The White Sox's first additions to the front office under Chris Getz now have official positions.
Josh Barfield received top billing in the team's announcement, and he'll have the title of assistant general manager. Brian Bannister is coming aboard as the senior advisor to pitching, and Gene Watson will be the White Sox's new director of player personnel.
Barfield is listed on the White Sox front office page as the top employee in the Major League Operations section (Getz is considered an officer). He shares the same title as Jeremy Habser, so that could be a matter of alphabetical order.
Bannister's title is new, both for the team and for Bannister, who was previously the director of pitching for the Giants and Red Sox. Watson's director of player personnel position is also new, although media guides said Rick Hahn's duties included "oversight of all player personnel matters," so this might be a way of delegating some of the tasks as the Sox shift from two-headed monster to single decision maker.
If you care to hear how Getz sees it, the media release included this quote:
“We are very pleased to add Josh, Brian and Gene to our baseball operations decision-making and leadership group,” said Getz. “All three are highly respected baseball executives who bring different backgrounds, accomplishments and points of view to our department.
“Josh is a real rising front office star, Brian is recognized as one of the top pitching minds in the game, and Gene is acknowledged as one of the best talent evaluators in baseball. I am excited for them to get started working together as we define our new vision for the future and create a path to success for the White Sox organization.”
About 15 minutes after announcing the additions to the front office, the White Sox sent a separate release announcement the placement of Michael Kopech on the injured list following knee surgery. The procedure removed a cyst from his right knee, and recovery time is expected to take six to eight weeks. Yohan Ramírez is up from Charlotte to take his place on the 28-man roster.
Kopech now has a streak of end-of-season operations on his right knee. He had a torn meniscus repaired at the end of last September after pitching through knee pain for most of the season.
If there's any silver lining, it could mean that there's a documented issue underneath Kopech's months-long issues. Kopech will end up leading the league in walks* despite throwing fewer than 130 innings, and his velocity also dropped after the Sox moved him to the bullpen.
But while that might provide a reason behind the struggles, it doesn't really provide much of a path forward. The hope was that pitching through last season's knee injury built stamina and character, but it only led to a worse version of the same story.
| Year | IP | H | HR | BB | K | ERA | FIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 119.1 | 85 | 15 | 57 | 105 | 3.54 | 4.49 |
| 2023 | 129.1 | 115 | 29 | 91 | 134 | 5.43 | 6.47 |
If the White Sox want to open 2024 with Kopech in the rotation due to a lack of alternatives -- and the Sox have three spots to fill even if you treat him as a given -- this knee operation at least gives Kopech something physical and tangible from which to rebound. If it turns out that wasn't the reason for his problems, everybody should know in fairly short order.
As for Ramirez, the White Sox claimed him off waivers from the Pirates earlier this month. A glance at his 2023 line -- 1-0, 3.67 ERA, 26 G, 34.1 IP, 34 H, 3 HR,. 14 BB, 31 K -- makes one wonder why the Pirates were inclined to let the 28-year-old go, especially considering he throws 95-mph sinkers with a 60-percent ground-ball rate.
Then you look a little further and realize that he also plunked 10 batters over those 34⅓ innings. Here's a supercut:
Throw in six more HBPs over 27 innings in Triple-A between Indianapolis and Charlotte, and I'm sure elbow armor is prescribed on all scouting reports.
