Chris Getz maintains faith in Pedro Grifol, but open to White Sox roster changes

Although Chris Getz was formally introduced as White Sox general manager last week, his introductory period is going to last a while, because every appearance he makes before he can actually act is part of the “How’s This Actually Going To Be Different From Before?” U.S. tour.

That remains an open question, because when it comes to the manager, nothing will change. Speaking in Detroit on Saturday, Getz maintained that Pedro Grifol is his guy, and the circumstances are more to blame.

“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.”

There’s no doubt that Grifol inherited a mess that’ve already reached its breaking point, and looking back what I wrote before Opening Day, it turns out I was more correct than intended.

If Grifol nails his debut, then leadership was the problem the whole time. If the Sox stumble, then … leadership is still the problem, just one rung higher. Grifol is inheriting some issues, but he won’t have to pay for their sins, which is one reason why he doesn’t see much of a point in talking about them.

Indeed, Grifol won’t face the same consequences that befell Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn, but that paragraph still feels off because Grifol’s been a bigger all-around dud than I could’ve ever imagined. There’s nothing to suggest he’s worth preserving if Getz is open to turning over everything else.

So what will change? When it comes to the roster, Getz might post an “OPEN FOR BUSINESS” sign.

“We’re a team that needs to get more athletic,” Getz said. “I spoke about the defense, I think we’ve seen some of the baserunning that’s been frustrating, whether that be related to effort or the ability to take the extra base, all things that are being evaluated and most likely need to be adjusted.

“In regards 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 (55-86 entering Saturday), 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.”

We watched Hahn identify right field and second base as problems every September, because he couldn’t identify a solution to those problems every winter, so we shouldn’t take Getz at his word. But if Jerry Reinsdorf didn’t want to see some overhaul of the roster, I don’t think he would’ve bothered overthrowing the front office, because he’s only moved by Chernobyl-grade disasters.

In the meantime, based on that first paragraph, I wonder if we’re watching Eloy Jiménez’s final weeks in a White Sox uniform.

Spare Parts

• Nationals’ potential sale, Rizzo’s lack of extension causing tension in D.C. — The Athletic

While the White Sox never interviewed Mike Rizzo despite the mutual connections, it wasn’t because an extension with the Nationals was imminent. Ken Rosenthal makes it sounds like Washington ownership is pulling a power play, although Rizzo’s been there so long that he comes off as a bit of a hoarder.

Why not just be done with Rizzo rather than continue with this painful public charade, which so far includes the resignation of Rizzo’s longtime international scouting director, John Dipuglia, and the decisions not to renew the contracts of at least 14 scouts? […]

Rizzo can be mercurial, according to Nationals sources who spoke on condition of anonymity in exchange for their candor. The team was slow to embrace analytics and has struggled to develop pitching. And Rizzo’s current staff, without question, is a tad bloated. The Nationals’ directory currently lists 12 special assistants to the GM, a number rival execs find astonishing. Half of them are not getting renewed.

• For Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López, a surreal weekend in Anaheim — Los Angeles Times
• Giolito’s turnaround outing likely too little, too late for Guardians — MLB.com

The “turnaround” in the headline was a muted one, because Lucas Giolito still gave up four runs on three homers over seven innings. He fell to 1-7 since leaving the White Sox, although he did lower his ERA to 8.02. But I bring this up because of this paragraph in the first story:

He blamed himself for the underwhelming performances while crediting the Angels pitching, analytics and biomechanics staffs for helping him make quick adjustments that he said improved his velocity and the ride on his fastball.

Indeed, Giolito’s fastball averaged 94 mph during the month of August, after flattening out at 92.6 mph in July. It didn’t seem to matter much, but it’s something to keep in mind when figuring out what we should think of Ethan Katz.

• Rays ‘highly optimistic’ about getting St. Petersburg stadium deal done — Tampa Bay Times

This registers as a surprise, because when it came to the Rays’ persistent attendance issues, I bought the idea that the location had nearly as much to do with it as the dome. Even if they build up the neighborhood around the new ballpark better, it’s still hard to escape the fact that a causeway separates the ballpark from where most of the people in the Tampa Bay area live.

Still, this stadium would eliminate one issue that prevents Major League Baseball from turning to expansion, unless they want to treat Miller Park and Guaranteed Rate Field as equal matters of urgency in order to extract more public funds (they shouldn’t).

Take a second to support Sox Machine on Patreon