The White Sox’ surprising 2026 success has brought a lot of things the franchise hasn’t seen in a while — multiple All-Star representatives, home playoff games at Rate Field, and the potential for front office brain drain.
Most recently, The Athletic reported that Sox assistant general manager Josh Barfield is a candidate for the Astros’ general manager position, which has been open since the American League West champions fired Dana Brown in August. Hired away from his role as the Diamondbacks director of player development in September of 2023, Barfield recently completed his third full season as a White Sox assistant GM. Near the very end of it, before the White Sox swept their way through the wild-card round in two games, Barfield was seen on the field at Daikin Park in Houston having a lengthy chat with Astros owner Jim Crane.
Owning significant prior history with the current White Sox directors of both player development (Paul Janish) and the recently overhauled department of acquisitions (Matt Grabowski), Barfield has had a weighty influence in the team’s recent course changes in both areas. With the White Sox having improved their major-league results by 19 wins in 2025 before their 23-win jump in 2026, Barfield was considered for potential promotions by other clubs last offseason as well.
“It’s the best decision I could have ever made,” Barfield said this spring of joining the White Sox. “Because I really believe in what we’re doing.”
The Sox are already trying to fill one gap in their front office mix this winter, in the wake of amateur scouting director Mike Shirley resigning in September, which sources said stemmed from an internal investigation into his conduct. In his media availability last week, White Sox general manager Chris Getz said the team intends to make a hire under the title “director of amateur acquisitions.”
League sources have indicated the White Sox have been interviewing candidates for the role. While Getz’s major hires have leaned toward bringing in new voices from other organizations, and he said in September that the Sox were “looking into a different way of doing business on that front” in regards to amateur scouting, internal candidates — including at the scouting supervisor level — have been interviewed as well.