball operation.

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