The White Sox stayed in-house with their new front office, finalizing the hire of Chris Getz as their general manager this morning. Rumors that the Sox would turn to their AGM began almost immediately after ownership dismissed team president Ken Williams and GM Rick Hahn last week.
Promoting from within is nothing new. Jerry Reinsdorf has developed a reputation as one of the most loyal owners to his top employees. That willingness to stay the course has led to increasing levels of frustration from a good chunk of the fanbase, as the team has made the playoffs on just three occasions since its 2005 World Series win.
That has led to some clamoring for Reinsdorf to sell the team, but he made clear in a chat with reporters this afternoon he has no intention of doing so. “I’m going to couch this so nobody writes that I thought of selling,” Reinsdorf said (links via Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune and Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times). “Friends of mine have said: ‘Why don’t you sell? Why don’t you get out?’ My answer always has been: ‘I like what I’m doing, as bad as it is, and what else would I do?’ I’m a boring guy. I don’t play golf. I don’t play bridge. And I want to make it better before I go.”
Reinsdorf went on to downplay speculation about the franchise’s long-term home. Earlier this month, Greg Hinz of Crain’s Chicago Business wrote that Sox ownership had considered the possibility of leaving Guaranteed Rate Field when the club’s lease expired after the 2029 season. Hinz wrote that a relocation to Nashville was among the possibilities and suggested there was “some chatter among team insiders” that the 87-year-old Reinsdorf could look to sell the club.
This afternoon, Reinsdorf addressed Hinz’s report. “Ever since the article came out, I’ve been reading that I’ve been threatening to move to Nashville. That article didn’t come from me. But it’s obvious, if we have six years left … we’ve got to decide what’s the future going to be? We’ll get to it, but I never threatened to move out. We haven’t even begun to have discussions with the (Illinois) Sports Authority, which we’ll have to do soon.”
Over the weekend, Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote that the Sox were considering three possibilities if they did decide to leave Guaranteed Rate Field: near the United Center, Soldier Field or Arlington Heights. There’ll presumably be more information on the stadium outlook in the coming months, but it’s not the most pressing issue for Reinsdorf or his new GM.
Turning to the on-field product, Reinsdorf called this “absolutely the worst season” of his 43-year ownership tenure. He expressed hope for a rather quick turnaround, pointing to Getz’s familiarity with the organization as a reason for hiring him so quickly after firing Williams and Hahn. That continuity will carry over to the dugout, as Getz confirmed that manager Pedro Grifol will get a second season at the helm (via Jesse Rogers of ESPN).
As for the roster, Reinsdorf expressed broad optimism in the existing core (second Sullivan link). He pushed back against the need for a huge overhaul and indicated the much-maligned organizational culture had already improved. Reinsdorf implied that some external acquisitions — presumably players who have since been traded — “contributed” to their clubhouse discord. While Getz suggested no one on the roster was truly untouchable, Reinsdorf didn’t sound like an owner eager to sign off on another rebuild.
In some respects, that’s an understandable course of action. The AL Central likely projects as one of the league’s weakest divisions yet again. The Sox decided against trading Dylan Cease, Luis Robert Jr., Eloy Jiménez or Andrew Vaughn at the deadline. They generally targeted upper minors help in the deals they did make. There should also be plenty of payroll space going into the offseason.
If the Sox buy out their options on Liam Hendriks and Tim Anderson, they’d enter the winter with roughly $84.5MM in guaranteed commitments. An arbitration class headlined by Cease, Vaughn and Michael Kopech could add around $20MM. Bringing Anderson back would tack on $13MM (the difference between the $14MM option value and a $1MM buyout). The Sox opened this season with a player payroll north of $180MM, so there should be a decent amount of room to add from the middle tiers of free agency.
At the same time, Getz and his front office will face an uphill battle in fixing what is currently a 53-81 roster. They dealt away a good chunk of their bullpen at the deadline. The rotation behind Cease is full of questions. Korey Lee is unestablished as an MLB catcher. The Sox would need at least one starting middle infielder and would have to address both spots if they move on from Anderson. They’d have a hard time finding a taker for Yoán Moncada but need better production out of third base.
It’s a lot to address even before considering the clubhouse dynamics which Reinsdorf minimized. Getz should have a fair bit of flexibility during his first offseason at the helm, but it’ll be difficult to fix all the weaknesses in one winter.
Watching from the outside. Jerry needs to be gone as much as Arte needs to be gone.
This isn’t gonna make avenger’s day any better.
Dogbone: Right you are. I heard all of Reinsdorf’s press conference, in which the press allowed in were hand-picked. Haven’t laughed so hard in quite awhile. The only other comment I have is the way MLBTR writes their articles. If they’re part of the media, they shouldn’t express their opinions. They should just present what was said by Reinsdorf in his own words, not theirs. Then there is “They’d have a hard time finding a taker for Yoan Moncada…” Wrong on two counts. First, it’s their opinion, not fact. If they’re going to write something like that, at least back it up with something more tangible. “A number of GMs I spoke to have said Yoan Moncada will be hard to move ” Second, it’s not necessarily true. Moncada is a great defender and his hitting is getting better all the time. See? Anyone who posts on this app can give their point of view. I’d like to see something a little more professional from MLBTR. Sorry, guys. Just my opinion.
Just my opinion: The Pale Hosers will have a hard time finding a taker for Moncada.
Like a number of the current roster, he hasn’t played well (nor often enough) this year, and is padding his stats in the dog days
Father Time is the one that will rid the fanbase of Jerry.
In Moreno’s defense (never thought I would say that), he bought at the trade deadline and didn’t trade Ohtani to have a shot for the playoffs.
Every single day gets worse with this franchise. From now on, I’m a Cubs fan.
You better not be any Roobs I know.
Hey just like Hal Steinbrenner he should probably reconsider.
Sometimes I feel that Hal isn’t interested in running the team, dealing with front office affairs. Is that just me, or am I too used to his father’s very hands-on approach.
Cashman has Omar Minaya and Brian Sabean as exec assistants. Hal and Randy Levine are in the Yankee Stadium vault counting cash.
That’s really sad. If I were the owner of the Yankees, one of the most recognizable sports teams in the world with tons of history, I’d be ecstatic to not just make money but be invested in the team, putting out the best team possible. And I’m not even a fan it’s just like Hal takes owning the team as just another asset but no passion. Hopefully your rookies make your team fun to watch in these couple of weeks!
forbes.com/teams/new-york-yankees/?sh=2ae361a84e6e
Looks like Hal has his attention diverted expanding his portfolio. Forbes has many holes in their valuations but the Yankees’ YoY valuation is upward trending steadily.
What else would you do, Jerry? Well, you could just die already.
Don’t wish anyone to die. However retire would be nice. They needed an architect from the outside. Not another broken system flunky yes man for Jerry.
My first two suggestions were golf and bridge, but he turned those down already.
It’s never too late to become a gamer. I think he can be sold on that because if he gets hooked on MLB The Show he can meddle with the whole league – not just one team.
Hahaha this needs to happen. Someone get this man a ps5 stat
Sell the team!
Sell the team!
Sell the team!
The thing is, Reinsdorf only owns about 13% of the team from what I heard. BUT the problem is, he was voted in years ago – to run the show. Ridiculous!!! I actually feel sorry for my friends who are long time Sox fans and have to endure Reinsdorks ineptitude. They deserve better.
Reinsdorf is the majority owner. The way MLB is structured today, to be the controlling partner, the voice of the team with MLB, you have to own the majority of the team.
Robert Mazer is majority owner, but he’s dead and his ownership hasn’t been divested. Reinsdorf is minority owner with control rights. Mazer estate 30%, Reinsdorf 19%
Good luck Jerry, I rarely agree with any of your decisions. However, as a longtime fan, I hope everything works out.
Living proof that only the good die young.
No intention to scratch me balls!
G
It’s not like he doesn’t invest and try? Look at the roster they had the last 2 years on paper and tell me you expected this level of trash.. (I’m not defending his GM and managerial decisions) but come on. The cubs went how long? Lol
The idea that the Whitesox don’t spend enough to win is rather ridiculous and naive. Teams that spend at their level will be in the playoffs this very year.
White Sox have spent money, but a few of their signings haven’t panned out. It’s really their player development, not a ton of success with that aspect, and they can’t blame the draft, other teams do way better with lower draft picks. Unfortunately the guy that has handled player development is now the GM.
acoss13: Unfortunately, the guy who was in both the Royals and Sox GM offices for the two worst drafting teams in the last several years was Getz.
When you own a team for 43 years, and you only win a playoff series in a single year……. you are failing miserably and spectacularly.
I think Jerry must be one of the most hated owners in all of sports. He will never get any of my money again.
He’s like 2 strides behind Jerry Jones in my book, and that’s pretty bad.
Well, its obvious he had total control over the clubhouse, and the cots in the bullpen, so why not? Besides, LaRussa is not up for a comeback.
stymeedone: Grifol is in so far over his head. He’s making so many mistakes, even for a first time manager. And, yes, Jerry, hiring LaRussa was the biggest mistake you’ve made as owner. That’s primarily why the team is in shambles. I remember when Bill Veeck had to sell the team 43 years ago. He wanted to sell it to someone else but – and I’ll admit I don’t remember exactly what happened – the commissioner wouldn’t approve it and Veeck had to sell it to Reinsdorf, who the commissioner approved of but Veeck did not. The fans didn’t want him then and we don’t want him now.
If MLB gave the Sox $300 mil to spend in salaries this bunch morons couldn’t figure out to win the AL Central.
Getz got promoting by proving to suck at his previous job. They will get no help from their farm system next year which was his whole task for years. A complete joke of a franchise. He did absolutely nothing that warranted a promotion.
Is there ANY other sports franchise that hires GM’s without a search or interview process?
No, but one of the causes (again not exactly LaRussa’s fault) was the ‘Chairman’ stabbing the guy in the back who was helping rebuild this club in Renteria. Renteria suffered with this team of players to rebuild it into something, not a world beater, but possibly on its way, then the ‘chairman’ goes and says ‘great job, bye’ and brings in a guy in LaRussa whose best years of managing were CLEARLY behind him, to help create an aimless environment where there were cancers and no leaders, . including the ‘vaunted’ LaRussa in the locker room. Nevermind the distrust of the players. I mean how can you trust management when they pull something like that?! I’m sure it did not help matters when he tried to get a member (Yermin) of his own team hurt after breaking the baseball (golden apparently) unwritten rule of ‘Ye shall not hit a homer off of a position player eating innings”, and publicly siding with the @$$hurt Twins, to then put Yermin in the next day knowing a pitch was being thrown at him. LaRussa may have been a great manager, but those days were LONG gone and its clear the game has passed him by (as to good or bad that can be debatable)
Not that i think it actually should happen, but baseball games at Soldier field would be nuts. Closer to the lake than Guaranteed and Wrigley.
stevewpants: You could spit in the lake from Soldier Field.
MLB is a performance-based cut-throat business. There are nice people in it that have longevity, and have been quite successful at times. But people move around, it’s accepted as the nature of the business.
It was telling when the FO heads were fired that Mr. Reinsdorf said: “Kenny Williams is like a son to me”; and later Kenny Williams after 14 – FOURTEEN – years said: “I’ve failed him.”
This is absurd. MLB is not 2 people hired in at the tailor shop that need work. Those comments made clear to me what I’d suspected for well over a decade – players could show up unprepared to play, ignore fundamentals and team play, make errors at the ML level that one sees in 12 year-old little league games….and the same people could keep doing the same things for years….while the team couldn’t sustain any sort of winning.
If Mr. Reinsdorf wants to give speeches at the UN or sponsor a local food bank – bless him. But this is competitive sports at the highest level – Professional. It’s not winning at any cost that I’m discussing. It’s that discipline and tough love are a part of what people that participate in administrative and management positions understand is a part of the process. These players, administrators and other employees that a professional baseball franchise employs are making very good money – sometimes in the hundreds of millions of dollars. They’re supposed to be grown adults. Holding them accountable to do their jobs correctly is hardly oppressing them. In fact, making them dependent on you instead of growing them to be self-sufficient along with creating their own identity is – as the American media would say: “Not a good look”.
Kenny Williams at age 59 is coming off as some sort of chronological adult that never grew up. Like a character in a William Faulkner novel.
Correction –
Williams was GM from 2000 to 2012, and Executive Vice President VP from 2013 to 2023.
More than 14 years….which makes the situation even more pathetic.
Samuel – I think I am confused. Are you suggesting diplomatic work to maintain world peace and the current world order is considered lower than ‘professional sports at the highest level’?
Let’s all stop being hypocrites… if you were in his shoes, 87, billionaire, of sound mind and loved baseball, you wouldn’t sell, you’d stay on that ride for as long as it lasted. It’s not like he needs the money. And it’s not like the franchise could expect to be competitive every season. They just won a WS 18 seasons ago, that’s a lot better than many franchises can claim.
This is the stupidest take of all time. Baseball doesn’t belong to singular geriatric billionaires it’s Americas pastime and if you’re fine with these clowns ruining it you’re part of the problem.
I admire your altruism, but we, the people, are in charge of damn little these days. If you don’t think the billionaires own us, you need to get out more.
Thanks for the economic critique Karl but I fully understand that the wealthy have more power in this country than those who work and yet somehow it still doesn’t magically absolve them from souring every single aspect of society as we know it by turning everything we love into some sad profit extraction scheme. This is inexcusable incompetence and someone should pay for it. Don’t own a team if you don’t have the motive to win.
Uggla? – Wait are you ‘Karl’? Or is telling someone what and how to do with what they own, bc you disagree with it, something different?
Enjoy the game so long as you’re willing to swallow what they’re serving.
I didn’t comment on whether I liked It or not. I’m just observing reality.
Adorable.
DanUgglasRing: You and me are of one mind.
Not so sure from his recent decision to hire Getz that he is of sound mind. If Reinsdorf loved baseball, he would have made more of an effort to put a winning team on the field. The White Sox have been to the playoffs only 6 times in full seasons in the 43 years he has been the controlling partner. 2nd worst in baseball over that time period. They have only won a playoff series in ONE season.
Yeah the Getz hire sounds like the opposite of trying to win.. its more like the ‘Chairman’ saying “Ohh, I have to interview people to get someone who is good enough to win?That sounds like a lot of work… Who is the highest ranking member of the org now? Oh Ok, lets plug him in so I can go back to counting my money”
Dark day for light sox.
season ticket holders need to make a statement, I’m one and I canceled mine.
had mine for 15 years…
Congrats! The primary source of income for the operating company is likely from TV and revenue sharing. Season ticket holders keep the current season afloat. They can mitigate that with a bad product and you’ll still pay the price. Kind of weird, I know.
Actually, the funniest thing I heard recently other than Reinsdorf’s press conference was an announcer on a Dbacks broadcast calling the ALC “Comedy Central”.
I feel for you Sox fans. First Getz gets named GM, then Reinsdorf holding the Sox hostage with his cold dead hands.
Everytime I hear Getz I think of that guy who killed people on a NY subway a number of years ago. His son, perhaps?
Well, he’s not Stan Getz, who really knew how to play…..
Reinsdorf is a cpa and tax attorney, he isn’t selling during his lifetime b/c of the massive tax savings for his heirs.
Einsdorf and Reinhorn need to sell.
I know you’re joking but Einhorn has been dead and buried for a while now. We have Eddie to blame for the RSN model that is falling apart now.
It was fun when I was a kid growing up in Chicago and could see over 90% of the games played by the Cubs and Sox broadcast on free TV. Well, until something called Sportsvision came along.
Finkel and Einhorn, Einhorn and Finkel
“The Sox opened this season with a player payroll north of $180MM, so there should be a decent amount of room to add from the middle tiers of free agency.”
Therein lies the problem.
Winning teams shop the top tier free agents.
Good news for the rest of the AL Central
You perfectly state the entire problem with this team when you mention “the middle tiers of free agency.”
Until this team stops operating like a small-market team in a large market, nothing will change. Until this team ditches the idiotic notion that three $10 million AAV players is a better use of money than one $30 million AAV superstar, nothing will change.
This team had obvious flaws, and the highest Reinsdorf was willing to go was 5/$75 to a 2ish-WAR LF who has hit a grand total of 5 home runs in 5 months.
I’ve said before that it’s difficult being a fan of this team and currently I don’t know if things can get any worse for the White Sox.
Guess we’ll just have to see how Getz’ KoolAid is compared to good ol fashioned Rick and Kenny KoolAid. Good news is that the off season is approaching so we won’t have to wait too long. My personal favorite flavor of Sox KoolAid is “Perennial Contender”.
The White Sox are not going to spend on free agents. The most they have ever spent on a player was Andrew Benintendi at five years $75 million. It’s not going to be a quick rebuild their AA team is 31 games under 500 and the AAA team is 35 games under 500. White Sox fans don’t go to the ball park unless the team is in contention which means the place is empty quite a bit. And it’s been reported that the ones that show up appear to be hiding guns in their belly fat, so the White Sox have a lot of work to do on the field and in the park.
Reinsdorf guaranteed it won’t get better before he goes with his hiring of Getz. He just promoted the guy that is responsible for the shitshow that is his farm system and player development
White Sox are not going to leave Chi-town but Reinsdork does need to sell. Too bad we can’t resurrect Bill Veeck
It’ll be interesting to see this off-season how Getz fills out a deplete roster with few MLB-ready prospects. They’ll need to mine the bottom of the barrel on FA starters – who Jerry has to OK. Would they keep Clevinger? Would they be in on Flaherty, or more likely Carrasco? You wouldn’t need much to stay semi-competitive in the Central – but a rotation of Cease, Kopek, Eder, Flexen & Carrasco ain’t gonna cut it.
I have no skin in the game now, but…if you aren’t going to sell the team, then run the dang team. No excuses being in a large market.
I wish Illich would sell the Tigers.
I AM SICK OF BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF.
I have been a White Sox fan since I got my first glove, a Nellie Fox signature model, back around 1955. I will continue to be a fan as long as they are in Chicago, but a move out of there would sorely test my loyalty. And building a whole new stadium would be a huge waste of money and would accomplish nothing — just renovate what needs upgrading. I would like to see the team sold to someone who would leave its location and stadium alone and would spend some money on quality, young free agents.
Nellie was one of my boyhood favorite players.
Got a large picture from the Tribune about 20 years ago of Rocky Colavito sliding into him at 2B. Framed it.
Not a White Sox fan, but I always feel bad for fans of teams with bad owners.
I wish Jerry liked playing bridge. Or mah jong. Or whist. We need to get that man a hobby.
I think the real reason why this miser is not ‘selling the team’ is because no one wants to give him what he would want for it so he is spinning it as ‘Well.. I did not want to really sell it anyway…”
Cannot wait to see his face when the mayor of Chicago and the Gov of the state tell him to pound sand when get comes begging for a new stadium.. I already know his play.. Who every loses in the Bears Stadium sweepstakes, he thinks he will just swoop in and get something for nothing.. Good luck miser….
The saddest of all that is left is Grifol and you’re gone keep him?
His in game decision making is always behind the best mlb managers and even average to below average managers. He calls on guys to get ready wayyyyy too late and is always playing catch-up. He leaves the starters in and really doesn’t think about matchups and who the opponent will counter with. I don’t really comprehend how you keep a guy that bad and we haven’t even gone into his press conferences and how bad a leader he has been in the clubhouse. The stupidity astounds me. As a 40 year season ticket holder this is completely unacceptable. Just his post game press conferences alone should kick him out of the managers role. He sounds like an agitated baby. How is that good for the players or the fans? It’s insane to keep Pedro after this season. Why you gave a guy multiple years when he had nowhere to go is insane. And get rid of Katz. He couldn’t keep his boy giolito in line and let the pen explode. Same with every starter he touches. Get rid of those 2.
This is also the.. ahem.. ‘manager’ that publicly stated that, 2/3 into the season, he did not realize that the team needed leadership and he was going to look into that and try to be a better leader… yeah, thats right.. 2/3 into the season and only after Middleton aired the Sox dirty laundry after being traded….. Grifol just sounds clueless, a guy trying to be the ‘good guy’ in the locker room and not make any sort of ripples in the locker room or dare question the Management…He reminds me a LOT of Ventura ‘managing’ this club (that caused the first tear down by the way).
I mean Getz publicly stating Grifol is going nowhere just reinforces the lack of accountability and bad behavior in the locker room. I and others have said it before, the Sox need a manager who is an ass-kicker in the locker room who assumes the leadership until a player comes in and challenges him to be that leader. Yeah and Katz can go sleep away the game in another dugout somewhere.