Getz's biggest Deadline accomplishment? Not disrupting White Sox culture

This story was excerpted from Scott Merkin’s White Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- A defined White Sox culture now exists across the organization.

Chris Getz began to build it upon taking over as general manager, strengthening the infrastructure and group processes, while building them up where there was none.

White Sox players gave manager Will Venable the credit for setting the tone, and then they ran with it.

It’s about playing hard, every inning, every day. It’s about preparing for one game at a time, even if goals exist for running deep into October. It’s about camaraderie, a South Side family. It’s a little bit of magic -- just ask Mike Vasil.

Venable started to see this culture take form after the 2025 All-Star break, but he really noticed when players were living together, working out together and visiting each other during the offseason. So, when Getz was looking to enhance this impressive White Sox product at the Trade Deadline, he can’t be blamed for avoiding any sort of move tearing apart this downright fun baseball edifice.

“I didn’t want to disrupt what’s going on in the clubhouse. I really didn’t,” said Getz during a Monday night Zoom. “We've got something special going on, and this group, they play happy, they play excited. They're optimistic.

“Our fans have been fantastic. They're supporting this group. They feel what's going on here in the Chicago White Sox organization. I'm doing everything I can to really help this group continue to grow and trying to find ways to support it.”

People have described the White Sox as a surprise since they turned around a 6-13 start. That surprise has been erased by fun on-field fortitude and excellence, with the White Sox sitting atop the American League Central and only 50 games remaining in the regular season. They are also Major League Baseball’s sole team to not lose more than three in a row this season.

That’s no surprise for the White Sox players themselves. As I’ve written and talked about countless times, they believed since SoxFest in late January. A few of the players mentioned a World Series championship goal this past weekend in St. Petersburg, and with the overall strength of this group in an off year for the AL, why shouldn’t they believe?

“That’s our goal, playing in the World Series,” third baseman Miguel Vargas said. “It’s the same question we had earlier in the year, if we could be a team that could make it into the playoffs. Nobody really believes that until it happens. I think it’s going to be the same thing.

“When you have a team to fight every single day, nine innings, you can see how many comebacks we have on the year. I don’t know how many, but it feels like it has been a lot [AL-leading 28]. We never give up and that’s why [when] we play a three-game series, and you don’t give up for 27 innings, we are going to have advantages at some point.”

This sort of White Sox baseball enjoyment has filtered down into the Minor Leagues and even to fresh players in the system. Roch Cholowsky, the No. 1 pick overall in the 2026 Draft and the third 1-1 selection in franchise history, wanted to do something special for his class during a post-Draft camp held in Charlotte a few days after the selection weekend.

With the help of assistant general manager Josh Barfield, Cholowsky took 25 players to dinner at Steak 48, located 45 minutes from Charlotte.

“Kind of hurt my pockets. The check hasn’t come in yet,” Cholowsky said with a laugh. “It was a lot of fun, a good time.

“It’s something that will stick for however long we are playing together. Talking to the guys the last couple of weeks, that dinner has still been something we talked about and guys enjoyed it. I’m happy we got to do that as a Draft class.”

This Draft class won’t be together every step of the way as they progress through the organization. Cholowsky debuted at High-A Winston-Salem on Tuesday, while Landon Thome, who he has formed a bond with already, continues working in Arizona, as an example.

But moments such as this dinner form that closeness and help this next wave of talent move toward the feel of what the current team is doing.

It’s culture. It’s fun. And with the playoffs in sight, it’s something Getz didn’t want to overly alter.

“They compete against anyone,” Getz said. “Obviously, you look at what we did with the Yankees, those final two games and taking two out of three from the Tampa Bay Rays. Still, objectively, when you line up with some of these clubs and you look at the names on the other club versus our club, I'm sure there are people who might choose the other club versus us.

“We go out there and we're not scared of anyone, we aren't. We've accomplished a lot so far. I think we can do even more. They believe in themselves and I believe in this group.”