Chris Getz Named White Sox GM, Senior VP; Replaces Fired Rick Hahn

The Chicago White Sox announced that they are promoting assistant general manager and director of player development Chris Getz to the team's senior vice president/general manager role.

The move comes nine days after the White Sox parted ways with executive vice president Kenny Williams and senior vice president/general manager Rick Hahn amid a season that has resulted in Chicago going 53-81 through August.

MLB Network's Jon Morosi reported after the Williams and Hahn firings that baseball inisders believed the White Sox would promote from within to land a new head of baseball operations.

That's exactly what happened as the 40-year-old Getz, who has spent seven seasons with Chicago's baseball operations department, now gets a chance to run the team.

Getz played in the bigs with the White Sox, Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays from 2008-2014 before retiring. He began his front office career with Kansas City before heading back to Chicago.

Getz served as a Royals baseball operations assistant/player development in 2015 and 2016, winning a World Series in the former year. He then moved on to the White Sox and worked as the director of player development from 2017-20. Chicago promoted Getz to assistant general manager in 2021.

A press release outlined Getz's previous responsibilities with the team.

"For the past seven seasons, Getz has handled the 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."

The release also stated that Getz was "involved in player evaluation, acquisition, staffing decisions, the amateur draft and the sports science department."

White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said the following about the team's new GM:

"Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and experience within our organization to this role. 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. 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."

The White Sox endured seven straight losing seasons from 2013-2019 but appeared to be on the right track after posting winning campaigns in 2020 and 2021, both of which resulted in playoff berths. However, Chicago dropped to 81-81 in 2022, and the team has already matched that loss total in 2023 with 28 games still left to play.

Reports of a culture problem within the clubhouse have been prevalent, with ex-White Sox (and current New York Yankees) reliever Kenyan Middleton even saying the team had a "no rules" culture. Ex-Chicago (and current Los Angeles Dodgers) starter Lance Lynn agreed.

As for Getz, there are legitimate questions about his impact on the team as its tailed off to its current spot in the standings. Jon Greenberg of The Athletic explained the situation.

"Getz is, in job title anyway, the guy in charge of the Sox's minor-league system. He started with the organization in 2016 and was promoted to assistant GM. But before an influx of talent at the trade deadline, thanks to the fire sale that essentially cost Hahn and Williams their jobs, the team's system was in the pits. Now, after a rebuild, that's sort of expected. As executives like to say, our prospects are on the field in the majors.

"The problem was they didn't pay off and the holes in the roster were filled by underachieving veterans. Talent development has been a major issue for the Sox for a long time. There have also been some issues with the adults in the minor leagues, like fired managers Omar Vizquel and Wes Helms."

The White Sox appear to be a mess on and off the field, making an internal hire all the more puzzling. Fans and analysts were not thrilled by the move.

Getz ultimately has a big challenge ahead of him, as noted by David Haugh of 670 The Score:

Rebuilding the White Sox is a tall task for anyone right now. Perhaps Getz is the right person for the job. Time will ultimately tell on that front, but there's a long road ahead between where the White Sox are now and a World Series.