Jerry Reinsdorf details thought process behind hiring Chris Getz as general manager

Time is a valuable commodity when running a baseball team.

Rebuilds, unlike in other professional leagues, take time.

That's why Jerry Reinsdorf decided to hire Chris Getz, the assistant general manager/leader of minor league operations, as the White Sox' new general manager.

Reinsdorf isn't interested in engaging in a rebuild. But the chairman knew he had to make a change in the front office. After dismissing General Manager Rick Hahn and Executive Vice President Kenny Williams, the latter in which he called the hardest firing of his career, Reinsdorf said he thought about his direction for appointing new leadership.

"I started talking to everybody in the baseball department," Reinsdorf said. "Then, I started getting convinced I had to make a change. And the change killed me. It wouldn't have been any harder for me to fire my son Michael [Reinsdorf] than it was to fire Kenny [Williams]. Because Kenny was my son, he's still my son.

"I started thinking 'Who's out there?' You don't make a change unless you know that you're going to be able to do something that you're going to improve.

"So I pretty much know who all the potential candidates who are out there, and there's some good guys out there, no question. There are some good guys who can be general managers and have been general managers that are gonna be general managers, maybe this next year.

"That moved me to the thought -- what is it I owe to the fans? I think one of the things I owe the fans is to get better as fast as we can possibly get better. Speed is of the essence. I don't want a long-term proposition.

"It became clear to me that he [Getz] would be one of the major candidates, alongside these other candidates. And then when I started thinking about the speed I owe the fans, I realized that if you bring in somebody from the outside, it's gonna take him a year, he's gonna have to evaluate everybody in the organization. So you'll lose a year."

Reinsdorf wants to save time. Instead of looking outside the organization and attempting to catch an outsider up to speed, he wanted someone who knew the organization. And someone who can bring the White Sox back to success without sustaining a long-term rebuild.

That's why Reinsdorf won't entertain the idea of selling at this point. He isn't interested in giving up his stake in the team at this point in his life.

"I don't have a lot of time left. I don't want to go through a long rebuild. I only expect to be here another 10 years," Reinsdorf said.

In 2016, then-general manager Rick Hahn, who was dismissed earlier this month, set the White Sox on a path to rebuild the team by stockloading the farm and selling off assets, including Chris Sale, Adam Eaton and José Quintana for lucrative returns including Yoán Moncada, Michael Kopech, Lucas Giolito, etc.

They didn't reach the playoffs until four seasons after they embarked on a rebuilding path. In 2020 and 2021, the White Sox made the playoffs, never making it past the divisional series. Then, after a current season of 30 games under .500, their anticipated championship window, unfortunately, closed on them quicker than they expected.

That led the White Sox to dismiss Hahn and Williams and inject Getz, quickly, as the leader of the front office.

Getz knows the White Sox. He has run their farm system since 2017, filing and developing today's major league roster from their minor leagues since he shifted front offices from the Kansas City Royals.

In Reinsdorf's opinion, he's just as valuable and qualified as any potential outside candidate. He became enthralled with Getz's work during his tenure as the leader of the minor league systems.

"I wanted baseball taught in the minor leagues a certain way where people understood what they were doing," Reinsdorf said. "They understood what's the right thing to do in a certain situation. And nobody ever did it right - until Chris [Getz] came along. And this I observed, you know, a couple of years ago. I was thrilled."

This time around, it'll be different in the front office, too.

The structure and hierarchy will be different than the last. Instead of, seemingly, having two people (Hahn and Williams) working in tandem, Getz has full autonomy -- except when it comes to spending money, Reinsdorf affirmed.

That's their plan. And to Reinsdorf, it's the one that makes the most sense, given the team's circumstances.

"If I got a guy on the inside who can do the job, why not? Why not do it and save a year?" Reinsdorf said.

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