Report: White Sox promoting Getz to head of baseball operations Thursday
Before he took over as general manager in 2001, Kenny Williams spent eight years with the White Sox as a scout, special assistant to chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and director of minor-league operations.
Before Rick Hahn replaced Williams as general manager in 2012, he was the Sox's assistant GM for 12 years.
When it comes to filling the key front office position, Reinsdorf has clearly preferred promoting from within.
With Williams and Hahn both out of work after being fired right before the White Sox's Aug. 22 loss to the Mariners at Guaranteed Rate Field, Chris Getz has been the obvious choice to take over.
On Wednesday, 670-AM's Danny Parkins reported the Sox are going to make it official and announce Getz as the "new lead baseball decision maker" on Thursday.
During his playing days, Getz was twice drafted by the White Sox.
The second baseman was a sixth-round pick in 2002 out of Grosse Pointe South High School in suburban Detroit. Getz didn't sign, opting to go to college.
After playing one year at Wake Forest and two more at Michigan, Getz was drafted again by the Sox, on the fourth round in 2005. This time, he signed.
Getz made his major-league debut three years later and hit .262/.323/.346 with 2 home runs and 32 RBI over parts of two seasons with the White Sox.
In 2009, he was traded to the Royals, along with Josh Fields, for Mark Teahen.
Getz played four years with Kansas City and spent part of the 2014 season with Toronto before retiring.
He didn't walk away from the game when his playing days ended. Getz immediately joined the Royals as a baseball operations assistant/player development and spent two years on the job.
In his first season with K.C. (2015), the Royals won the World Series.
Shortly after the 2106 season, Getz was thrilled to rejoin the Sox as director of player development.
"It's really a great feeling because it's obviously a place where I got my career started," Getz said after landing that job. "Chicago became a home to me and really that whole process, the relationships I was able to build, it was something that will always be in my heart, something that always will be in my DNA.
"So when this opportunity arose to get back to Chicago and be a part of the White Sox organization, there was a great appeal."
Before the 2021 season, Getz added assistant general manager to his title.
Now, the 40-year-old executive is taking the next step up the ladder.
The official name for the new job might be president of baseball operations, executive VP or even general manger.
Former Royals GM Dayton Moore is rumored to be joining the Sox's front office as Getz's assistant.
No matter what the business card says, Getz is stepping into a difficult job. The White Sox underachieved last year, they're an abysmal 53-81 this season and major roster decisions need to be made soon.
When he was named assistant general manager in '21, Getz was asked if had GM aspirations.
"Well, you know, if an organization felt like I was the right person to do the job, I would welcome that," he said. "But with that being said, when you are part of an organization and live in a city like Chicago, this organization has been very good to me and my family and that goes back to my days as a player or even as an amateur.
"My wife and I are both Midwesterners. We really enjoy Chicago. We enjoy living here. We've been living in Chicago in and out for well over 10 years. It's always difficult to predict the future. We've got a lot of work to be done here within the organization and like I said earlier, I'm very grateful that Rick and his group has welcomed me in and continued to grow me as an executive."