Chris Getz is finally putting his stamp on the White Sox front office.
The reports came in Tuesday night, starting with Scott Merkin and Steve Gilbert of MLB.com saying the White Sox are expected to hire Josh Barfield from the Arizona Diamondbacks to serve as assistant general manager. Bob Nightengale followed by adding a couple more names: San Francisco Giants pitching director Brian Bannister, and Royals assistant GM Gene Watson in roles to be determined.
If you want to be cynical, you'll note that the latter two overlapped with Getz during his time with the Royals, whether as a player or GM, but I'm choosing to enjoy the fact that Dayton Moore hasn't yet been mentioned, because who knows how long that'll last.
In order of interest:
Brian Bannister
Brian Bannister played four of his five seasons with the Royals from 2007 through 2010, during which he became one of the first players to actively use PitchF/x to inform his approach. He credited it for helping him fashion a big-league career with a high-80s fastball, and became an evangelist for data after his playing days ended.
That's how he carved out his own niche as a pitching director, and he's more or less blazed the trail for many MLB organizations to hire a Bannister of their own.
Bannister has worked for the Red Sox under a variety of titles, after which he was hired by the Giants. The latter organization considered him valuable enough to employ him remotely when he was the coaching staff's lone vaccine holdout.
Bannister's employment signifies the possibility of a major shift for the White Sox. They've had minor league pitching directors, the most prominent one being Everett Teaford, who served a Bannister-like role translating data for minor-league pitchers before Auburn University hired him away this summer. Still, they've relied on their big-league pitching coach to set the agenda, even if the transition from Don Cooper to Ethan Katz ushered in a more collaborative approach.
I'm curious what this means for Katz's role with the White Sox. The White Sox imposed Katz upon Pedro Grifol, and the team's piss-poor pitching performances haven't justified his fixed position on the staff.
Then again, Bannister and Katz overlapped in San Francisco. He joined the Giants after the 2019 season, and Katz was the team's assistant pitching coach until the White Sox hired him away after the 2020 season. If I had to guess, I'd assume Katz is sticking around, but Bannister's role will change the pitching coach's job description.
Josh Barfield
You may remember Josh Barfield as a legit top prospect who had a decent debut season with the Padres, but never built upon it after San Diego traded him to Cleveland. He last surfaced in the majors in 2009, after which he kicked around the minors and independent ball through 2013.
Barfield joined the Diamondbacks as a scout in 2016, and rose up the ranks to director of player development in 2019. During that time, the Diamondbacks have had a consistently strong farm system, summed up by MLB Pipeline's organizational rankings:
- 2023 preseason: 3
- 2022 preseason: 4
- 2021 preseason: 9
- 2020 preseason: 6
They've also been able to matriculate athletes, including a homegrown outfield (Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas, Jake McCarthy) deep enough to trade from (Daulton Varsho, sent to Toronto for Gabriel Moreno).
If you're wondering how the White Sox found him despite Barfield's complete avoidance of the Kansas City Royals, you can connect the dots when reading this MLB.com article from 2022:
There are reasons for Barfield’s success in the front office. He credits mentors Dave Stewart and Mike Bell. Stewart was the D-backs' general manager in 2014 when he hired Barfield to a scouting position and showed Barfield the ins and outs of what goes on in the front office.
You know who else was in Arizona in 2014? Tony La Russa, so there you go.
There's no reason to hold that association against Barfield, especially since he's had the opportunity to preside over a productive farm system. There's just a little tension in extrapolating that success to a new organization, because Getz's boosters say the lack of farm success during his time as the White Sox's minor-league director shouldn't be held against him. If that role can skirt blame, then maybe it shouldn't get too much credit, either.
But Getz's skewing of the context is also out of Barfield's control for the time being, so I'm opting for mild encouragement at the new direction, and rolling my eyes at Pedro Grifol rolling out the red carpet for a guy he's never worked with.
“Smart, smart guy,” manager Pedro Grifol told reporters of Barfield. “He’s been doing player development over there, which you know what I think about player development. That job really prepares you for a lot of things. Bright, bright, bright guy.”
Yet another thing that can't be held against Barfield.
Gene Watson
I'm saving all my reflexive rejection for this move, because there's simply too much Kansas City Royals going on with this resume ...
Gene Watson re-joined the Royals organization in 2022 as the Vice President of Major League Scouting/Assistant GM, after spending most of the 2021 season with the Los Angeles Angels as Senior Advisor to the GM/Major League Operations.
Watson previously worked for the Royals from 2006-20, first as a Major League Scout from 2006-08, then as the Coordinator of Pro Scouting from 2009-11 and Director of Pro Scouting from 2012-17. Most recently, he served as the Sr. Director of Pro Scouting/Assistant to the GM from 2018-20.
Watson was honored by the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation in January 2018 with the Legends in Scouting Award. The award is presented annually to a Pro Scout who exemplifies a love for the game and a passion for scouting.
... and a year with the Angels isn't a badge of honor, either.
To the extent that I'd seen Watson's name with the Royals, it was mostly in reference to the fact that he and many other Royals executives remained in their roles despite the dismissal of Moore. As the Royals tripped over themselves for the entirety of the 2023 season, it was fair to wonder how much actually changed.
This hiring changes one thing for the Royals, and we'll have to see what the White Sox have in mind for Watson before really forming an opinion. If he's just veteran ballast for a brain trust that is suddenly looking a lot younger, then, sure, whatever. I'd just prefer to have fewer guys that Grifol can gush about, because I'm against any move that risks making him more entrenched.
“I’ve known Gene for 13, 14 years,” Grifol said. “One of the most respected guys in the game. High energy, really, really good scout, really good evaluator, creative mind. Has put a ton of great deals together for World Series teams.
“A wealth of knowledge, great leader. In my opinion, he is one of the better scouts in the game.”
