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Chicago Tribune
08-07-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago White Sox GM Chris Getz on Colson Montgomery's 1st days in the majors: ‘He looked very comfortable'
Chicago White Sox general manager Chris Getz called to check in on shortstop Colson Montgomery a few months ago. 'He was going through it,' Getz said Monday at Rate Field. 'He was really struggling. And I said, 'Hey, we're going to figure this out. You're going to figure this out. You just can't quit.' He goes, 'I'm not going to quit.' 'And he didn't.' Montgomery made his major-league debut Friday with the Sox in a 3-2 victory against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The 2021 first-round pick played his first home game Monday as the Sox began a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rate Field. 'He looked very comfortable on both sides of the ball,' Getz said of Montgomery's three games over the weekend in Denver. 'And hopefully he continues. We believe in the player, we believe in the person. And most importantly, he deserves the credit. But it's a big deal for this organization.' The Sox had the Colorado series circled as the possible right time to call up Montgomery from the Triple-A Charlotte. 'He had an incredible week with just the amount of hits, the power, I know he was playing really sound defense,' Getz said of the period of June 23-29, when Montgomery slashed .500/.522/1.227, going 11-for-22 with two doubles, one triple, four home runs, eight RBIs and a 1.749 OPS over five games against Toledo. 'You're never certain on what the ideal time is,' Getz said. 'Talked to (manager) Will Venable and the staff and decided to pull the trigger after talking to the (player development) group. (Director of player development) Paul Janish was very supportive of it. It looked like the right decision.' Montgomery went 0-for-2 while reaching base on a catcher's interference call and a walk in his big-league debut on Friday. He had three hits — including an RBI triple — during Saturday's 10-3 victory. The first-inning triple served as his first major-league hit and RBI. He collected two more hits and another RBI in Sunday's 6-4 loss. Shane Smith started Sunday's game for the Sox. It was a special day for the right-hander, who was named the team's representative for the All-Star Game. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Smith became the second player since at least 2000 to become an All-Star in the season after being selected in the Rule 5 draft. 'We were excited about Shane Smith in the Rule 5 draft, and there's so much that goes into the preparation and making that selection,' Getz said. 'But then, kind of the onboarding and coming to an organization and not being able to be optioned to the minor leagues, he's got to make the big-league club. Can you navigate the season with a Rule 5 pick? But it's gone really well. And Shane should be so proud. 'For Dan Uggla (in 2006) and Shane Smith to be the only Rule 5 picks that make the All-Star team in the year that they're selected — that's small company right there. It's a testament to his hard work, his talent, his determination. And then, it's something to be celebrated with our group that we pushed for the right guy.' The Sox selected Smith with the top pick of the Rule 5 draft in December during the MLB Winter Meetings. They are preparing this week for the MLB first-year player draft, which begins Sunday. The Sox have the No. 10 pick. This upcoming weekend also includes the reunion of the 2005 World Series championship team. It will also be another opportunity for the club to honor pitcher Bobby Jenks, who died Friday at the age of 44. He had been battling adenocarcinoma, a form of stomach cancer. The Sox plan to wear a '45' uniform patch for the remainder of the 2025 season in memory of Jenks. They also did a video tribute prior to Monday's home game. Getz and Jenks were Sox teammates in 2008-09. 'He'll be dearly missed,' Getz said. 'I'm just happy I was able to play with him, because he really was a special person. 'He pitched with such passion. I know the White Sox fans loved him, and for good reason. It was a sad day when he passed, but I look forward in the coming days just to tell more stories about Bobby.' Before Monday's game, the Sox placed first baseman Ryan Noda on the 10-day injured list with a right quad strain and recalled infielder Tristan Gray from Charlotte. Gray, 29, has a .280/.349/.493 slash line with 12 doubles, three triples, nine home runs and 39 RBIs in 62 games with the Knights. He has appeared in 25 games at second base, 16 at third and 14 at shortstop. Gray has played in 17 major-league games over parts of two seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays (2023), Oakland Athletics (2024) and Miami Marlins (2024), going 5-for-33 (.152). 'Power in the bat, defensive versatility,' Venable said of Gray. 'We could see him at any spot in the infield, and a guy that's been around and can put a charge into a baseball.' Noda, a Grant product, is 3-for-34 (.088) with one home run and one RBI in 16 games this season.
Chicago Tribune
01-07-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Column: What to watch in July for Cubs and White Sox, including a Mark Buehrle tribute and City Series Round 2
June went by quickly for the Chicago Cubs, who went 13-13 and missed out on a chance to put some space between them and their closest pursuers, the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals. But they avoided any prolonged skids and enter July in good position to make the postseason for the first time in a non-pandemic year since 2018. Soon we'll find out whether Cubs President Jed Hoyer can add pitching and bench help for the stretch run and whether the offense can continue to operate at a franchise-record pace. The outlook for the White Sox isn't quite as rosy as that of the Cubs, but neither is the short-term goal. The Sox won three of their last four to go 10-16 in June and remain on pace for 108 losses, which would be the franchise's second-most behind last year's record-setting 121-loss team. General manager Chris Getz will be a trade-deadline seller this month, though he doesn't have as many quality pieces to dangle as in 2024, when Garrett Crochet, Erick Fedde and Michael Kopech were all rumored to be dealt and only Crochet remained the rest of the season. Here are seven things to look forward to this month for the Cubs and Sox. This goes for almost every team, of course, but the Cubs and Sox might be part of more rumors than most because one is a motivated buyer and the other a motivated seller. The question for Hoyer is whether he can acquire a big-ticket item no matter the cost. After missing out on free agent Alex Bregman in February, Hoyer said the Cubs were 'really close' to their payroll limit. 'We have a little bit of money for some small in-season things,' he said. 'But this was obviously a significant exception.' Now that the Cubs are where they are, would Chairman Tom Ricketts let Hoyer stretch the budget for Mitch Keller or Sandy Alcantara? Getz, making his second appearance as a trade-deadline seller, had an uninspiring debut last year while dumping Eloy Jiménez, Paul DeJong and Tanner Banks for minor prospects and keying on Miguel Vargas, acquired in the three-way deal involving Fedde, Kopech and Tommy Pham. Vargas has rebounded from a poor start in 2025 to turn a bad trade around, though he returns to Los Angeles on Tuesday in a slump with a .108 average and .403 OPS over the last 10 games. Moving Luis Robert Jr. always was going to be difficult, and now Robert's 0.0 WAR and another hamstring injury could make it next to impossible for Getz — unless he just wants to cut bait, as he did with Jiménez last July. Willson Contreras' return to Wrigley Field with the Cardinals this weekend is sure to stir emotions after he reacted poorly to being hit by a Daniel Palencia pitch in the ninth inning of a Cubs win Thursday at Busch Stadium. Contreras later apologized for his actions, but whether Cubs fans will resort to booing the popular ex-Cub remains to be seen. The Sox will unveil Mark Buehrle's statue July 11 in what should be a full house at Rate Field. Few players in team history have been as universally respected by fans as Buehrle, who not only threw a perfect game among his two no-hitters, but also pitched out of the bullpen in Game 3 of the 2005 World Series after having multiple adult beverages in the clubhouse, believing he wouldn't be needed. Sox fans also will see slugger Dick Allen posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y. Even though Allen will have a Philadelphia Phillies cap on his plaque, there's no disputing where his heart lay. Allen was always partial to the South Side. 'It's better than anywhere I've been my whole baseball career, I might say my whole baseball life,' Allen told me in 2020, referring to his Sox tenure (1972-74). 'I've never been treated any better. You guys are the best for my money.' The Sox visit the Colorado Rockies this weekend at Coors Field in a battle of not-so-super flyweights. The Rockies are 19-65 and on pace to smash the Sox's all-time losses record, but like the Sox, they also went 10-16 in June, which is bad but not abysmal. It should be a close series and could come down to whoever wants it the least. The Rockies are 8-13 in one-run games, while the Sox are 5-20. The Rockies are averaging 29,454 per game at Coors Field, so fans don't seem particularly bothered by the losing. With the All-Star Game being played July 15 in Atlanta, MLB is expected to announce this month which city will host the 2027 game. It's the worst-kept secret in baseball that the Cubs are likely to be awarded their first Midsummer Classic at Wrigley since 1990. Act surprised anyway. A rainout at Wrigley on June 18 spoiled the Cubs' chance to face sensational 6-foot-7 Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski, who throws 103 mph. They might not be so lucky when they face the Brewers again at so-called Wrigley North on July 28-30 in Milwaukee. Misiorowski is 3-0 in three starts, allowing no runs on three hits with 19 strikeouts in 16 innings. Cubs starting pitchers were 9-10 in June with a 4.87 ERA, which ranked 24th in the majors and was well behind the Milwaukee starters. The Brewers added the rookie phenom and ranked fourth in June with a 3.22 ERA and 12-6 record. The Cubs swept the first round of the City Series in May at Wrigley and have won a record eight straight against the Sox dating to Aug. 16, 2023. The finale of the first series featured a minor eruption when Brad Keller hit Vargas with a pitch in the eighth inning with a four-run lead, upsetting the Sox infielder. Vargas hit three home runs in the series and said, 'I guess you face the price for doing good at the plate.' Keller, who briefly pitched for the Sox in 2024, said he didn't understand why Vargas was upset. It wasn't exactly A.J. versus Barrett, but there's always a chance for a brouhaha whenever the Cubs and Sox meet.
Chicago Tribune
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Big-league dream becomes reality for Chicago White Sox catcher Kyle Teel: ‘I'm trying to soak it all in'
Kyle Teel arrived at Rate Field around 11 a.m. Friday, several hours ahead of his big-league debut. 'When you walk in the locker room and you see your nameplate on your locker, it's like, 'Wow. I did it. I'm here and I'm ready to go,'' Teel said Friday afternoon. The Chicago White Sox officially promoted the catcher to the majors ahead of the series opener against the Kansas City Royals. Reports of the move first surfaced Thursday evening. 'This is a dream come true,' Teel said. 'I'm trying to soak it all in. It's something I worked my whole life for. It's really special.' Teel, 23, is ranked the No. 2 prospect in the Sox organization by which also lists him as the No. 26 prospect in baseball. He has a .295/.394/.492 slash line with eight home runs, 10 doubles, 30 RBIs, 34 runs and 30 walks in 50 games with Triple-A Charlotte. Teel reached base safely in 38 of his last 39 games for the Knights since April 10. 'I would just say that working hard and being consistent with my process every single day is what I did and I don't expect that to stop,' Teel said. 'Just keep the head down and keep working hard. I think that's a big part of my game, just being a hard-nosed ballplayer. That's what I'm going to do.' General manager Chris Getz said of Teel's promotion: 'A lot of it was just Kyle's production, quite honestly.' 'You're always trying to fine-tune every aspect of your game and you look at what he was doing behind the plate from a receiving standpoint, the feedback from our coaches and players that the game-calling, the game management was in a really good spot,' Getz said. 'And then you look at his offensive output, which has been really strong now for a stretch. He just continues to put together quality at-bats with power, getting on base, making good decisions. 'So you're looking at a fairly well-rounded player. Obviously as he transitions to the major-league level, there's always going to be adjustments. We feel he's in a good spot.' Teel joins Edgar Quero as options for the Sox behind the plate after the club optioned catcher Korey Lee to Charlotte. 'You're talking about a tandem that's a young tandem that's probably one of the strongest in baseball,' Getz said. 'It's not easy to send down a player like Korey Lee, because he's talented as well. You look at the catch and throw and the athleticism that he has.' Photos: Chicago White Sox vs. Kansas City Royals on Mexican Heritage Night at Rate FieldLee has a .250 average with three doubles, one RBI and seven runs in 14 games. He was on the injured list from April 10-May 27 with a sprained left ankle. 'He has made a strong impression and those conversations are never easy,' Getz said of Lee. 'He was disappointed, as you would expect. I have the utmost confidence that he's going to go down there and perform well and work on all facets of his catching game and certainly offensively. 'The catching position is what we feel like is a strength of the organization considering that we have two catchers at the major league-level and a catcher like Korey at Triple A.' Manager Will Venable said Teel and Quero will split time. 'I think you may see them match up a little bit,' Venable said. 'But we're comfortable with (left-handed hitting) Kyle facing lefties and obviously (Quero) being a switch-hitter we're comfortable with him on both sides of the plate. 'And excited about them catching all of our pitchers. So just understanding the demands of that position are extremely high, so I think just making sure that they can both split the load is the way we'll go into this.' Teel was one of the four players the Sox acquired — along with infielder Chase Meidroth, outfielder Braden Montgomery and pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez — in the December trade that sent pitcher Garrett Crochet to the Boston Red Sox. Meidroth and Teel were both in Friday's lineup, with Teel at catcher and batting sixth. 'This is something I dreamed about since I was a little kid,' Teel said. 'Everything I worked for comes up to this point. So, this is awesome.'
Chicago Tribune
06-06-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago White Sox GM Chris Getz wants to ‘stay on track and stay disciplined' in wake of sale agreement
Chris Getz has spent 'a little bit of time' with Justin Ishbia. 'More of a casual encounter than anything,' the Sox general manager said Friday afternoon at Rate Field. 'Seems like a very knowledgeable person when it comes to the game. I know he's got a passion for baseball.' Getz pointed out a commonality between the two of coming from the metro Detroit area and making their way to Chicago. 'So there's always something to talk about,' Getz said. 'We used to root for the Tigers and now we despise the Tigers — but I could just say that about myself, I can't speak for him.' Getz discussed the immediate impact of Thursday's announcement that Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf had reached a long-term investment agreement that establishes a framework for Ishbia to obtain a future controlling interest in the Sox. 'My conversations are with Jerry, they'll remain with Jerry,' Getz said. 'The day-to-day operations are as is. And I know that the announcement yesterday caught a significant amount of attention. I think that speaks to Jerry's long-term vision and commitment to this organization. 'And it certainly aligns with baseball operations and how we've approached things and been committed to building the foundation of this organization. And building from the ground up. Both from an infrastructure standpoint and then the development of our players, whether it be through the minor leagues and now at the big leagues.' Getz said his attention is 'on 2025 and supporting Will Venable and others in the organization.' 'I certainly don't want us to get ahead of ourselves,' Getz said. 'I'm looking at the next three years, quite honestly. That's the healthiest way to stay on track and stay disciplined to the plan we have in place.' As part of the agreement, Ishbia will make capital infusions into the Sox as a limited partner in 2025 and 2026 that will be used to pay down existing debt and support ongoing team operations. Photos: Chicago White Sox vs. Kansas City Royals on Mexican Heritage Night at Rate FieldThe Reinsdorf family continues to own controlling interest in the Sox. And Reinsdorf remains the sole day-to-day decisionmaker. 'Right now we're focused on the work we've been doing,' Getz said. 'Regardless of an announcement like yesterday, it doesn't change my approach, our approach of building from within. And in due time when we want to round out the roster and make additions, we'll have those conversations and we know we'll be supported. 'But in the meantime, it's about continuing to acquire the best players that we can and the mechanisms you're given in this game and grow those players and build them up to be successful major-league players.' Column: Jerry Reinsdorf's clumsy handoff of the Chicago White Sox only adds to his checkered baseball legacyReinsdorf will have the option to sell the controlling interest to Ishbia from 2029 to 2033. After the 2034 season, Ishbia will have the option to acquire the controlling interest. Getz took over as general manager in August 2023. 'The last year and a half, the conversations we've had with Jerry — and we'll continue to have those conversations on areas that need to be improved — he's been nothing short of fantastic in regards to giving us the support,' he said. 'I look at what we've accomplished on the international side. You look at (research and development) support. You look at how we're supporting our major-league club and player development. 'We're going to continue to talk as a group and find ways to improve. We've been supported, and I'm confident we'll continue to be supported.' Getz kept the focus on the field, including Friday's addition of the organization's No. 2 prospect, Kyle Teel, to the major-league roster. 'A great example is welcoming Kyle Teel here, the continued development of Miguel Vargas and Chase Meidroth and what he's done on the field,' Getz said. 'And then on the mound with our starter, Sean Burke had an excellent start, a huge start for us (Thursday against the Detroit Tigers). Considering where we are from a pitching-inning standpoint in our bullpen, he really stepped up. 'So there's just wonderful moments to see for whether it be myself or others in the organization, hopefully our fans to see these guys grow up, beginning to grow up at the major-league level. And it just goes back to this commitment from within at the top of really having this long-term approach for the Chicago White Sox.'
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Fire near Plains grows to 1,000 acres
Jun. 2—A wildfire that cropped up Saturday in Sanders County quickly expanded its footprint to about 1,000 acres by Monday. The uncontained Banana Lake Fire was burning in timber about 4 miles north of Plains between Locust Hill and Montana 28. A dark plume of smoke could be seen from town when the fire erupted Saturday as unseasonably high temperatures climbed into the 90s. "The winds were ripping and that's really what made it push," said spokesman Marcel Getz with the Montana Department of Natural Resources. No evacuation orders had been issued as of Monday, and the cause remained under investigation. Getz said there are structures in the area of the fire, but none were considered threatened. The blaze drew a large response on Sunday, including a Hotshot crew, 17 engines and two helicopters. A Type 3 team arrived Monday. Firefighters were working to build a containment line around the blaze that was showing moderate behavior with some torching and spotting during the heat of the day. Getz said the fire slowed its progress Sunday and Monday as cooler and more humid weather moved into the region.
