Even during 121-loss season, Barfield trusted vision for White Sox

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 -- There were franchises within Major League Baseball that were set up closer to winning than the White Sox organization when Josh Barfield came to Chicago as assistant general manager in September 2023.

Much closer, in fact, as the White Sox were embarking on another rebuild. But Barfield believed in the plan, the vision laid out by general manager Chris Getz.

It also is a near-100% certainty that Getz didn’t mention the possibility or expectation of 121 losses on the horizon during the 2024 season, even while gaining “wins” and making significant strides without necessarily earning wins on the field.

Getz probably didn’t predict the 2026 White Sox to be a playoff team on June 3, as they are with a weekend series at Philadelphia approaching after this three-game set at Target Field. This crew is slightly ahead of schedule after going through the rough times, but Barfield never doubted his decision.

“I have zero regrets, and honestly, even when we were losing 120-whatever games, it was clear this is where I was supposed to be,” Barfield told MLB.com during a recent interview. “Never been more motivated with the challenge we had in front of us and still have in front of us. It’s the best decision I could have ever made.

“But to do it with the people and the city and the fans that we have, it’s been so much fun, and it’s been rewarding seeing it come together this year. It takes a while to lay the foundation and get all the right people and process in place. We are still doing that.”

Barfield’s hiring came in conjunction with that of Brian Bannister as senior advisor to pitching. Gene Watson joined as director of player personnel on that same September day.

Paul Janish was named director of player development on Nov. 2, 2023, and Ryan Fuller was hired as director of hitting on Nov. 14, 2024. David Keller also became part of the White Sox in 2024, overseeing international operations. It was quite a successful front office reconfiguration.

The White Sox have a unique alignment featuring three assistant general managers, with Jin Wong (hired on Jan. 11, 2024) and Carlos Rodriguez (Dec. 19, 2025) serving with Barfield in that role. Their bios reside on the same page of the White Sox media guide, but they bring different views to the overall equation.

“Any time you are working with good people, it makes it easier,” Barfield said. “Carlos has been an awesome addition. Me and Jin came in together. We all have different areas of expertise, diverse thoughts and opinions on problem solving, but it’s good to be able to bounce stuff off each other.

“Carlos feels like he’s been here the whole time, anyway. He’s done a really good job of just being a good guy, good teammate, and he brings a lot of fresh ideas and perspective. He’s had a lot of success individually and organizationally with Tampa [Bay] in his career. Being able to pick his brain on things they did well there and different ways to do things, he’s been a huge resource.”

Rodriguez, who was with the Rays from 2010-25, has enjoyed those conversations among the front office and the sharing of ideas.

“It certainly allows for a lot of growth,” Rodriguez told MLB.com. “I feel like I’ve gotten better and learned a lot. I hope they can say the same.

“We are going to continue to push each other and find ways to move the organization forward. We have a very similar north star when it comes to where we are trying to go.”

What is this shared north star, in Rodriguez’s mind? His answer was not a surprising one.

“Building a World Series contender. The north star is the World Series,” a smiling Rodriguez said. “It’s to build a team that we can feel proud of, a team that’s going to go out and compete every single day, a team that the fans are going to be proud to represent and support.

“Something that’s going to be a reflection of yourself. When we look at the way the club plays, the way that we talk about attention to detail, the little things, not just offense. It’s about run prevention, defense, baserunning, all the little things. Really the north star is to pay attention to the little things, because those things stack up over time.”