Getz 'confident' in next wave of White Sox prospects 

CHICAGO -- The White Sox Minor League system is currently not considered a clear-cut strong suit, which is understandable for a prime World Series championship contender featuring talented young players acquired and developed during a rebuild.

But after day one of the organization’s spring minicamp was completed, White Sox assistant general manager/player development Chris Getz pointed out that their young players aren't exactly without chances to help the Major League club in the future.

“Our system is a little bit different than perhaps it was in the past couple of years, but we’ve got some really young talent that has some ceiling,” said Getz during a Tuesday Zoom. “The standards don't change in regard to how we teach the game and the demands we put on our players. We believe in our development. We believe in our instructors.

“With these young players coming off of a year that they didn't play in 2020, or at least most of them, last year was about getting out and playing baseball. But I'm very confident with this young crew that we have, that we believe in, whether it be international signings or guys that we drafted in 2021, [that] are going to start getting the attention to perhaps change our standings. It's getting these guys out -- certainly want [them] to reach their potential, but we want to supplement the Major League club as best we can.”

Getz estimated within the 60s for minicamp participants. That overall group features a mix of some upper-level players who usually would be backing up or playing in Cactus League games and some young prospects who might have just been added through the MLB Draft or as an international signee.

There was a staff meeting on Monday, and on Tuesday, that same staff was able to meet with the players.

“First day of camp is always an exciting time,” Getz said. “You look forward to seeing players and staff [that] perhaps you haven’t seen in a while. We have had a lot of players working out here at our facility. We operate with an open facility policy. So, we welcome players in there.

“We’ve got staff that are working hard this offseason. And with the official start today, we’ve got additional staff who have come in and now we’ve got players that have increased the size of the workouts here. Today was a good day. We were able to have a productive workout, and feel pretty good about things. It’s an opportunity for some of our older players to mix in with our younger players.”

Colson Montgomery, the team’s top pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, is taking part in the minicamp along with second-round pick and fellow infielder Wes Kath and third round selection Sean Burke -- a young pitcher Getz mentioned as one to watch.

Recently signed and highly touted international prospect outfielder Oscar Colas is expected to be in camp within the week, while fellow outfielder Yoelqui Céspedes is already present. Twenty-one of the organization's Top 30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline, who are not part of the White Sox 40-man roster, are in attendance.

White Sox manager Tony La Russa and his staff also are part of the minicamp, providing the young players with exposure to the Major League coaching group and La Russa’s crew a chance to work with the Minor League staff.

“Tony’s done such a great job of approaching this, not only as a Major League manager, but really wanting to make an impact throughout the organization,” Getz said. “He takes the time to get to know players, whether that player has a chance to play in the big leagues this year. It’s just his passion for teaching and his passion for this organization, and that extends to our Major League staff.

“We’re all in this together, regardless of what [the] titles are, what positions that we’re in throughout the organization. You always get anxious to get out to your Spring Training site here in Arizona and get things rolling. People that are in this game in non-playing form, in these coaching roles, regardless of who they’re teaching, they just love to teach. And we’re fortunate to have some really quality instructors that enjoy being out here and mixing in with the guys.”

Every player invited to minicamp is in attendance, per Getz, meaning they understood and met the White Sox requirement for the COVID-19 booster vaccination.

“We’ve been very consistent on this,” Getz added. “We made a decision as an organization that this was something that we felt was best for the organization [and] for the health and safety of our staff and our players. And also just to be productive and not have distractions and miss time and based on certainly the restrictions that are in place, just to be able to go out there and focus on playing baseball.”