Sergio Santos guided the Double-A Birmingham Barons to the Southern League playoffs prioritizing player development above all, assuming good outcomes for the long-term would pay off in wins in the short-term.
But as the postseason was set to start, he got approval to take the reins in a different way.
"[White Sox farm director] Paul Janish gives me a phone call and says, 'Hey, player development is kind of out the window, we want to play to win. Do everything you need to do," Santos recalled.
Santos didn't get to run Noah Schultz out there for seven innings or anything, but defensive substitutions and pinch running in situations he might have otherwise had prospects play through for the sake of experience were suddenly on the table. He used his bullpen competitively, hunted matchups, and lined up Peyton Pallette and Eric Adler for the end of close games when he could, rather than distributing innings evenly.
"It makes it a lot more fun from my seat," said Santos, who found himself enjoying the weight of the big moments, even when Montgomery tied things up with two outs in the ninth inning of the eventual championship-clinching victory. "Not one face was down, shoulder down, kind of a quiet confidence. There was just a feeling that this team has had all year, and I remember looking at Nicky [Delmonico] and John [Ely], and I said, ‘Guys, we are winning this game. There’s no doubt in my mind that we are going to win the game.'"
DJ Gladney's walk-off 10th inning single proved Santos right, but he believes the experience of playing in a high-pressure environment will pay off long-term even for the members of the roster who struggled in the limelight. He had already preached patience with this group when they struggled at the start of the second half after a slew of promotions.
"The hardest jump for guys is from Single-A and Double-A," Santos said. "And the next hardest jump is to the big leagues. We knew there would be an adjustment period. But we saw promise. We would talk postgame and said give them a couple of weeks to get their feet wet. They are going to get situated to Double-A baseball. They played amazing and finished up the season really well."
He certainly hopes the experience pays off for him, as Santos called Chris Getz to formally throw his hat in the ring for the major league managerial opening.
"Chris is very methodical and forward-thinking and the way he goes about his business; all I can do is say, 'Hey look, I’m interested in the job.'" Santos said. "Some of my fondest memories were 2010 and '11. I believe we won that series against the Cubs both those years, and just the pride in the city, I would like to get that back. I know they can. And having managed the prospects that are coming up, you know, I know this season has been extremely difficult for the fans of Chicago, but there is a very bright spot at the end of the tunnel. We have some guys with a little bit experience. I think we can really turn it around."
Gladney always had fans in the White Sox player development system due to his mental makeup. The department has only been partially transformed since Gladney entered the system in 2019, but he's clearly earning new converts even while weathering a difficult, injury-ravaged start to his 2024 campaign.
"It’s really, really hard to convey the poetic justice, so to speak of him having a walk-off hit to win that championship," Janish said.
"I can't believe that that situation came up in the game," Gladney said. "When I was walking up, it was literally just make contact, just early and slow to get on time for the heater and try to get out of the infield. That was my whole though process the entire at-bat."
Oblique issues stagnated him, but Gladney wasn't pleased to return to High-A Winston-Salem to start the year, after over 400 plate appearances at the level in 2023 and taking part in Project Birmingham the season before. Having been drafted when he was 17, it can feel like Gladney's an old man in the system despite only recently turning 23.
"I had a rough start this year, didn't go the way I wanted," Gladney said. "Once I got to All-Star [break], I told myself let's take a step back, let's take it day by day. Let's just compete everyday and see how it ends up. It ended up being a really good last couple weeks for me during the season. So just taking it day by day and not trying to rush anything. Understanding that it's a process and also trusting in my organization. It's really all I can do."
Contact has what's stood out for Gladney in his 24 games in Double-A at the end of the season, where he posted a .278/.314/.505 batting line with six home runs. Janish emphasizes that someone who produces the top-end exit velocities that Gladney has churned out throughout his professional career deserves a lot of patience, especially as he's converted from third base to mixing between all three outfield spots over the last few season.
But Gladney's 21.9 percent strikeout clip in 105 trips to the plate with Birmingham is his lowest such rate as a professional, and represents the sort of approach gains the Sox hope he can maintain in the Arizona Fall League.
"For me it was just focus, honestly," Gladney said of the reduced strikeouts. "Just taking every pitch as it was, no matter if it was a ball, a bad call, just focus on the next pitch. For me that's kind of been in my whole routine when I've been up to bat, in cage work, everything is just focus on the now."
Santos is a veteran of the Arizona Fall League himself, having mashed there back in 2007. With the playing time Gladney lost this season, and the high he's currently riding, Santos thinks this is a good time to challenge him to raise his game to other top prospects.
Even if Gladney himself didn't think he'd measure up at first.
"They called me over the phone and he told me I was going to the Fall League and I was excited," Gladney said. "I didn't think I deserved it in the beginning because I had such a rough start in the beginning. It just took me by surprise in the beginning and I'm just glad I'm going to be able to showcase and be able to take the opportunity that I've been given."
