MINNEAPOLIS — The White Sox entered June firmly in a playoff spot. They held the second American League wild-card spot, 3 ½ games clear of the Blue Jays, and were just one game back of the first-place Guardians in the Central.
Given that we now can say the trade deadline is next month, it’s time to wonder what Sox general manager Chris Getz is thinking. His rebuild of the organization is surprisingly — if not stunningly — ahead of schedule, but might he accelerate it further with a precious playoff season potentially at stake?
“We’re always looking for opportunities to improve our roster,” Getz said Monday before the Sox’ game against the Twins. “We’ve handled it that way since the beginning. A deal might come together later today or near the deadline.
“You look at the talent we brought up this year, and we still have talent in the minor-league system, at Triple-A and Double-A. There’s gonna be opportunities to bring up those guys and get what we feel like is a real boost.
“We’ll continue to monitor the trade market. This team’s playing good baseball. We’re staying in it. These guys believe in themselves; we believe in them. And so any way we can continue to fuel this team, we’re gonna look to do that.”
Getz certainly talked a good game, and that’ll make playoff-hungry fans happy. But he’ll have to walk a tightrope, balancing a playoff push with keeping his rebuild on track. It’s not as though the Sox are one player away from getting over the top. They still need some of everything, and it’s fair to wonder if their current run is sustainable.
They’re not even a week into their “four-weeker,” as Getz put it to the Sun-Times, without slugger Munetaka Murakami, who strained his right hamstring Friday. His 20 home runs trailed only Phillies masher Kyle Schwarber’s 22 in the majors, and his 44 walks ranked fifth. That’s a lot of offense for the Sox to replace — probably too much.
And for all the Sox’ success in the Central — they’re 11-3 against those rivals — it’s a down year for the division, which will challenge the AL West for the worst in baseball. They have yet to face the Guardians, who, for fans of a certain age, might conjure memories of the infamous “White Flag trade” in 1997.
On July 31 that year, the Sox were only 3 ½ games behind Cleveland in the Central when they traded pitchers Wilson Alvarez, Roberto Hernandez and Danny Darwin to the Giants for six prospects. Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf was quoted as saying, “Anyone who thinks this team is going to catch Cleveland is crazy.”
Granted, the trade propelled the Sox to their “The Kids Can Play” youth movement, which laid the foundation for their division title in 2000. But waving the white flag on a potential playoff run was a terrible look. If Getz were to wave a flag this season, it should be yellow, as in being cautious.
Any trades he makes before the deadline must be tied into his long game. Getz alluded to all the talent developing in the minors. Trading, say, top prospect Braden Montgomery for a rental player would be foolish. Getz’s patience is paying off now. He should stick with that approach, avoid the trade-deadline madness and let the season play out.
But he still can talk a good game.
“We are focused on 2026,” he said. “I know I have stated that it’s not about 2026, but this team’s playing really good baseball. We know where we are in the standings, both within the division and wild card.
“We’re monitoring it, and if there’s opportunities to add to this … we have higher hopes than just 2026 because we want to have a continual winner. But if there’s chances to really add to this group, we’re gonna do that.”
If you say so. Just do it with a yellow flag.