Well, the rumors were true. Chris Getz has been promoted to the White Sox general manager/senior vice president position. The former assistant GM and the man in charge of player development. Now, this is nothing against Chris Getz as a person, but this hire just makes no sense to me.
I’m not sure how much say he had as the assistant GM, but I’m sure he was involved in almost every conversation in terms of player acquisitions. Those decisions did not work out. They are what got his colleagues Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams fired. Unless he is the polar opposite of them, which is unlikely, this hire is going to be much more of the same.
Jerry Strikes Again
Jerry did the right thing by firing Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams, as it was long overdue. Regardless of the timing, you have to give him some credit for finally doing it, as many thought he would never fire either of them.
Now, Jerry had the perfect opportunity to get some organizational change in the front office, as an outside hire is just what this team needed to get back on track. It has been too long of just the same old for the White Sox. Someone from the outside with different perspectives and ideals could point the Sox in the right direction, but that is now out the window.
Of course, the Sox are one of the teams at the bottom, if not the only team in terms of utilizing analytics. An outside hire could have fixed that and at least injected some new philosophies into the front office. Now, we stick with the same and will most likely be one of the few teams that doesn’t use those advanced metrics as much.
Now, we should give Getz a chance to see if he is going to be any different from Hahn, but his track record in his current position is not great. For him to be head of player development and have one of the worst player development track records in the MLB should be a fireable offense. Before this trade deadline, the White Sox had one of the worst farm systems in all of baseball, and you’re gonna promote the guy who helped shape that system?
This chart says it all. By over 100 runs, the White Sox as a full organization have the worst run differential. The closest is the A’s, but then the next closest team is over 300 runs away. That is absolutely pathetic. So yes, let’s promote the man in charge of this horrible system.
Now, I don’t want to put all the blame on Getz for all of this, as it likely is not all his fault. He was probably hindered by Hahn, Williams, and Jerry. But, he still had a large role, or at least that is what his title implies.
I would not have cared if they kept him and hired an outside GM. It would be preferable if they completely cleaned house, but if he stayed it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Now, getting the promotion is just going to lead to the same old for the Sox, and that is the last thing that Sox fans want.
It is evident more than ever that as long as Jerry has a say, nothing will change. Get ready for another decade of mediocrity. But please, Chris Getz prove me and everyone else wrong and show us that you had nothing to do with the dysfunction in the front office.
