ORLANDO, Fla. -- White Sox manager and human metronome Will Venable was his typical upbeat and energetic self at the 8 a.m. manager's "luncheon" on Wednesday, and the club's baseball operations department was well-represented at the 2 p.m. Rule 5 draft.
So there was no upfront evidence of how hard the White Sox contingent celebrated winning the MLB draft lottery Tuesday night, other than all the easy grins they continued to flash while passing through the halls of the Signia Hilton on Wednesday. Crisp daps and bro hugs were available for anyone who seemed interested in receiving one.
"You can still feel the excitement in our room," said a still-ebullient Chris Getz. "I'm sure that is extended in Chicago and our fan base. Everyone that's touching the Chicago White Sox right now is diving into the upcoming draft and what are some of the possibilities, and I would imagine that's going to continue and pick up as we get closer. We feel really good about it. Once again, just a boost to what we're already doing."
While lottery ping-pong balls might have done most of the heavy lifting for the good feelings, the Sox also say they feel their infield defense will improve enough to get the best out of ground-ball artist Anthony Kay, and had a pitching development heat check of a Rule 5 draft where they added two pitchers who haven't reached Double-A while leaving Peyton Pallette available to get gobbled up by the Cleveland Guardians.
"There's more evidence to point to, versus ideas," said Getz, asked why he feels like the White Sox are more confident. "Now we have some real proof that we're heading in the right direction. Talking to other clubs and getting feedback from them and how they see us and view us, they see it coming as well. That's reassuring, that's nice to hear, but we've got work to do. Certainly it's nice to have some momentum."
As far as momentum toward making the moves that people expect from these meetings, which the Sox didn't actually make the past three days, Getz made and reiterated a specific point on Sunday.
"Most of our focus is very much on the free agent front, more so than trade," Getz said.
It's not like the White Sox didn't have check-ins on Luis Robert Jr. this week, but they've also been surveying offers for him for the better part of the last two years, so there's no reason not to take that at face value. But still, let's focus on trade discussion first.
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Publicly and privately, the White Sox keep insisting they are unlikely to trade away from their catching surplus. That's both not keeping away the most delirious of suitors like the Red Sox's reported repeated attempt to call backsies on Kyle Teel, nor keeping another source from telling Sox Machine that Edgar Quero is indeed being shopped by the White Sox in trade talks, albeit in pursuit of a large return.
Provided the platform to weigh in, Getz once more downplayed the possibility of the Sox trading any of their young core, even one of the pieces that may become extraneous with time.
"The focus is really continuing to add talent, not necessarily repurpose," Getz said. "We're still forming, we're still developing, players are still developing. Certainly it's our job to support these guys, but we're more focused on their continual development more than anything, rather than trying to plug holes with some of our players who can be here for a long time."
For what it's worth, Sox officials continue to indicate that they don't feel Quero is near peak value yet, and covet the opportunity to have bench coach Walker McKinven work with the 22-year-old receiver on his framing after it was rated at the bottom of the league last year per Statcast. Additionally, even if Teel is viewed as having a higher offensive ceiling with better framing, Quero's feel for game-calling and managing pitchers is viewed as currently superior among the two, and his makeup and intensity is revered by the coaching staff.
Perhaps the best way to reconcile all these seemingly divergent pieces of information is that while the White Sox are looking into what returns are available for Quero, but know they are unlikely to get the value they are seeking until the young switch-hitter's on-field performance more closely matches their view of his ceiling. Or, perhaps they really are just not that interested in breaking up their young group.
"You look at the roster right now with some of these young players and you want to continue to see how things play out with them and continue to develop those players and see what level of impact that they can make," Getz said. "You certainly don't want to create any sort of disruption in their development because if you do that, it's not a benefit to the Chicago White Sox. Finding additions to this club just remains a focus and it's an easier access point using free agency."
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Tangentially related, Will Venable stated that the primary difference in McKinven's workflow as he takes control of major league catching instruction will just be in-game responsibilities.
"This guy's got a massive capacity for work, so adding catchers to his plate is not going to take him away from other things," Venable said. "That might show up in some of our executing some things in-game. Walker was always free to kind of move around and get a player ready or go get on the bullpen phone and he might be busy with the catching staff and not be able to use that, that kind of stuff, but I think mainly he functions the same."
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Eight different White Sox relievers recording a save last year was clearly somewhat driven by personnel, but the current leadership also aren't huge believers in the necessity of having a single, uniform closer.
"More than [anything], we’re looking to help our bullpen," Getz said. "There's different ways of doing that. I wouldn’t say it’s a set closer, so to speak. It would be nice to get someone who has closer experience, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a ninth-inning guy, or even an eighth-inning guy. Someone that can help in higher-leverage situations is something that we’re set out to add to."
Of course, price point also plays a role here, as proven closer status also has a way of inflating the prices of free-agent relievers beyond where a team with the Sox's budget this winter is willing to go.
For their interest in former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks, or any other high-leverage relief option, if their market mirrors the price set by Ryan Helsley, who got two years, $28 million from the Orioles coming off a down year preceded by three dominant ones, the Sox are likely not going to be the winning bid. A market closer to Kyle Finnegan's two-year, $19 million deal to return to Detroit, where he was excellent upon being acquired at the deadline, but had pitched more like a medium-leverage guy for years before (albeit while racking up saves and even an All-Star appearance for a rebuilding Nationals team), then it's more conceivable to see the Sox being competitive.
Speaking of being competitive, while the Getz-led White Sox front office has spoken about defense and not playing guys out of position a lot, maybe finishing 27th (last year) and 30th (2024) in team offense by wRC+ in his two seasons in charge has clarified what the GM would like to target in any corner outfield acquisition this winter.
"Corner outfield is an area that we feel like is an area that really can boost our overall production. I think primarily it’s really finding a bat that can help things and if that’s in the outfield that’s the most obvious place to look to add that," Getz said. "We look to create and acquire versatility. I don’t want to get obsessed with it either, because most importantly we want offensive production. But on top of that, defensive alignment. We’re putting together a lineup on a regular basis, there’s going to be days that we’re trying to put the best offense out there and there are times where we’re really trying to maximize our defense."
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Speaking of bats, Mike Tauchman is still a free agent after the White Sox non-tendered him and ducked his projected $3.4 million arbitration figure.
Quibbling with the likely size of the raise Tauchman was due after slashing .263/.356/.400 in 93 games doesn't sound like a great way to start a conversation about a reunion, and the 34-year-old coming off a meniscus surgery lends some uncertainty with a Sox roster that would need him to play the outfield. At the same time, Tauchman is a lefty bat that performed last year and who will obviously be in a lower price range, and the Sox offer the same level of opportunity that proved to be a match for the veteran last year.
Venable repeatedly talked up Tauchman's influence in meetings, and then wound up talking about him like he's only temporarily out of the organization when running down the Sox outfield options for next season.
"Obviously we lost Tauchman for the time being," Venable said.
Asked about the possibility of a Tauchman reunion, Getz struck a more neutral tone.
"We continue to talk about it," Getz said. "He did a nice job for us. Just having that veteran presence was helpful. We haven’t closed the door. But we are just going to continue to navigate the offseason."
