General manager Chris Getz knew there could be challenges for the 2024 White Sox, but perhaps not the record-setting pace for losses the team currently finds itself on.
The Sox entered Monday’s series opener against the Cleveland Guardians with 111 losses and 18 games remaining. The modern-day MLB record for most season losses is 120 by the 1962 expansion New York Mets.
“I think if you would have told me (before the season) we were going to end up flirting with the (major-league) record (for losses) I would have been a little surprised,” Getz said Monday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field. “Now if you would have told me prior to the year that we would have ended up with over 100 losses, 105, 110, I wouldn’t have been as surprised. But this is the cards that we’ve been dealt at this point.
“You try to make the best of it, and I think it’s an opportunity to embrace the situation that we’re in. As someone that grew up in Detroit, we saw the Tigers in 2003 with 43 wins (and an American League-record 119 losses) and three years later, we’re in the World Series. I view it as kind of the frustrating part of the story, but I also know that the future’s looking bright and it’s going to make it just that much sweeter once we get there.”
That future will soon include a new manager. The Sox remain focused on candidates who are in uniform with other organizations for their next skipper.
“We haven’t begun the permission process (for interviews),” Getz said. “What we’ve done is we’ve built out a process that we feel very good about. Simultaneously, we’ve been able to collect names through referrals or our own research, and we feel pretty good about the amount of candidates that we have.
“Once we get our season to the finish line, we’ll devote more time and begin the interview process.”
Getz discussed the managerial search, changes to the international operations and provided an update on third baseman Yoán Moncada’s rehab assignment while meeting with reporters before Monday’s game against the Guardians.
There’s no firm timetable for when they’d like to have the new manager in place.
“More than anything, I want to be respectful to other organizations with what they’re trying to accomplish,” Getz said. “And with that being said, we want to finish strong here and finish our season the best that we can. Come October, we’ll have a little more time and be very intentional on the interviews. And then eventually, we’ll get to the finish line.
“But in regard to really defining the timeline, we’re not going to rush into anything, we’re going to be as thorough as possible and then make the best decision for the White Sox.”
The desire to “improve our process,” led to changes to international operations.
“(Former special assistant to the GM, international operations) Marco (Paddy) was here for years, and he accomplished a lot,” Getz said. “We’ve got players on our major-league club that are a reflection of his work. However, where we are right now, we’re in the works of building a new academy, more so focused on the scouting process, it’s different from what you’ll see on the amateur side, we need to make a little bit more of a comprehensive approach.
“So our focus is on building out that process, and the leadership will come once that process is built. We’re going to do that from our front office, and we’ll make a decision from there.”
As the remainder of the season unfolds, it remains to be seen what’s in line for Moncada. The third baseman, who has been on the injured list since April 10 with a left adductor strain, is 9-for-26 (.346) with three doubles, one home run and four RBIs in eight rehab games with Triple-A Charlotte.
“He’s going to continue rehabbing in Charlotte,” Getz said. “He’s been responding well, but at this point, we want to continue to make sure he’s in a good spot and he feels good about where his body’s at before we make a decision on bringing him back.
“Going into this year, we were banking on Yoán playing third base and being healthy. Now, his body had something different in mind. Yeah, it’s frustrating that we didn’t have that on the field regularly for us because it would have made us more competitive. But he’s in Charlotte right now, and he’s healthy now, and we’ll take it from there.”
