The White Sox are in the final stages of hiring former Tampa Bay Rays assistant general manager Carlos Rodriguez to a role in their front office, sources confirmed to Sox Machine.
When his hire is completed, Rodriguez is expected to also hold the title of assistant general manager with the White Sox, a front office designation also held by Josh Barfield (hired in September 2023) and Jin Wong (January 2024). The team has yet to formally announce the addition, but are expected to leverage Rodriguez's wide-ranging experience for a role that touches everything from aiding the build-out of the White Sox's new academy in the Dominican Republic, enhancing the team's relationships with players and agents, to helping manage their 40-man roster decisions.
This hire will come after Rodriguez left the Rays in October, after 15 years with the organization. His departure was accompanied by a formal announcement from the team where Rodriguez said in a statement that he "decided the time is right to step away and transition to explore other opportunities," and was accompanied by glowing quotes from their president of baseball operations Erik Neander.
“For 15 years, Carlos has been an invaluable presence in our organization, leaving a lasting impact across our operations,” read part of Neander's statement. “His professionalism, teamwork and unwavering dedication have made him an exceptional colleague and a cherished friend to me and countless others at the Rays."
Rodriguez spent four seasons with the Blue Jays as a scout and initially joined the Rays in that capacity on the international side, eventually moving up to director of their international scouting department. But he has since expanded his work into other areas, and rather than focusing him on one department, the Sox view the many hats Rodriguez has worn as part of his appeal. He served as the team's vice president of international operations and player development from 2019-21, was VP of baseball operations in 2022, and Rodriguez had held the title of assistant general manager with the Rays for the last three seasons. In 2021, The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney reported Rodriguez was a finalist in the Cubs' general manager search that ultimately resulted in the hire of Carter Hawkins. Francys Romero reported that Rodriguez was also a candidate this offseason for the Yankees' open international director position.
On their team website, the Rays have credited Rodriguez for helping develop the organization's nutrition and wellness programs for players, along with generally enhancing a player development system and international scouting reach. His timeline with the Rays generally overlaps with a stretch where their scouts produced a lot of big leaguers from Latin America, their minor league affiliates won a lot of games, and the team's sustained success despite light big league payrolls became the envy of the league.
The Chris Getz-led White Sox front office clearly has some degree of alignment with how the Rays operate, since this hire is preceeded by them selecting Alexander Alberto from Tampa Bay in the Rule 5 draft, four trades between the teams involving major leaguers, and two waiver claims (Mike Vasil, Brandon Eisert), all in the last calendar year. Now, they've landed an executive from an organization they so clearly admire, and are hoping their player evaluation and acquisition work winds up being the better for it.
