White Sox GM Chris Getz bet on himself

In a candid weekend conversation, newly elevated White Sox GM Chris Getz said he believed—despite widespread skepticism—that the organization’s first major-house internal hire was the right direction, and he tied the team’s turnaround to a focus on rebuilding

When Jerry Reinsdorf promoted Chris Getz to first-time general manager a day after firing Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn late in the 2023 season. the message was clear: the White Sox weren’t just changing leaders—they were trying to change the direction of the franchise. The move was announced a day after Getz’s 40th birthday. and it landed with a thud for plenty of fans and media.

Getz understands that reaction. In a candid weekend conversation with the Sun-Times, he said he knew “people outside of the walls — and plenty of people, probably, inside — didn’t believe it was a good move and wanted someone from the outside.”

But Getz also insisted he never wavered. “I believed at the time that it was the right move. I did,” he said. “I just felt there was such opportunity to improve this place, and I saw it and I felt it. I was just so motivated to get this right — honestly. probably more than anyone else — and I think Jerry recognized that.”.

At the same time, the Sox were in the middle of a season that made the stakes impossible to ignore. While the team swept the Tigers at Rate Field, Getz was scouting an NCAA tournament regional at UCLA. There, home to shortstop Roch Cholowsky, was the player the Sox might be choosing with the No. 1 overall draft pick in July. Possessing that top pick has become heady business for a franchise that, not long ago, was barely holding on.

In Getz’s first season as GM—2024—the White Sox bottomed out at 31-109. recording their lowest winning percentage of .221. not counting April. As he spoke Saturday morning. the Sox were about to improve to 31-27. an 82-loss difference that would have sounded impossible coming off the worst stretch of their rebuild.

“It’s something you don’t want to take for granted,” Getz said. “How can you take it for granted after going through what we did?”

On Sunday—the last day of May—the Sox won their 32nd game, something that the 2024 team didn’t manage until September. Getz described his approach in terms of a front-office rebuild “on down,” but he returned again and again to the idea that results have a cultural base.

“When you can get the right people and set the direction and just focus on the work and look for opportunities to improve. culturally. players start to play to their ceilings or perhaps even beyond what expectations are. ” he said. “That’s where this organization needed to go, and it was lacking. There was underperformance. Players weren’t performing to expectations.”.

One of the clearest, most visible pieces of that direction has been Munetaka Murakami. On Friday, a hamstring issue strained Murakami, and he was expected to miss time described by Getz as a “four-weeker.” Even so, no player has helped Getz’s pitch for the turnaround more than the Japanese slugger.

Getz had already stuck his neck out when Murakami was introduced. At that time. he called him “one of the most prolific power hitters on the planet” and said. “Mune is going to be a star in this game” and. “It can’t be overstated how significant this boost is.” Those were gushing statements. They would have been used against Getz and the Sox if Murakami had failed.

“I felt it. I believed it,” Getz said. “Thankfully, it’s played out in support of those statements.”

Still, the bigger question hovering over every impressive moment is what happens next. With Murakami’s deal described as two years and $34 million, Getz was asked what it will mean if the Sox don’t keep him in the center of their plan after that contract runs its course.

“Everything that he gets in the future, he’s earning,” Getz said. “I’m really happy for him. This has worked out tremendously for both parties, for the White Sox and for Mune. I know he loves it here, and we’re going to try to keep him here. That’s all I’ve got to say.”

That hesitation doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Within baseball, the Sox have become known as a team that rarely—or never—lands players on nine-figure contracts, a trait shared by only one other franchise: the Athletics.

Getz said he has never let that idea frame his thinking. “I’ve never thought about it, ever. I just haven’t,” he said. “I’ve heard that being talked about publicly, but I’ve never had an agent bring that up, never had a player bring that up. There will be a time that we do that.”

The conversation then turned to the resources the rebuild will require to become something more than a short-term lift. The question was blunt: would Jerry Reinsdorf afford Getz the money to build a championship team?

“Yes,” Getz said. “There’s this assumption that whoever has the most resources wins the championship, which I don’t believe in, but I think in all reality you do need added resources to pursue a World Series championship. But I’m confident it’ll be there.”

There is also a national baseball worry that doesn’t care how hopeful a team is: the growing wariness around a prolonged impasse between owners and players that could drag into the 2027 season, potentially derailing momentum. Getz acknowledged the stakes without sounding alarmed.

“I have faith that this is going to be worked out and that whatever changes are made and whatever adjustments need to be made. we’ll make them. ” he said. “We’ve got a talented group to figure this out. whether it be in the front office. throughout the organization and in the player group. It doesn’t stop.”.

He added. “I know literally games could be at risk. but our commitment to move in this and continue to keep the momentum does not stop. This isn’t about creating something for [winning] windows or cycles. This is a constant pursuit of looking for opportunities to bring in talent and develop them into what we know is a winning style of baseball.”.

For now, Getz is the one in the driver’s seat, and the organization’s fortunes have moved enough to make skepticism feel less comfortable. Even he seems to lean on the memory of how hard this would be.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but what an opportunity to make this place one of the top organizations in baseball,” he said. “I felt like it could be. I’ve always felt that way. I was just so confident that I could do it, that I could bring in the people to help me and figure this out.”

White Sox Chris Getz Jerry Reinsdorf Kenny Williams Rick Hahn Munetaka Murakami NCAA tournament Roch Cholowsky MLB labor impasse 2027 season