White Sox general manager Chris Getz came out of the visiting clubhouse Friday at Wrigley Field, climbed up the dugout steps and walked onto the field.
Getz knew exactly where he was headed as he strolled toward home plate. He was looking to see Cubs infielder Nicky Lopez, who played for the Sox last season. Getz and Lopez embraced.
Lopez has experienced a lot of losing throughout his major-league career. In four seasons with the Royals, he didn’t play on a team that finished above .500. His lone postseason appearance came in 2023 with the Braves.
But never had he experienced losing to the degree he did on the 41-121 Sox last season. Through the losses, Lopez reflected on the value he could bring to teams.
‘‘What’s going to make me stick in the big leagues?’’ Lopez told the Sun-Times. ‘‘What’s going to make me attractive to teams? And one thing I always hang my hat on is good defense, being a good teammate and bringing energy around the clubhouse.’’
Building and sustaining a cohesive clubhouse environment is paramount to the Sox’ future success. Early in Getz’s rebuild, finding the right veterans to pair with the impressionable youngsters is important.
‘‘I definitely learned a lot about myself,’’ Lopez said. ‘‘It was a bad year. We had a lot of young guys coming up, so I tried to help them out as best as I could because you don’t want them to just come up and be miserable.’’
Despite an unsuccessful lone season on the South Side, Lopez said he doesn’t harbor any negative feelings toward the Sox. He said that his communication with Getz was ideal and that he still keeps tabs on the team because of the connections he made with the coaching staff and former teammates.
‘‘I’m always rooting for them,’’ Lopez said.
‘We’re open-minded’
Sox fans weren’t happy when they noticed pitching prospect Grant Taylor was working out of the bullpen for Double-A Birmingham on Wednesday.
Getz said the team is tinkering with Taylor and thinks certain attributes of his are best used in relief. Plus, they always could move him back to the rotation. The Sox did the same with left-handers Chris Sale and Garrett Crochet.
‘‘We’re pretty open-minded on it,’’ Getz said of Taylor’s role. ‘‘We’re gonna have to manage his innings based on the injuries he’s had in the past and the lack of runway as a starter.’’
Taylor, the Sox’ second-round pick in 2023, missed that season with Tommy John surgery and was limited to 16 innings at Single-A Kannapolis last season because of a lat injury.
Roster moves
The Sox acquired right-hander Miguel Castro from the Astros for international signing-bonus-pool money.
They also added infielder Vinny Capra to the 26-man roster after claiming him off waivers Thursday from the Brewers. He batted .074 in 24 games with them.
Left-hander Jared Shuster was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte, and infielder Jacob Amaya was designated for assignment.