Watson goes to work helping White Sox 'find best players we can'

It doesn't take a baseball savant to figure out the White Sox's biggest problem - they need better players.

Gene Watson was hired as the Sox's director of player personnel late last week to help make that happen.

"We want to get baseball players," Watson said Friday. "We want to get guys when they show up, they are going to give you 27 outs and play as hard as they can. So that's ultimately what we are evaluating right now. Just turning over every rock to find the best players we can."

Watson didn't have to make too many introductions when he arrived at Guaranteed Rate Field earlier week to meet the front office.

"The thing that has resonated all week long is how it feels like we've been together for a long time," Watson said. "Everybody's kind of talking the same language and excited about the things we're going to be able to do. It's going to be fun."

Watson has over 25 seasons of scouting experience, and he's familiar with new general manager Chris Getz, manager Pedro Grifol and new senior advisor/pitching Brian Bannister from their days together in Kansas City.

For the last two years, the 54-year-old Watson was the Royals' vice president of major-league scouting/assistant general manager. From 2006-20, he was in a variety of scouting roles.

"He's wonderful," said Grifol, who was with K.C. for 10 years before being hired as White Sox manager last November. "He's really, really well-versed in the game, very creative. He was one of the main reasons that Kansas City did what they did in (20)14 and '15 (World Series). He really knows the landscape of the game, he knows the landscape of other teams. He's going to be really good for us."

Since the Sox aren't doing a complete rebuild, Watson said his job leading the scouting department won't be working from the ground up.

"We've got stars," Watson said. "We've got stars on the field. We've got to put players around them that love to play the game with them and know how to play and that's what we're going to work for."

Kopech update:

After having successful surgery to have a cyst removed from his right knee on Sept. 22, Michael Kopech should be up and running in a month or so and be ready to compete for a starting job in spring training.

Before having his knee repaired, Kopech lost his rotation spot after going 5-12 with a 5.12 ERA in 27 starts.

"The best decision for the White Sox and for Michael was to get (the surgery) done now so he can get as strong as possible for next season," general manager Chris Getz said. "He hasn't had a smooth and normal path and preparation for a spring training in a while. That's why we decided on the timing. I know there's some tweaks we can make with his arsenal. But we've seen the fastball capabilities, we've seen the slider capabilities. We need a consistent third pitch."