DETROIT — Inheriting the general manager’s reins for a team rolling its way toward 100 losses, Chris Getz is in a tough spot.
He said the same thing for White Sox manager Pedro Grifol, who Getz said last week would return for the second year of his contract.
“These last couple of weeks, I need to spend more time with Pedro, the coaching staff and the players just to learn more about areas that we need to get better,” Getz said before the Sox lost 3-1 to the Tigers on Saturday. “They are going to highlight some things that can help us do that swiftly, but I need to go through that assessment period first.”
So both of them, as well as the unnamed people who will be added to the front office after the season, have a massive workload ahead if they want to field a competitive team in 2024. Getz was asked why Grifol was the right person after overseeing a team that caused chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to fire executive vice president Ken Williams and GM Rick Hahn and promote Getz to the top decision-making position.
“Pedro came into a tough situation with the disappointment of 2022,” Getz said. “His experience is very valuable with all the different roles he’s had in this game. He’s experienced winning. He’s determined to get this right. I think that different type of support, he’ll benefit from. And the leadership starting with myself could really help him do that.”
Reinsdorf said the Sox’ core is good enough to make rebuilding unnecessary. A naysayer would say the core is at the heart of one of the worst teams in club history. And Getz is observant enough to know trading from the core might be the thing to do.
“I think so,” he said. “We’re a team that needs to get more athletic.”
Reading between the lines, that might speak to trading Eloy Jimenez, an offensive threat who isn’t running well and is currently restricted to designated-hitter duty.
“I spoke about the defense, we’ve seen some of the baserunning that’s been frustrating, whether that’s related to effort or the ability to actually take the extra base, all things that are being evaluated and most likely need to be adjusted,” Getz said.
“With regard to the makeup of the roster, it would be shortsighted not to at least exhaust or at least entertain some ways to improve the team. When you’re a sub-60-win team, which we are at this point, I certainly need to find ways to improve this for 2024. And if that means we need to acquire some players by moving some of the players who are on this roster, I’m willing to do that.”
Club options for closer Liam Hendriks, who wouldn’t be available until August or September because of Tommy John surgery, and shortstop Tim Anderson must be decided on.
“We know what [Anderson is] capable of doing,” Getz said, ‘‘the energy he can bring to a ballclub. And not having Liam around and TA more or less searching for himself right now I think has hindered us. Figuring out if these guys are going to be part of the club moving forward, we’re going to look at that closely. It deserves a lot of time before making that decision just because we’re talking about high-caliber major-league players.”
In the worst year of his career, Anderson has shown flashes, Getz said, but needs to show more consistency. And some long-lost power wouldn’t hurt.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you look up next year,’’ Getz said, ‘‘and all of a sudden he’s back to the Tim Anderson we’re accustomed to seeing. But it takes a lot of effort and focus to be a successful major-league player, and we need to make sure all these players are fully committed to being part of our group moving forward.”
