SAN ANTONIO — The Chicago White Sox were active early last offseason, dealing reliever Aaron Bummer to the Atlanta Braves as part of a six-player trade on Nov. 16.
General manager Chris Getz said it’s too soon to tell how quickly the action will pick up this offseason.
“It’s tough to tell the pace,” Getz said during the MLB general managers meetings Tuesday at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country. “These meetings can be productive, laying the groundwork for future offseason moves both with free agents and trades.
“We’re not near anything. These are just preliminary conversations.”
This is Getz’s second offseason in the GM role.
“Going through the first time, maybe you’re not anticipating certain portions of the offseason, where I’ve got a pretty good idea now,” Getz said. “I think, more than anything, I’ve just got stronger relationships with leadership around the league.
“Obviously, that takes a little bit of time, and now I feel like I’m in a much better position.”
Here are three more takeaways as the GM meetings conclude.
1. The Will Venable hire received high marks.
Texas Rangers GM Chris Young and new Sox manager Will Venable were teammates for parts of three seasons with the San Diego Padres from 2008-10.
They were together again in 2023-24, with the former pitcher Young in his current role as general manager for the Rangers and the ex-outfielder Venable as the team’s associate manager.
“Will and I go back a long way, and so I’ve really known who he is as a person for a long time,” Young said Tuesday. “And then getting to see him, getting to work with him, and see him up close on a daily basis, and seeing him grow in terms of his leadership and his commitment to excellence, his work ethic, the way he sees the game, his ability to connect with people — he’s just a tremendous person and he has all the qualities you want in a leader.
“I have no doubt he’s going to do great things in Chicago.”
Young and Venable have another link, as both excelled in two sports at Princeton at different times. Young became the first player to earn first-team All-Ivy honors in baseball and basketball while with the Tigers. Venable was the second.
“I think that both of us see the game in a similar fashion in terms of our Princeton experience, and maybe even related to our Princeton basketball background and the fundamentals and how important those things are,” Young said. “And the attention to detail and the value of hard work, commitment, teamwork — those are all attributes that were ingrained in us at Princeton and certainly shaped who we are now.”
Part of Venable’s path to managing included time with the Chicago Cubs, where he was initially hired in September 2017 as a special assistant to baseball operations before spending three seasons on their major-league staff as a first-base coach (2018-19) and third-base coach (2020).
“You knew where this was going to end,” Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said. “It was the matter of when and where. I’m really glad Chris (Getz) is going to benefit being the where.”
2. The Sox know there is work to be done offensively.
The Sox finished last in the majors in several offensive categories during 2024, including batting average (.221), on-base percentage (.278) and slugging (.340), while suffering a modern MLB record 121 losses.
The Sox know that is an area that needs to be addressed.
“Any trade discussion or free agency we’re looking for ways to improve our offense,” Getz said. “We just hired Ryan Fuller from the Baltimore Orioles as hitting director, we’re excited about bringing him in to help build out an infrastructure that’s going to be sustainable to help on the acquisition front, the development front, the game planning front.
“We’re excited to add him to the mix. But we need to add talent as well.”
During a conference call with reporters last week, Venable agreed that a roster makeup can play a role in a general team hitting philosophy.
“It’s about the guys you have,” Venable said at the time. “And I’m still learning about this group and certainly want to talk to our group more about some of the individual struggles and the individual things these guys did well and kind of shape our philosophy with our hitting department and with Chris and the guys.
“I have things that generally are important which are the things I think help win ballgames. But as far as what that means for a specific group, we are still going to work on that and develop it throughout the offseason.”
3. Getz reflected on Yoán Moncada’s time with the Sox.
The Sox are going in a different direction at third base after declining the $25 million club option on Yoán Moncada last week. Moncada, who slashed a .254/.332/.425 slash line with 93 home runs and 338 RBIs in 739 games during eight seasons with the White Sox, received a $5 million buyout.
“He was part of two playoff teams, accomplished a fair amount,” Getz said. “Obviously, there were some injuries along the way and this past season was one of them. But we wish Yoán well, we do. He did some good things for us, but it was time to move on.”
Moncada played just 12 games in 2024, missing most of the season after suffering a left adductor strain in April.
Asked if he would characterize Moncada’s time with the Sox as “disappointing,” Getz said, “I wouldn’t say that, I would never say that about any player really, because I still know how much they put into being the best that they can be.”
Getz added, “It’s a very difficult sport. It’s difficult to perform. It’s difficult to stay healthy and he tried to do all of those things.
“I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for Yoán, but there always comes a time where you’ve got to make difficult decisions and that was one of them.”
The Chicago Tribune’s Meghan Montemurro contributed to this report.
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