Many assume that just because Sox Machine already ran a 2,000-word notes piece running down the main takeaways from Chris Getz's media session at the GM meetings, ended by a lengthy section titled "odds & ends," that there is nothing more to be mined from the White Sox executive's comments.
Wrong! Wrong.
Certainly the elements that might be considered news have been run through. This is more in the realm of things that Getz said on record that you may or may not find interesting, and since your support is why Sox Machine had a recorder in the scrum, why not share it?
Talking about the Garrett Crochet trade
The presence of Boston reporters at the GM meetings meant there were occasional floaters who swung by to see how the top White Sox decision-maker felt about shipping out Crochet, and watching him put together a Cy Young-caliber season. More than put on a brave face, Getz professed himself unsurprised by Crochet's breakout...
"I was not surprised that Garrett went out and did what he did. I was the first one to say it to teams that we're interested: this guy's about to take off, he is. And he went out and he did it."
...and if there was surprise, it was about how well the Sox made out.
"Candidly, they're maybe even a little bit better than we even thought," said Getz as began a rundown of all four players, where he suggested Chase Meidroth's hand injuries were a bigger factor than previously revealed. "We obviously felt really good about those players going in and that's why we did that deal. But about a year later, you look at it and it's wow, maybe we did even a little bit better than we originally thought."
Drew Thorpe is still largely tasked with returning impact from the Dylan Cease trade, and hasn't been healthy for the majority of his two years in Chicago. Subconsciously, the dissolution of Erick Fedde's performance has lowered expectations for his return, but it's up to Miguel Vargas to lift any part of the package beyond role player status. For a while now, the Crochet deal has been the trade which the team felt was most representative of an improved process, and the one for which they share some feedback they have received from around the league.
"Whether it be just our experience now with the Boston players that came back in return but talking around the league, we just felt like it was a really, really good trade for both sides," Getz said.
Coaching staff playing experience
Big league playing experience was a focal point for Grady Sizemore and subsequently Will Venable, because they were taking over for Pedro Grifol as White Sox manager, and it was an easy difference to point to for why they could forge better relations with players -- simultaneously saying a lot while saying very little. It's additionally been a focus for the Sox front office, where Getz, Josh Barfield and Paul Janish are all former big leaguers, ideally giving them more empathy toward players than other executives.
With that in mind, it felt notable that the White Sox hired lead hitting and pitching coaches who don't have so much as affiliated playing experience. Rather than simply refer to it as a non-factor in judging their coaching expertise, Getz termed it as part of an effort to develop a balance of perspectives.
"Having some level of playing experience could be super valuable. If we have an entire staff where that was the top priority, we’re going to come up short in all reality," Getz said.
"It starts with the human being, the care for the player, they need to feel like we’re on the same team. Now the content, content drives this as well. The human part can come in different shapes and sizes. The content, if you have good content and you’re a quality person, it’s a recipe for success. Now, to be able to have individuals in the clubhouse that understand the pressures of the game, the length of the season, understanding clubhouses - yeah, that’s important to me, that’s important to us. That’s why I’ve been intentional on individuals that I’ve brought in. With that being said, you bring up Derek and Zach with different backgrounds, I think they’re going to fit in great."
The requisite Luis Robert Jr. update
Interested teams felt the White Sox were valuing Robert closer to his ceiling than his baseline production before a Grade 2 hamstring strain ended his 2025 season, so as expected, the discussion of his trade market sounds pretty similar.
"We need to continue to listen," Getz said. "He's still very attractive, he is. Plenty of organizations have reached out or expressed interest. But that's been the case for a while. From our standpoint we look at not only what he did in that second half. But also what we anticipate him doing next year and future years. We believe in the player, we do. And so we don't want to be shortsighted if there's an opportunity that makes sense and if something needs strong consideration, we'll have those conversations. But if it doesn't come together, gosh, we're still very happy to have Luis Robert."
Publicly and privately, Sox officials claim they'd rather keep Robert than make a deal that doesn't move the needle. But whether constantly being a source of trade speculation puts Robert in a position to thrive is a repeated question.
"That's the nature of being a very good player in the major leagues," Getz said of the trade chatter. "There's a lot of noise that comes. It could be in your personal life, it could be in the media, it could be the fans. But when you get into that clubhouse and you play between the lines, it's about helping the team win, it is. So that noise needs to be minimized or canceled. It's possible that it's had an effect on them. I don't think it's had a necessarily a strong negative effect, but the fact that he has to answer those questions regularly, I'm sure can be a little irritating. But I know that he's liked playing for the Chicago White Sox. He's expressed that and it's our job to get the best version of him."
Lead by example
Getz's tenure with the organization almost exactly lines up with my time on the White Sox beat. It would seem that in that time, he's gleaned that even in an offseason that looks to be dominated by small time, one-year signings, there are limits to how much the public wants to hear about locker room presence.
"More than anything, we’re looking for individuals who are going to be productive on the field," Getz said. "We’ll do background work and our homework on those individuals. We’re still very intentional on who we’re bringing into the clubhouse. It’s always important, but probably more important now than ever just because the young players we have in there. There’s different ways to impact the game. It could be maybe more on the leadership side, but I don’t want to get carried away just chasing that. It’s vital to get on-field production."
