Chris Getz had the sort of résumé only Jerry Reinsdorf could love.
He ran player development for an organization that struggled to develop players, moved into the general manager’s chair without an outside search and promptly watched the White Sox lose 121 games. Asking fans to trust him after 2024 would have been insulting. Asking them to trust Reinsdorf for hiring him might have started a riot.
Getz deserves every ounce of criticism dumped on him. He also deserves credit for what the White Sox have become.
Go ahead and wince. It sounds strange over here, too.
Chris Getz has quietly rebuilt the White Sox
The White Sox woke up Saturday leading the AL Central with a 67–61 record. They had just swept the Tigers in Detroit, won a series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field and staged a wild comeback against the Mets.
Chicago trailed 4–0 on Friday before Miguel Vargas, Randal Grichuk and Colson Montgomery hit three consecutive home runs. Jake Rogers ended it with a two-run shot in the ninth.
Rogers had been with the White Sox for eight days.
He was claimed off waivers after bouncing through Pittsburgh, Boston and Detroit earlier this season. Getz found him rummaging around baseball’s discard pile, and Rogers already has one of Chicago’s biggest hits of the year.
Vargas is another Getz acquisition. His arrival in the three-team deal involving Michael Kopech and Tommy Pham did not bring immediate results, and plenty of people were ready to declare him another failed White Sox project. Chicago remained patient. Vargas is now helping drive a first-place lineup.
That patience also benefited Montgomery. His development has included enough twists to make fans question whether he would ever become the player Chicago envisioned. He is now hitting meaningful home runs in August while playing for a contender.
Those are not hypothetical wins on a prospect spreadsheet. They are producing in Chicago.
The Will Venable hire changed everything
The White Sox played better baseball almost immediately after Will Venable arrived. They did not win enough games in 2025, but they stopped carrying themselves like a team waiting for another disaster.
This season has supplied the payoff.
Venable has a legitimate case for AL Manager of the Year. His team has survived rough stretches, handled a division race without becoming tight and repeatedly responded after ugly losses. Friday’s comeback did not feel miraculous. It felt like something this version of the White Sox might actually do.
Getz hired him.
General managers are blamed for choosing the wrong manager, signing the wrong players and making the wrong trades. Getz cannot become invisible simply because several of his decisions are working.
He added Munetaka Murakami to provide real power. He brought in Luis Castillo when the rotation needed help. Most important, he resisted tearing apart the roster once the White Sox became surprise contenders.
Getz could have sold veterans, collected prospects and requested another two years of patience. Nobody would have been shocked. Rebuilding teams have turned that excuse into an art form.
Instead, he gave this group a chance to finish what it started.
Nobody needs to forgive the White Sox
One winning season will not clean the blood off 2024. Getz worked inside the organization before receiving complete control, and Reinsdorf still hired him through a process that felt embarrassingly narrow.
Fans were right to question it.
They are also watching a young, entertaining team lead its division in late August. Getz selected the manager, assembled the roster and avoided smothering an unexpected contender with another selloff.
Maybe Reinsdorf hired Getz for all the wrong reasons.
The irritating part is that he may have hired the right person.
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