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00:00You know, the Chicago White Sox lost in triple digits, including 121 games in the last three
00:06years. So just having even a winning record this year would have been amazing. And here we are
00:13on the brink of Labor Day, on the brink of September, and the Chicago White Sox are leading
00:18the AL Central and their general manager, Chris Getz, joins us, John.
00:23You know, this is going to be a treat for us. We normally talk about the most disappointing
00:26team in baseball, which we know is the Mets. But the biggest and most pleasant surprise
00:32is the White Sox. And no question about that. I've seen some other entities pick them to lose
00:39100 games. I don't think we picked numbers, so we can't claim that we did that. And here
00:44they are leading the AL Central. And Chris Getz, the general manager, is a big reason for that.
00:50He has done a terrific job. We've never had him on the show before. I'm very interested
00:55to hear what he has to say about their amazing turnaround.
00:59Yeah, it is an amazing turnaround. We'll ask him about Murakami. We'll ask him about his trade
01:03deadline. We'll ask him about what he thinks of their chances down the stretch and to get in the
01:08playoffs. John and I will talk a lot about the Yankees and the American League at the top.
01:13We'll play hit or error at the end. If you stick with us on the show with Joel Sherman and
01:18John.
01:24John, it goes very fast, as you know. The next time we do a show, it will be September. So
01:29we're right at the end. We're about the 80% mark of the season. You know, the AL is a
01:39bit of a jumble
01:40because, John, I wonder, can you make a case that the five best teams in the league are all in
01:45the AL East,
01:46that Baltimore or Toronto would win the Central or the West, and the other three teams, Boston,
01:54New York, and Tampa Bay, are the three best teams. So you got that, and then you got jumbles in
02:00the
02:00other two divisions. Leaves the Yankees in an interesting position. They're in second place.
02:05They're inhaling distance of first. They're three and a half behind Tampa Bay, but they're only two
02:10and a half up on Boston with a key series coming in the Bronx this weekend, four and three games.
02:15teams. What say you about the state of the Yankees with about 20% of the season left?
02:21Yeah, I mean, I think they're in good shape. The health is really going to be the determining
02:24factor here, right? As long as you've got Judge and Freed coming back, and we're assuming at this
02:30point, Stanton probably will not come back, but Judge and Freed are important parts of this team,
02:36and that's an understatement. If they get them back, they're the best team in the American League.
02:41They should win this league. This league is not very good, but that team looks good right now.
02:49You've got a shortstop that looks ready. I know he's made a couple errors over the last week, but
02:55Lombard Jr. looks very, very good. They're hitting a little bit better lately, and their pitching is
03:01outstanding. That bullpen has been terrific, and I mean, yeah, we might have four teams coming out of
03:08that division to make the playoffs, which we've never seen before. Toronto actually has a relatively
03:14easy schedule. The only winning team they have left, or at least the non-losing team they have left,
03:20is Texas. I believe they're 500. So they may get in the playoffs, and we easily may have four
03:27teams in the American League East, and it's unbalanced. The league is unbalanced. The division
03:33is unbalanced, and right now I think the Yankees are the favorite to come out, and I'm not saying
03:39anything people don't know. They should be the favorite to come out of the American League.
03:42Yeah, John, I'm with you. I mean, before the season, I picked them to actually win the World
03:46Series, which I had never done in over 30 years with the Post. I still think that the healthiest
03:52version of them is the clairclair, say this five times fast, of the American League. I think you hit on
04:00key ones. Judge and Freed are obviously great players, and they helped the two most important
04:05things, a lineup that has mostly struggled since especially late June and just deep in the rotation.
04:11But can I throw in some other names? They did lose Ryan Weathers this week, and Weathers had really hit
04:16a gear here where he was pitching well, pitching deep into games, pitching well, often against good
04:22opponents, and clearly had separated himself for me from Will Warren, who has real trouble
04:30against good teams and against lefty hitters. I wonder about Clark Schmidt, and I wonder about
04:37Luis Heal coming back for the bullpen, and here's why. They've just put a lot of burden
04:42on their main three or four relievers. I think you've seen it recently, John. Boone has been using
04:49Ryan Yarborough a little more to try to displace some of the workload. I just think to displace the
04:54workload, maybe try to catch Tampa and be as fresh as possible on October 1st.
04:59They could really use, say, Hill and Schmidt to be back in, say, two, two and a half weeks,
05:04maybe mid-September, and maybe Weathers towards the end to go into the bullpen also. And then you
05:10have the three main starters and a lot of relievers you might trust.
05:14Yeah, I mean, overall, I think the pitching is in great shape. They have the extra players coming
05:18back, as you mentioned. Schmidt and Hill will certainly be a big help, and that's probably why,
05:25with Weathers there potentially as well, that Cashman didn't go out and get a reliever. That,
05:31plus the fact there were almost no good relievers to be gotten, right? I mean, when you're talking
05:35Zephyr, John, is one of your three best relievers to get, it was a very poor market for relief
05:42pitching. So I get why he didn't do it, and I think they're in excellent shape. You know,
05:49obviously, particularly Hedrick, because you've been used a lot, Bednar as well, Blackburn, but
05:55they're still looking great. We have 30-plus games to go. They're looking fantastic, and they may get
06:01a little bit of a break, as you mentioned, with the pitchers that had been injured coming off the
06:06IL, and potentially, right, with potentially the Warren going into the bullpen as well, and Weathers.
06:15Yeah, I think that, you know, Rodan will be the fourth starter, and he'll be kind of the
06:20quickest for them to yank and try to play like Legion ball and go into a scramble and try to
06:25use
06:25some of this depth pitching, if they could get there. Look, they haven't, it's been a mosaic,
06:30John. It's been, to your point, and you've emphasized it, it's been, the pitching has been very good,
06:35but they've never fully gotten to the full staff they kind of have dreamed about. It's still
06:40conceivable before October 1st, and if they get there, they're really, a strength becomes a super
06:47strength if they could get it, but to me, still the key guy is Judge. John, I, on our Yankee
06:53webcast
06:53yesterday, I established the over-under date as September 10th. I think he's starting to move in
07:00the right direction, you know, hit, run, field a little bit. I would think that the Yankees aren't
07:09going to do symbolic stuff just for the heck of symbolic stuff, but if he could be on the field
07:14September 11th, 9-11, the 25th anniversary, it's a Friday night against the Mets, so I made September
07:2010th DH against the Rockies, and September 11th back in right field for the Mets, and that's based on
07:26very little information except for, you know, Judge is aching to get back, and the Yankees are
07:33aching for him to have some level of spring training for 15, 20 games to be able to really hit
07:39the
07:39ground running on October 1st into the playoffs. Well, they've consistently said they expect him
07:44back. If he's not back, I don't, I don't think they're lying. I think they do believe that he'll
07:49be back, and they are. He is moving in the correct direction, right? He's now hitting off a tee,
07:53which is a big step from where he was. Remember, you know, I don't know, was it a month ago?
07:58They weren't even letting him on that recumbent bike, you know, that bike that us old men used,
08:03and they weren't only pretending we're working out, and we're watching TV and going, you know,
08:08three miles an hour or whatever. He wasn't allowed to do the stationary bike, so he's certainly
08:14progressed. I know it's not at the quickness that the fans would like, but if he's back in the middle
08:21of September, that should give him some time to, you know, become the hitter that he is,
08:29which is the best hitter in the league. Yeah, I mean, that would be a good time. If he's back
08:34September 20th, I'm a little concerned. That isn't a lot of time, and, you know, you can use
08:39the American League games to get back into playing shape because, you know, they are the best team.
08:45They will be in the playoffs. If they have to play that first round, that few games, yeah,
08:50I mean, I guess that's a detriment. It's not the end of the world. The Dodgers had to do it
08:54last
08:55year, and they still won the World Series, and this league, to me, they should win this league.
09:00Boston's a good team. Tampa's a good team. The Yankees are a better team.
09:04Yeah, I agree with you better, but, like, the Dodgers, to me, had a layup last year against the
09:08Reds. The Red Sox would not be a layup, and the Yankees haven't even assured yet that those games
09:13would be in the Bronx close to Fenway, so I think that, you know, they will push to see if
09:20they
09:20can make the next-to-last series of the year is against Tampa Bay at Yankee Stadium. You know,
09:26they'd like to make it that if they win the series, maybe, they've got a real shot at winning the
09:31division and seeing if they could track them down because, obviously, with the shape of the
09:35American League, whoever wins the AL East is going to be the number one seed and have all the benefits
09:41of that, not just the first-round buy, but all home field advantage drew that. John, do we want
09:46to say something general about the worst league maybe you and I have covered in the 40-ish years
09:52of doing this is, as we're speaking, there's four teams over .500, three in the AL East, and one,
09:59the White Sox, their general manager, Chris Getz, is joining us on the show later on this episode,
10:07and besides that, there's a couple teams at .500, and everybody else is kind of
10:12rise, sink, rise, sink, but can you get over .500?
10:17Well, you're absolutely right. I guess if we want to look at it positively, and I don't, I didn't,
10:22so I suggested to you this all the time, the worst league, maybe the National League is the best
10:27league we've seen, right, if the American League is the worst. They are terrible, it's terrible, and that
10:32division is one of the worst divisions ever. I guess, historically, there was a 2018 AL Central
10:38that had a lower winning percentage than the AL West does now, but it's just the consistency of
10:45terribleness in that AL West, where you don't even have a winning team at this point. We got a 500
10:49team,
10:50and you have a team that's only a game below .500, but overall, they're negative .400, approximately,
10:56on the run differential. That's one of the worst divisions that we have seen, and certainly,
11:02the Central is not exactly a bunch of world beaters either, so this is a very, very weak league.
11:09That said, I think the Yankees are a very good team. If they win, it's a worthy team in the
11:13World
11:13Series. Their pitching is excellent. I know their hitting has been horrid since Judge went out, but
11:19overall, it is about average, and when you bring Judge back, it will be above average, certainly,
11:25probably a little bit too reliant on the home run, but they do steal bases now more than they have
11:30in the past, and they should win this league. If they don't win this league, that will be a real
11:37negative. We're used to seeing managers fired during the season. Three of the three top baseball
11:42executives for AL West teams lost their jobs, most recently Dana Brown with the Astros, also Perry
11:49Manizian with the Angels, and David Force with the A's. I'll leave you with this thought, and I know
11:56you love when I drift into basketball analogies. Look, a lot of people talked about the Western
12:04Conference being much better than the Eastern Conference this year, and a New York team kind of
12:09being able to get through because Halliburton was missing, and Giannis was missing, and that there
12:16were like injured guys, and ultimately, the Knicks got through, and then they beat the team in the
12:21West, you know, in the Superior West. You know, could the Yankees follow the same road literally
12:26from there to the Canyon of Heroes, which is about five blocks that way behind me? You know, it's,
12:33New York has been starved for champions from the four traditional leagues, and it's not impossible
12:40that we get a second one, because I agree with you. I think the Yankees are the healthy version,
12:46especially Judge and Freed. It makes them the team to beat in the league, even if they finish behind
12:52Tampa Bay. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, I'm not a basketball guy. That is a good analogy. We all
12:58did
12:59watch the Knicks in New York, and they did have the advantage, from what I'm told, of the weaker
13:04conference, but they killed all the teams. So they were, to me, they're, and you know better than I do,
13:09they're a worthy champion, right? And Jalen Brunson, I mean, the fact they killed everybody
13:14and then came in and beat a great team in the finals, and you know, I'll say the same for
13:20the
13:20Yankees, even if they slay all these weak American League teams, if you could somehow beat, we're not
13:26going to assume it's the Dodgers, they've got some competition there, right? The Cubs are very good,
13:30the Braves are very good, the Padres are pretty good, and obviously the Brewers have the best record
13:36still. You didn't even mention the Phillies, who pitching-wise could give them real trouble in
13:41the Brewers. They could, as long as Zach Wheeler is himself, but yes, right. National League, right,
13:47they have probably... Six good teams. Yeah, six really good teams. They actually have a team that's
13:54pretty good, whether it's Arizona or San Diego, that's not going to make it. The American League's
13:59got two or three teams that are going to make it who aren't so great. Yeah. John, actually,
14:06can I, before we leave this segment, I'll throw it out. Do you think that anything in the first round
14:13should be home field or who you play should be determined by record or if you win a division,
14:20you know, bad luck to the teams that finish second and third in the AL League? Yeah,
14:24yeah, this is unfortunate. So yeah, maybe they could look at this. If the Yankees have to play
14:29Boston, right? Yeah, one of the best teams will be knocked out in two or three days.
14:36Yeah. Well, maybe it's fair to give the teams that have lower payrolls, that are kind of in the
14:43central, the flyover states, maybe it's fair to give them more opportunity. I don't know. I have to
14:50think about that longer, but it does seem on its face that the Yankees and the Red Sox probably
14:57deserve a better fate than to play each other. They played each other last year, and I don't think
15:02anybody would say anything about it, but this year it does feel that way. Yeah. Look, there's four
15:07teams above 500 in the American League. Three are in the ALEs. The fourth is the Chicago White Sox,
15:13the very surprising Chicago White Sox. Their general manager, Chris Getz, joins us next on the show.
15:24John and I are really thrilled to have on Chris Getz, seven years infielder in the major leagues.
15:30He's been the general manager of the White Sox since August 2023, taking over in the middle of
15:37the bad times. Three straight 100 lost seasons, including a 121 two years ago, over 100 last year.
15:43But as we're speaking now, the White Sox are leading the AL Central, maybe the most, I think the
15:50most surprising team in the sport, up by two and a half games on Cleveland, four and a half on
15:54Minnesota. Chris Getz, thank you for joining us on the show. Joel, John, thanks for having me.
15:59Chris, I wonder if this just, like, what did change? Like, it felt like everything was gravy
16:06up until the trade deadline. Hey, look at the White Sox. Isn't this great? But I wonder once
16:11you start trading away, you know, things that probably you thought were going to be part of
16:15your future, maybe in future years, does this change the pressure to now actually get this done
16:23and win this year where it's not just, hey, it's a nice little year where it doesn't really matter
16:28what happens. It would have been a success. Yeah. You know, I continue to evaluate. And the fair
16:34question, I ask myself that and, of course, reflect and, you know, try to give good answers. And,
16:41you know, yeah, truthfully, I think the deadline is what it's a marker, right? You're either,
16:45you're usually either adding or you're subtracting. In this case, we were adding. Now, everything up
16:50until then, you know, you feel like you're playing with house money. Where are the expectations were
16:54going into the year? We certainly felt that we were going to take a meaningful step forward from last
17:00year, our second half. There were some real positives. And, but, you know, to say or to
17:05think that we were going to be, you know, in the beginning of July, you look up and it's like
17:10we're
17:10in first place and we've remained in first place for the most part. Yeah, that was not a realistic
17:16expectation. I would not have set that upon our players or staff. Now, here we are. And, you know,
17:24is it validation to a process that we felt very confident that started, you know, when you stayed
17:31in and, you know, when I took over and, you know, tried to build a foundation? Sure it is. And
17:37I think
17:37it is rewarding to get results like we have and arguably in a fairly quick manner. Now, you know,
17:47you get past this trade deadline and all of a sudden every game feels a little bit heavier
17:52better than perhaps games in the past. I think, you know, we have a, we have two walk-offs over
17:59the weekend on Friday and Sunday and just exhilarating moments for everyone that's part of
18:04this. And then last night we have a rough one against the Rangers and, you know, you wake up this
18:10morning, you're like, man, what happened yesterday? You know, and so, you know, it's just, you can have
18:14these swings of emotions. Now, you know, when you think about our manager and Will Venable and these
18:24players and, you know, this is where Will is what I feel, I feel like the best at, and that
18:31is create
18:32an environment. Let's solve for the day. Let's not worry about what happened yesterday. And, you know,
18:37I would say, you know, everyone tries to be that way, but he lives that way. He really does. And
18:42that
18:42brings freedom and relaxation and optimism on a regular basis. Are there times right now where,
18:50you know, when we might be gripping it a little tight? Sure. That's where, you know, I come in and
18:55other members of the organization try to either loosen things up or identify some things that can
19:01help fuel the club. But when you zoom out and you reflect and find, it's very easy to find perspective.
19:09You know, we've had an excellent year considering where we were. And I don't want to lose sight of
19:16that. I also know that these are precious moments. They are. And you can't just assume that you're
19:22going to be in these positions moving forward. I think truthfully, you know, I've had these
19:27conversations mainly during the deadline. Hey, this is the most fun we might ever have considering,
19:34you know, what the expectations were and we're out here and we're doing what we're doing. So
19:38let's try to have fun while we're doing it. How did you approach the deadline? I mean,
19:43you were in a position where even you admit you didn't expect to be with a chance to not only
19:48win
19:48the wild card, but to win that division. But on the other hand, you know, it didn't feel like you're
19:56a World Series contender. Did you approach the deadline? You know, and you did a lot.
20:04We're not going to trade our top few and you didn't trade the very top prospects on the team.
20:09How did you look at it? And now looking back on it, how do you feel that you did?
20:14We look at our priority list or we put one together and starting pitching was at the top. We're at
20:19the,
20:19you know, bottom of the league in regards to starting pitching innings. And we all know that that's,
20:25it's not a very sustainable model. You know, our bullpen has been a real strength of ours,
20:33especially recently. Now, if you're not getting starter innings, it's going to come at a cost of
20:38bullpen production. So, you know, we were set out, okay, we need to find some starter innings.
20:43We did feel like the, you know, our depth, whether it be Drew Thorpe, that's back, Noah Schultz now,
20:49option on option, Shane Smith. You know, there, there's a couple, oh, we've got Davis Martin
20:58who, who, who will be bouncing back. We felt like there was some depth there for some innings.
21:04Urquidy was a guy that was kind of a small acquisition to, to at least cover some innings
21:09as well. And he had a great outing against the Cubs last night. You know, it was a little bit
21:13more
21:13of a struggle for him, but we needed to find someone that, that could really cover innings
21:18and maybe multiple people. And then, all right, can we add fuel to the, to, to the bullpen?
21:24The catching situation has been a bit of a, a bit of a revolving door. You know, we lose Kyle
21:30Teal at the WBC going into the year. You feel like this could be, you know, arguably one of our
21:35top
21:36players, if not our top players. So certainly one of the more exciting young catchers in the game,
21:39and you lose them. We took a hit and, and, you know, we've been playing catch up, at least Kyle
21:44Teal's been playing catch up. And thankfully we're going to be, he's beginning to rehab tonight.
21:49And then, okay, our offense, you know, it's been, it's been better than expected. Certainly we've,
21:55we've hit for power, you know, but I feel like there's some exposure against left-handed pitching.
22:00Can we, can find ways to, to improve that? So, but starting pitching was number one. Now,
22:05you know, it's one thing to, to have your concerns and you have your desires and wants and go
22:09out there. Well, then all of a sudden you realize it's, it's not as easy as you would like. And,
22:15you know, it takes other teams to, to want to, to engage. And, you know, and, and it was an
22:20interesting trade deadline because, you know, usually you start a couple of weeks out from
22:24the deadline, having conversations, what are you trying to accomplish? But there wasn't a lot of
22:28clarity for teams. And so, okay, we'll wait another week. We'll see if we gain clarity. Well,
22:34there wasn't that much more clarity and it became, all right, you're now within days and teams were
22:40really deciding within days, which direction they were going. And then some teams just decided to
22:45hold there. You know, there were some teams that, okay, automatic, they're not going to be in the
22:49playoff hunt. However, they're thinking about, you know, the following year and perhaps they want to,
22:55you know, carry some momentum in to going into the following year, even with expiring contracts of
23:00players. So maintaining that. So I mentioned all of that. Yeah, we, we, we were open to adding more
23:06than one starter, multiple, but you know, the, the, it was really difficult thing to do. Luis Castillo
23:13in terms of acquisition costs. And, you know, we had some payroll flexibility and okay, that was an
23:19opportunity to get a veteran in here that that's, you know, done some things in this game, has a
23:24presence, leadership qualities, can, can provide some innings. Okay. You put that on the board.
23:29You feel good about it. Okay. What, what else is out there remaining? And, you know, and some of it
23:35was our, our, our system. We've graduated so many players of the major leagues. We didn't want to
23:41disrupt our major league club, you know, right now and adding, adding pitching. I just, you know,
23:47that, that's this year was not a year to, to have that level of disruption. I, because it's just a
23:52group that they love each other. They feed off of each other. And there was a lot of value in
23:57that.
23:58So, but, but because we graduated so many players, didn't want to have in subtractions.
24:04Okay. Well, you know, how does your system line up in regards to other teams and how they're
24:09valuing your players? It became challenging for us. It did. And, you know, there's different ways of
24:14doing your volume deals, or perhaps you've got something in the sweet spot that, that aligns.
24:20So that, that, that was a little bit of a limiting factor in regards to our system, but also,
24:26you know, the, the team's willingness to trade, you know, their starting pitching because they want
24:30to get to the finish line in the best way that they can. On the catching front, you know, we,
24:35we were able to get Joey Bart. Now he gets hit in the hand, you know, two days into, to
24:40wear the
24:40White Sox uniform. And we're back to, you know, put it, you know, waiver claim of, of Jake Rogers,
24:47who had a big hit the other night. And of course we're waiting for Kyle Teal to come back. So
24:51Brazaban pitching really well with the Mets, you know, you acquire him, you know, a controllable
24:57player, a guy that's, that, that's pitched some big innings. So you, you felt like, okay,
25:03you didn't necessarily accomplish as much as you wanted on the starting pitching front,
25:06help out the bullpen a little bit, uh, and plug in, uh, you know, a Brenton Doyle in the outfield
25:12to, to give you a little bit more security and flexibility on that front. So, um, you know,
25:18I, I feel we did, you know, we did feel like we, we, we provided depth for our club that
25:23was not
25:24going to just show up. And if you just focus on maybe those individual performances, it did provide,
25:29um, I think, you know, some support, um, and, and with some control. So it's yet to be seen
25:36right now. I can't say that we've necessarily filled the immediate, you know, field felt the
25:41immediate impact from the trade deadline, but you take what you can get. Um, and you continue to roll
25:47our future success, whether it be this year or next year, it's going to be the group that we have,
25:51uh, the, the needle mover just wasn't, wasn't there. We wanted to maintain, you know, the, the top
25:57of our system and, you know, the Caleb Bonomers, the, um, you know, Billy Carlson's and the Hagan
26:04Smiths. Uh, so, so we were able to do that and, and, you know, we just stay in the fight
26:09and, and continue to find ways to support this club. Uh, Chris, you did, uh, you mentioned
26:14Brazelbon. You made a trade with the Mets in the off season where Luis Robert Jr. went to the Mets,
26:20uh, Brazelbon, uh, just went to you. Uh, it's interesting who thought they were a contender
26:26in the off season and who ended up being a contender in that relationship. Uh, tell us about dealing
26:31with the Mets and David Sterns. You've made two pretty high profile trades with them.
26:35Yeah. I, I really like dealing with David and, um, you know, he's, you know, everyone's got their
26:42different styles or communication, uh, style. Some, you know, I've learned some like texts,
26:47some are better over the phone, some, uh, you know, are, are in a negotiation, you know, there's,
26:52there's different tells or, or different, uh, you know, tactics where, uh, David seems very direct.
26:59He knows what he wants to accomplish. Uh, I, I tend to, I appreciate that. So, uh, we can just
27:05have, we can get to clarity very quickly. Um, so, you know, when we were, you know, when David made
27:11it clear that they were looking to move some players and we earmarked a handful of players
27:16on that club. Um, and you know, I thought he did a really good job at the deadline. Um, and
27:22I
27:22communicated that to them after the fact, um, cause I think from afar, okay, you've got,
27:27you've got these high profile players with, with high dollars, what are they going to be able to
27:32accomplish? Well, I felt like they did a really good job, but I, I, I've got a lot of respect
27:36for
27:36David, what he's done in this game and, uh, the challenge that he has in New York. And I, I
27:41think
27:41he did a really good job at the deadline. We just played them, uh, over the weekend and we, we
27:45were
27:45fortunate to, to win two out of three games on walk-offs. Um, so we'll call that, we'll be locked
27:51into
27:51those, but they're, they're playing a lot better baseball. Uh, they've got some, some young,
27:55exciting position players in young starters, uh, that pitched really well. Um, so I, I,
28:01I feel like they're, they're, you know, they, they've been able to, uh, refill their system
28:06or fill their system, um, and, and kind of reset the deck going into next year. But David,
28:11uh, you know, we, we have done some deals, some, um, some deals that are a higher profile,
28:16but I do like dealing with him. Uh, he, he seems to be a straight shooter and, uh, you know,
28:21an honest broker and have some fun in those conversations. Murakami has, uh, been, if not
28:26the best signing of the winter, certainly one of the best signings. Uh, if you could say briefly,
28:32uh, when you thought you had a chance, cause I know you've said you, you really didn't think
28:37you had a shot at him for quite a while when you thought you had a chance. And I mean,
28:41he's not only
28:42a great hitter, uh, he's done decently at first base. I mean, walks a lot, home runs, uh, he's been
28:48great and he's very marketable, uh, yet, uh, you got him on a great deal. Uh, the other part of
28:53that question is, uh, can you keep him long-term? Are you going to try to do that?
28:58Yeah. Well, going back to, to the signing Mune, um, yeah, it really came down days out from when
29:04that posting window was, was closing. Um, and you know, for whatever reason, there's different
29:10variables when it comes to posting windows in the off season and, and how that overlaps with other
29:14free agents and activities from, from teams. Um, it was a good match. Uh, it was, and very
29:20fortunate to, to bring him in here. We felt like the deal that we got, we viewed it as just
29:27upside,
29:27um, based on kind of where we were, where we were sitting as an organization. Um, and, uh, you know,
29:34he's been just a tremendous boost. It's just feel like the, uh, you know, the white socks,
29:40the fans, certainly, you know, the players, we've come alive. Uh, we have, and it was a huge,
29:46huge help in doing that and bringing him in. So, uh, yeah, he's been, you know, he played a lot
29:52of
29:52third base prior to, to coming over to play the major league baseball. Um, we felt like he was going
29:57to be able to, to, to be a decent first baseman. I think that that's where, um, that, that's what
30:03he's provided that type of production over there. He works his butt off. I mean, he's one of the
30:07hardest workers that I've, I've seen and been around on, uh, on both sides of the ball. Uh,
30:12great teammate. Um, he, he really is, uh, guys have just fallen in love with him. And I,
30:16I think he's really happy here and we're happy to have him here. Um, we would love to have him
30:21here long-term. Um, it seems that, that he has interest and we do as well. Uh, we've had some
30:27conversations, uh, but we'll just leave it at that. In the meantime, uh, hopefully he can, he can help us
30:33get this season to a finish line and we feel really good about our 26th season.
30:36Almost whatever happens, you're going to feel good about the 2026 season from 20,000 feet.
30:41This has been a bad league this year. Uh, as we're sitting here, you're one of the four teams over
30:45500. Do you think you're taking advantage of a bad time in the American league? Or do you,
30:52what would give me the sales pitch that this is step one, that you believe that you have a core
30:56group together, that this is now the white socks moving forward for several years and that you're
31:02going to be a factor in playoff races beyond just this season? Well, you know, you look at a run
31:07differential, um, and, uh, obviously that factors in our league as well, because those are the teams
31:13that we're playing often. Um, but, you know, reflecting back to, to, you know, last year, our
31:18second half, a run differential, uh, same thing this year, you look at our lineup, um, you know,
31:24there's versatility, there's lefty righty, it's young players, it's controllable, um, our bullpen,
31:30you know, Grant Taylor, what he's been able to provide, you know, Hudson, Ian Newcomb's, uh, you
31:35know, going to be a free agent at the end of the year. Um, you, you look at some of
31:39our young starters
31:40and, and certainly no one ever feels good about the depth of, of, of starting pitching. Um, and,
31:46and that's something that, you know, you continue to focus on. You look at what Caleb Bonomer has done
31:51as one of the top prospects in minor league baseball. Um, you, you, you know, you introduce
31:55Hagan Smith to the big leagues and he's been a real weapon already, uh, out of the bullpen. We've
32:00got, uh, we feel like a young, exciting team that is hungry, that is learning how to win
32:05and getting results. Is it a, uh, are we fortunate to, to, to be playing in a season where the
32:12league
32:12does seem to, to, um, you know, have some teams that are under 500? Sure, certainly. But, uh, there,
32:19there's, it's tough to, to, to really value what confidence can do for a club. Um, that's
32:25a real thing. And, you know, we've taken, we took a step forward, we took a step forward
32:29last year, taking another step next year. Do we think that we're, uh, we're solidified
32:34and we're good to go? Absolutely not. Um, but we, we, we know that, um, we're a nimble organization.
32:39We've got a process. Uh, we, yeah, we, we can adapt. We'll see what the free agent market
32:45looks like. Um, we'll see what the trade market looks like. Um, we feel really good about Will
32:50Venable and our coaching staff, our front front office continues to grow and learn. Um, and,
32:55and, you know, we feel like we're equipped. We, we, we do to, to continue to have success. So,
33:00uh, yeah, 26, you know, you know, it goes without saying we, we feel really happy about what we've
33:06been able to accomplish, but we don't think that this is a, you know, what hit wonder. We, we don't,
33:11we think what we're, we're entering into a stage that's going to be, uh, really exciting for,
33:16for, for White Sox fans and baseball fans. It's been really, it's been fun. The amount of, uh,
33:21people that have kind of come out of the woodwork and, and really recognize what we've been able
33:26to accomplish. It's a great story. It really is. And I don't think it's a story that's just going
33:30to end here after the 26th season. How, how is it for you? I mean, reportedly the White Sox had
33:36the
33:36lowest revenue in baseball last year, which is really something because we expect that to be the
33:40Marlins or the Rays. Uh, I'm watching your games on TV. Uh, you're drawing a ton of fans. Uh,
33:47I mean, you know, you said you expected a step forward. I know there was a national entity that
33:51still thought you were going to lose a hundred. Uh, what did you expect? And as you, uh, live
33:56through this, how are you feeling walking around? I mean, you gotta be pretty proud of the way things
34:01have turned out. Well, yeah, you talk about the fans and we've had, you know, Monday and Tuesday
34:06night games that are approaching 30,000, where that just certainly wasn't the case last year.
34:13Um, but this fan base is, is, uh, you know, certainly shown up before it's a, it's a fiery
34:19bunch, a lively bunch, and they love their baseball. And, you know, a message that I've tried to convey
34:25to our fans, um, you know, I felt it last year and, and, you know, these Friday night games,
34:31these city connect nights and, and, uh, you know, fans coming out into support, but watching our
34:36young players respond to those environments, you know, our record last night or last year
34:41in Friday night games was, it was a pretty good record. And so, you know, it's, I feel like our
34:46fans are part of the development of our young team. And I, and I think that they've, you know,
34:51really embraced that. Uh, and, and there's some real excitement and then, you know, you, you go and
34:56play the Cubs last week at Wrigley and, you know, a lot of White Sox fans, certainly a lot of
35:02Cubs
35:02fans. And, uh, you know, the, the, it was just something really special for our players to,
35:07to play in that environment. Yeah. We lose the series, but three really exciting games,
35:11um, you know, split the series overall, but I, I, um, it's a, it's, it's quite an accomplishment to,
35:18to bring these fans back. You know, certainly we put them through something that, you know,
35:23was not pleasant. Um, but we, we certainly appreciate that they're back. Um, and, and,
35:30um, I, I think we're, we're, we're just entering into something that, uh, you know, it can be really
35:35special for this city and, you know, you feel good, you know, you know, honestly you do. Um,
35:42it doesn't mean that after games like last night or, uh, that you don't feel it, you know, and, and,
35:48uh, but I think, you know, yeah, once you're able to zoom out and realize what you've been able to
35:53accomplish in a fairly short period of time, uh, it's rewarding for me and the organization.
35:58You know, Chris, as a way to wrap this, uh, I do want to point out, you're already have drawn
36:03more fans this year than in the past two years. Um, you still have 15 home dates left. Uh,
36:09those dates, uh, will mean a lot, right? If you, you, you'll, you'll hold this. Why don't you tell
36:14us a thing or two that is on the, the architect's mind over this last month, what, what needs to
36:20happen
36:20in your opinion for the White Sox to finish this off and win the AL central? Well, you know, it's,
36:27you, you find different ways to fuel the club. Sometimes it's an inject of a player. Sometimes
36:31it's, it's getting creative with the schedule. It's, it's encouraging these young players. Um,
36:36you know, the young players usually haven't played this late into the year, uh, let alone, uh,
36:42meaningful games, um, and just continuing to remind this group how, you know, how special, uh,
36:48they've made this, uh, for, for the organization. So, uh, you know, the, I can't say that, um,
36:55you know, that, you know, you, you look at, you look at the standings, um, you look at the schedule,
37:00you look at our schedule. Um, you know, I, I know that, you know, there, you know, when you look
37:05at
37:05what Cleveland and Detroit and Minnesota, you know, we've going to have some opportunities playing
37:09against those clubs again, they, they're going to look at it as an opportunity to play against,
37:13against us. Um, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. Um, and I, I think that's really,
37:18you know, the, the, the biggest message is, Hey guys, you remember what, what has gotten us here.
37:23Um, we're going to, you know, find opportunities to, to fuel this team in different ways. Um,
37:29and we'll see where it takes us, you know, and, and, you know, yeah, we're playing with house money,
37:34but you know, it, you can only go with that mindset for so long. Um, but you know, finding ways
37:39to keep
37:39this group loose, uh, having fun, they play happy, you know, and, and, uh, we need, just need to
37:44continue to, to nurture that. Well, Chris, it's a remarkable story. Five months into the season
37:50where you were, I will, should I point out that I called you in the off season and told you,
37:54I thought you were going to be much better. And we had a long conversation. I didn't think it was
37:57going to be this right when we were talking and then we talked to get it spring. Uh, but it's
38:02a,
38:02it's a great story. Your fan base is picking up on it. The nation's picking up on it.
38:07And obviously people who follow baseball and you're right in the thick of things. So Chris,
38:10congratulations on that. And thank you so much for joining us on the show.
38:14Yeah. Thanks guys. Thanks for having me. Appreciate the support and hopefully we can
38:17finish strong. Good luck. Good talking to you, Chris. Thank you. Thank you.
38:28John and I, of course, thank Chris Getz for joining us on the show. John hit or error.
38:33I'm going to give a hit to Pete Crow Armstrong. Uh, who is now the favorite to win the national
38:39league MVP, which, uh, everybody gives to Otani before the season starts and probably long into
38:46the season. And when he was a number one pitcher for the first half and hitting basically like he
38:51always does, uh, everybody felt that it was probably a fait accompli. And Pete Crow Armstrong has
38:57played so well that he is actually favored now to win the MVP. So I, I'm going to give him
39:03a hit this
39:04week. Yeah. That's going to hurt the Mets forever, right? That trade. Oh man. Baez for a PCA PCA would
39:10be really something in New York, the way he is a five tool player, uh, and helps every day in
39:16some
39:16way. I mean, to the point where I know we, we kind of normalized Otani pitching. I mean, he did,
39:22if he did nothing else, he did start 14 games with a one 70 RA and we're like, well, that
39:26happened in
39:27the first half. Plus he has offensive numbers out to stolen bases like PCA, uh, question will be how
39:34to balance that. I think, uh, I am not an NL MVP voter this year. I know which committee I'm
39:39on
39:39already. I'm not, but I think it would be an interesting, uh, conversation, uh, like to juggle
39:44does PCA do enough on defense and the bases to, if you have similar offense to a guy who also
39:51started at least 14 games this year with a one 70 RA, I think it's a fascinating conversation.
39:56Yeah, I, it certainly is. I mean, PCA has the advantage in the war right now. I think the war
40:01is really, I think it's a lot closer than that war situation gives PCA such an advantage. Uh, you know,
40:10you get an advantage for playing a position, Otani's DH, uh, but he's also a pitcher. So,
40:16uh, you know, I think he's, he's unnecessarily punished, uh, for the way that, uh, that it set
40:23up. Nobody expected somebody to be a great pitcher as well. A great pitcher for half a year is extremely
40:29valuable. As you point out, right. When you go and when we're at the deadline, uh, you know,
40:34everybody was certainly clamoring who had the prospects for school bowl or any great or even
40:40good or even serviceable starting pitcher. There was a great defensive center fielder available,
40:46Brenton Doyle from the Rockies. Uh, you know, it was a footnote when he was, uh, acquired by,
40:52uh, the White Sox. So, uh, the value of a half year of pitching, uh, might be a lot,
40:59might be more or even a lot more than a great year of, uh, center field defense. But I think,
41:05I think it's about the narrative to PCA is just when so many big games, you know, look at the
41:11win probability added. Uh, it's about the story and I hope it's not about voter fatigue. Maybe I
41:17have voter fatigue, although I don't have that vote. Uh, you would, we would in a way a little bit
41:22like
41:22to see somebody else win. Although I think everybody votes for the person that they believe deserves it,
41:27not just, just keep it away from somebody because he's won a lot. Yeah. Yeah. John,
41:32I hope that's how people vote. And, uh, like, like look at it this way. If somebody was a DH
41:38and had
41:39all of, um, Otani's attributes and they were also, uh, like a league average start, like they had a
41:47three, six ERA and 15 starts. We'd be like, what an amazing, I just think we've, it's a comparison again.
41:54I, I, I, I did this with Joe, with, uh, judge last year where he had another 200 plus OPS,
42:00uh,
42:01season. And, you know, we were talking about if it should be Raleigh and not who obviously,
42:05I think there was a good case for Raleigh, but I was like, we've normalized 200 OPS plus seasons in
42:10the way that we normalized what Michael Jordan did. And then you end up giving Carl Malone and
42:14Charles Barkley MVPs when, when Jordan's clearly the guy. Right. And then Jordan got so mad about it
42:21that it energized him to win every championship to prove them wrong. So I've been watching,
42:27I've been watching the last dance. So I know that he was not happy. Uh, I'll do a real quick
42:34hit or
42:34error. Just, uh, I was going to do something else, but because you did an awards, I'll do mine real
42:38quick. Cause I wrote about this today in the, in the paper, uh, in the post. Uh, I liked the
42:43AL Cy Young
42:44race. Uh, I liked that, uh, on Friday night, Schlittler really grinded and did six, one run
42:50innings and then cease, uh, no hit the Yankees into the seventh inning, uh, ended up giving up two
42:55hits and a run. So six and a third, two thirds and a, and a run, he walked five. It's
43:00a very close
43:00race. I think Schlittler is ahead right now. Uh, he has a little more volume, uh, a lower ERA. The
43:07place
43:07where, uh, C certainly makes up for a lot of this is he's the premier strikeout guy in the American
43:13league, at least not Mizoroski is in, in the entire sport, but it's close enough that these
43:18last four or five starts are going to matter, uh, for both guys and Schlittler, which is already an
43:25amazing story considering where he was drafted from a literally, uh, a Northeastern school, uh,
43:34and, uh, you know, throwing 90 miles per hour to just be in this conversation late is something.
43:41And, and, and this is something I thought about over the weekend, John, if I had told you nothing
43:45else about the AL champions, but that they were going to sign cease and cease was going to be in
43:50total competition for the AL Cy Young, you'd be like, wow, Toronto might repeat as AL East champions
43:56and maybe AL champions. And here they are. They're been below 500 pretty much the whole season.
44:01And they're struggling to just even be the third wild card, but it's not because of Dylan sees who's
44:06been brilliant and is putting a lot of pressure. Schlittler's going to have to finish
44:09strong if he wants to win this award. Yeah. I mean, the challenge for Schlittler will be the
44:14number of innings. Uh, cease is the most reliable pitcher in baseball over the last seven years,
44:20along probably with Aaron Nola. They've pitched basically the, been the most dependable making
44:25every start. Now he did miss two starts this year. Uh, and he, so he's a little bit behind
44:30on the innings right now. I actually talked to cease about this a couple of days ago when I was
44:34out at
44:35the stadium. And yeah, I mean, I said he was a little behind. I mean, I think that's pretty clear
44:40at this point, right? Cause, uh, Schlittler has more in, you know, I think about 14 more innings
44:46and he's got a lower ERA. Uh, so I, this moment, the strikeouts don't make up for it, but, uh,
44:52I think
44:53if cease passes him on the ERA, it might be the best two out of three who gets, uh, between
44:58strikeouts,
44:58innings and ERA. So, uh, and it will be a challenge for Schlittler. He's a big guy who's worked so
45:04hard
45:05to become, as you said, from Northeastern, literally, uh, and number seventh round pick to
45:11become, uh, arguably the best pitcher in the league this year. Uh, it's a great story. Uh, and, uh,
45:18you know, I, I believe in him and I think everybody who's a Yankee person or in New York probably
45:22does,
45:23but, uh, it'll be a challenge, uh, to beat out cease because cease, you know, is going to make the
45:28starts and he's going to strike out a lot of people. So, uh, you know, it's not a guarantee.
45:33It's very, it's, it's, as you said, very close. Uh, tidbit. I think I'm right on the number. I know
45:39I'm right on the fact is, uh, I, uh, I think it's 1.14 is Schlittler's road ERA. Uh, there
45:46has not
45:46been a regular starter who's had a lower road ERA since Greg Maddox in 1995, 1-1-2, I think
45:53it was.
45:53So Schlittler, and, and by the way, when you talk to Schlittler, he's not proud of that. He's
45:58pissed at how badly he's pitched. So like, it says a lot about him. Yes. We love Schlittler,
46:04friend of the show also. So we love the guy. And a good interview, uh, in, in, uh, in that
46:09clubhouse.
46:10Uh, you mentioned dependable, uh, it describes our producer, Tommy Hogan. Uh, Tommy, thank you so
46:16much as always for helping us put the show together. Uh, please subscribe, rate and review,
46:22uh, on you pick, uh, your podcast site, Apple, Spotify, wherever the New York post sports YouTube
46:30page. Give us a view. All of this helps the show and please continue to stick with us on the
46:35show
46:35with Joel Sherman and John Heyman.
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