Moving on from Anderson one of many tough calls for new White Sox GM Getz
When new general manager Chris Getz met with the media late last season, he raised some eyebrows by saying he needed to do a "deeper dive" before determining how to fix an abysmal White Sox team that wound up losing 101 games.
Getz is starting to come up for air, but he's trying to avoid the bends given all that needs to be done to get a Sox team that went to the playoffs in 2020-21 back on track.
"You certainly don't want to get lost or overwhelmed with the amount of work that's in front of you," Getz told reporters Tuesday at MLB's general managers meetings in Phoenix. "You wake up each day and find ways to improve your ballclub. That's how we're approaching things, and it's one move at a time."
The White Sox made multiple coaching staff additions Tuesday, but the biggest early move for Getz came on Saturday when Tim Anderson's $14 million club option for next season was declined.
Anderson, the Sox's best all-around player and top leader not too long ago, is able to sign elsewhere after getting a $1 million buyout.
The 30-year-old shortstop - who won the American League batting title in 2019 (.335) and finished second the next year (.322) - dipped to .245 last season while playing subpar defense.
The initial thought was the White Sox pick up Anderson's relatively inexpensive $14 million option and give him another chance, but the two-time all-star seemed like he wanted to be anywhere but the South Side last season.
"The conversations with TA were difficult," Getz said. "Tim Anderson, what he's meant to the organization, there's not enough time to really go through the impact he's made. There were a lot of factors involved.
"But with the direction we're going, we had 101 losses last year so we have to fill so many holes on our club in both near-term and long-term. We felt it was the best decision to decline that option. We are open to bring TA back, but he's earned the right to see if there is a better opportunity for him."
As for the coaching staff, Marcus Thames is the White Sox's new hitting coach, Matt Wise is the new assistant pitching coach, Jason Bourgeois is the new first-base coach, Grady Sizemore is the new major-league coach and Drew Butera is the new catching coach.
Thames will try to breathe some life into a Sox team that ranked at or near the bottom of just about every offensive category last season.
Last season, the 47-year-old Thames was the Angels' hitting coach. He served in the same capacity with the Marlins in 2022 and the Yankees from 2018-21.
Manager Pedro Grifol said the White Sox's poor showing prompted the multiple coaching changes.
"Obviously, nobody wants to go through 101 losses," Grifol said. "But I've said this over and over again, that adversity is education and this has been more than an education for me. The good thing is I know this organization pretty well now. I kind of have a feeling of what we need to develop and so does Chris and so does the front office.
"We don't want to go through this again, so it's really important that we get the right guys on the staff. We feel like we certainly did a really good job of identifying some really talented coaches."