GLENDALE -- Cactus League Media Day -- a White Sox invention, believe it or not -- is a prime time to ask GM Chris Getz so many questions that I can feel like I made up for being off the beat for seven months. But it's also an event where the general manager of every team in Arizona is available to be polled.
With the White Sox regularly citing the AL Central's quality -- or lack thereof -- for why they think they can contend for the playoffs relatively soon, it represented an opportunity to check if their division rivals espouse a similar thought process. The Kansas City Royals are one of the few teams that can tout a 2023 season that was comparably awful to the Sox, but still pushed forward with a large slate of free agents as if a quick turnaround was feasible.
"That's got to factor in somewhat because you've got to know your windows," said Royals GM J.J. Picollo about the weakness of the AL Central affecting their decision-making. But he quickly pivoted to centering their reasoning to trying to take advantage of a young core of players. The Royals just locked up Bobby Witt Jr. long-term, but can't say the same for Cole Ragans, Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel García.
"We may only have them for a couple more years, so how do we surround those players we believe in with complementary-type players who can make us a good team?" Picollo said. "That had as much to do it with it as anything. We had some financial freedom this year that we haven't experienced in the past that's been helpful as well."
From being around camp for a week, it's most accurate to term the White Sox front office as looking for a sustainable path to winning, but forced to accommodate a significant reduction in payroll, rather than intentionally rebuilding with a leaner payroll being a byproduct. With the Guardians, that seems to be an almost annual challenge, which might be part of why Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti didn't really embrace the premise of a contention window shaped around the state of the division.
"We're trying to build the best team that we can with the resources that we have," Antonetti said. "Our goal is to win the World Series. We're trying to be better than all the other teams in the end. I recognize that's a tall order and something we haven't yet accomplished, but that's the goal."
Antonetti acknowledged that having lesser financial resources makes that goal extremely challenging some years, and the White Sox definitely seem like they're going through such a year.
"We're focused on the group that we have right now," Getz said when asked if the Sox would ever jump at any of the many high-level free agents still on the market. "Not to say if something pops up that make sense for us we won't do that. But at this point of the offseason or spring training, we feel comfortable with the group that we have and what they're capable of doing. That being said, we're still on the lookout for upgrades."
Quick Getz
Despite the emphasis on spring training competition for the rotation, including Garret Crochet, Getz reiterated that the plan is to use Chris Flexen and Michael Kopech as starters. The former threw a two-inning bullpen on Tuesday and Getz said this of the latter: "We really want him to be starter. I know he has the desire, too. We're going to give him the runway to do that. If we need to adjust along the way, so be it."
Eloy Jiménez was pretty secretive about his work to reduce his ground ball rate, but Getz said it was something he actively expressed displeasure with to staff. Jiménez's legs being healthy are always a big part of the equation, but Getz pointed to the general mechanical area that has been adjusted as well: "It had a lot to do with both the swing path and the point of contact."
Last year's first round pick Jacob Gonzalez scuffled to a .207/.329/.261 line at Low-A Kannapolis last season, with scouts saying his swing gave him no chance at covering the outer half of the plate. FanGraphs' Eric Longenhagen reported strength gains Gonzalez showed at instructional league could be transformative, and Getz echoed that belief that Gonzalez's stroke can be more fluid now that it requires less effort.
"It's a much simpler approach and much simpler swing, very repeatable," Getz said. "For where he's at mechanically, the effortlessness with which he's delivering the barrel has been the goal. His direction is really good. Time will tell on the decision-making, but it's been very encouraging so far. I think it's a swing that's certainly going to hold up over a full season."
As someone who was part of a huge migration of Braves staffers to the Royals under Dayton Moore, Picollo thinks too much is made of the 'South Side Royals,' at least in terms of the White Sox front office hires.
"That's a natural thing that happens," Picollo said, praising Jin Wong and Gene Watson. "Getzy had to put some people around him that he could trust."
While the White Sox Cuban connection is valuable and something catching prospect Edgar Quero appreciates, Getz is expecting a more diverse international approach going forward than just tying up all of their budget on more advanced and experienced Cuban players.
"That's definitely a priority of ours," Getz said. "We've done a really nice job of signing Cuban players and we'll continue to do so. That's certainly part of the plan but continuing to diversify our signings is really important for the White Sox."
Getz also wants to see more pitchers emerge from the team's international efforts. Teenage arms are difficult to project and rarely crack the rankings for top international prospects, but Getz said that's no excuse.
"More than anything, just prioritize it. There's certainly plenty of pitchers down there and you look for attributes for those pitchers much similar for how we do it on the domestic side. It's establishing a process to identify the players."
Getz said "I don't think there's an arm in baseball that has the potential of Noah Schultz." But he kept it mostly vague on ramping his workload after Schultz logged just 27 innings last season between injuries. Some five-inning starts sound conceivable at some point.
"We hope to extend him and build up his workload. That's the highest priority for us. He's still a very young pitcher. Physically, he's gotten a lot stronger. His pitch quality is elite, let alone that it's coming out of the hand of a 6-foot-9 lefty. More than anything, get him through a healthy season. We want to be as responsible as possible."
