Jerry Reinsdorf proves nothing will change with Chicago White Sox

It is very rare for a professional sports team to lose the press conference where a new general manager is introduced.

Typically, the day is meant to represent change as a fresh new voice is in charge and ready to embark on a new direction.

That was not the case for the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.

If there was a rare individual who was excited over the news that Chris Getz had been promoted to be the next general manager of the White Sox, it was quickly lost before Getz could even say his first words under his new position.

White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf spoke with reporters on two separate occasions on Thursday, one session with his media cronies where he went mostly unchecked in his responses and another at the actual press conference to introduce Getz. Reinsdorf did not take any questions at the actual press conference.

Regardless, the damage was done.

Jerry Reinsdorf spoke with reporters on Thursday and don’t expect change for the Chicago White Sox.

In a 30-minute session with handpicked reporters in his office, Reinsdorf seemingly confirmed every preconceived notion about his reign of terror over the White Sox organization. Reinsdorf laughed at the idea of the team signing Shohei Ohtani this off-season while saying that Getz will have full autonomy over the baseball operation but will not have control over the budget.

Reinsdorf defended Getz in his role of overseeing the White Sox’s minor league system because the White Sox have had players make the Major League level but that can be said about every organization in Major League Baseball. Having players make the Major Leagues from the minor league system is not the goal. It is having those players reach the Major League level and prove to be successful while continuing their development. That is where the White Sox have failed and is a large part of the reason why Getz is not qualified to be the general manager of the team.

Getz, to his credit, did not really say anything that warrants criticism during his introductory remarks but any momentum there was toward this being a signal of change for the White Sox was lost when Reinsdorf decided to open his mouth.