Maybe Chicago White Sox general manager Chris Getz knows what he is doing after all.
He failed to maximize his best trade asset, Erick Fedde, at the trade deadline. It was because he did not want to help a division rival improve this year despite the Sox being buried in last place.
Since then, Getz has made some much-needed shake-ups in the team's leadership.
First, he finally got clearance from owner Jerry Reinsdorf to fire Pedro Grifol as manager.
While the move was too late to save this season, it at least showed that Getz was seeing the reality we were all seeing.
That reality was that Grifol was not qualified to manage a Single-A club, arrogant, and the players he craved to play his bad style of baseball set the franchise back years.
Getz has not stopped getting rid of people in power in the organization that has helped the team decay.
While he cannot get rid of Reinsdorf, he has been able to get approval to get rid of some scouts who assisted in the team's decline.
The White Sox also dismissed Marco Paddy, who was in charge of their international operations. So five scouts were let go Wednesday, which included Duraka Shaheed, who remained with the White Sox the entire season and in the organization for 21 years. https://t.co/eaE5RLF2QO
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) September 5, 2024
Marco Paddy was responsible for bringing Luis Robert Jr. to the club and was the 2022 International Scout of the Year.
The problem was a lot of the signings that earned him that award did not pan out. Yoelqui Céspedes, Norge Vera, Micker Adolfo, and Yolbert Sanchez were major signings but none of them reached the big leagues and are no longer with the franchise.
To show how bad the Sox got at the all-important international free-agent area to acquire talent, Lenyn Sosa is about the only recent accomplishment of that department in getting a player to the majors. The only accomplishment is Sosa made the big leagues.
That is why despite Paddy doing his best to fix the Sox' reputation after a massive bonus-skimming scandal (subscription required to access link) under the previous leadership, he had to go.
The White Sox also had to shake up the pro scouting department. These are not advanced scouts that the team let go. These are scouts who helped the front office determine what prospects to target in trades.
The Sox have had mixed success lately in that area. While the arrow is still pointing toward Getz still being overmatched and not capable of pulling off the biggest turnaround, these are signs that maybe he is being underestimated.
If he can hire the right people to replace those who have departed, then maybe he might be the right guy for the job.