With the news of the White Sox firing Kenny Williams and Rick Hahn, the celebration of a changing of the guard was replaced with questions about who would be coming next as the top of the White Sox’s front office structure. This article is an attempt to get fans familiar with some of the more interesting names around baseball right now, many of whom will hopefully receive interviews from the White Sox and Jerry Reinsdorf.

Please note that this group would be a mix of candidates to replace Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams. In all likelihood, Jerry Reinsdorf wouldn’t pick both replacements; the person in charge – either a President of Baseball Ops or General Manager, whatever the title may be – should be hiring their own people under them. But for the sake of this exercise, names that could foreseeably be considered for the unnamed title of “single decision-maker” have been listed here.

With that, let’s begin.

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Leading Candidates

Let’s address the elephant in the room first: I am well aware of the fact that this entire article may already be pointless based on Bob Nightengale’s latest report that Dayton Moore and Chris Getz could very likely be the next front office duo for the White Sox. This is not an endorsement of either of these candidates, as I will get into. Rather, it is an acknowledgment of the fact that the decision may have already been made before I could sit down and write this article.

Dayton Moore

Current Role: Senior Advisor of Baseball Operations, Texas Rangers

Moore, 56, is currently a Senior Advisor for the Texas Rangers after working for the Royals from 2006-2022. Most recently, he was the team’s President of Baseball Operations from 2021-2022, though he was fired after last season as the Royals decided to clean house in their upper management. Moore started his career with the Atlanta Braves, being promoted all the way up to Assistant General Manager in 2005. Before getting the General Manager job with the Royals in 2006, he interviewed for the role a year earlier with the Boston Red Sox.

From 2007-2022, Moore’s teams managed just three seasons over .500. While the Royals did go to back-to-back World Series in 2014 and 2015, winning one of them, the 13 other seasons under .500 appear to make those winning seasons the exceptions to what should be considered an overall tenure that fell below expectations for Moore. And, it doesn’t appear that Moore has been any more well-received as an advisor in Texas, despite the team’s overall success.

To expand further: Moore has long had an inability to be objective when evaluating his roster, finding it near-impossible to trade certain players with whom he had a connection. He had the same problem with firing Mike Matheny, who was run out of St. Louis due to clubhouse issues but was welcomed into Kansas City without an interview. Matheny’s teams were a combined 54 games under .500 in his three seasons at the helm. These sorts of inabilities to identify talent and build a winning clubhouse culture consistently are what ultimately led to Moore’s firing in the first place, outside of the consistently bottom-tier farm system, spotty first-round draft history, and overall lack of success outside of 2014-2015. In addition, he clearly embodies some of the same sort of of loyalty issues that brought the White Sox to their current spot in the first place.

Moore would certainly bring experience if that is what the White Sox are looking for. However, success with experience should be just as important – if not more important – than the experience itself. Dayton Moore’s resume with the Royals is a large number of subpar baseball teams with one in particular that caught lightning in a bottle.

If you think that sounds familiar, it’s because the White Sox just fired two people who did the same thing.

Chris Getz

Current Role: Assistant General Manager/Player Development, Chicago White Sox

Again, if you believe the initial reports surfacing, it’s likely that Chris Getz is going to play a large role in the next White Sox’s front office, likely as General Manager. And, it seems as if he’s already been preparing for a day like this. According to A.J. Pierzynski on his show Foul Territory, Chris Getz had a large say in the hiring process that ultimately led to Pedro Grifol. Grifol also clued us in during media availability today that Getz is in fact acting as the team’s interim GM.

In previous years, the idea that Chris Getz would be the next White Sox’s GM probably wouldn’t have been received as negatively. On a recent Sox On 35th Podcast, Barstool Sports’ Dave Williams mentioned that when Chris Getz was hired, multiple sources reached out to him to describe Getz as a “home run hire.”

The problem is that, since then, Getz has shown to be anything but that.

Getz’s most innovative idea was “Project Birmingham” – an attempt to bring together all of the organization’s top prospects from all levels together to train and compete as one club. It was hyped up by the team and seemed generally well-received, but nothing substantial seems to have come from it. The bigger problem is that the phrase “nothing substantial seems to have come from it” certainly describes the entirety of the White Sox’s farm system since Getz has been in charge. Even some top prospects – Andrew Vaughn, Yoan Moncada, and Michael Kopech, to name a few – haven’t reached their potential, not to mention the fact that the club really hasn’t had any “diamonds in the rough” come up and become key contributors.

Getz was also in charge of the farm system when the club hired Omar Vizquel and Wes Helms and subsequently fired both of them after misconduct issues related to a clubhouse attendant. Vizquel is the subject of those horrible accusations, while Helms was placed on “indefinite leave” after he was identified as someone who laughed at the victim here. It certainly doesn’t help that Getz went out of his way to be complimentary of Vizquel on his way out either.

The simple way of putting all these concerns? Getz isn’t qualified to be the head of baseball operations at this point in his career. Perhaps he could be a GM underneath a true head of baseball operations, as those individuals are more consultants and contract negotiators than anything else while they look to eventually rise later in their careers. Look at the Cubs for an example of this – you don’t know who their GM is without looking it up, but you know who Jed Hoyer is. Putting Getz in this situation – and even putting Dayton Moore under him – would at worst create a power imbalance and at best place a team at a crucial juncture in terms of their future in the hands of someone who hasn’t even been a GM yet. It could work! But it’s probably one of the bigger risks on this list, especially given the internal nature of the hire.

As a result, it’s going to make this difficult to sell to White Sox fans if it happens.

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External Candidates

Consider this list the one to turn to if the White Sox are able to stay out of their own way and look beyond the familiar when making a decision. Or, this list could be wholly unnecessary if the process really has been completed. But, I wasn’t going to let the White Sox prevent me from doing some research of my own.

Sam Fuld

Current Role: General Manager, Philadelphia Phillies

Fuld played parts of eight seasons as an outfielder, the last of which came back in 2015. He’s been in the Phillies organization since 2017, originally joining as their Major League player information coordinator — a role in which he worked to distill data from the Phillies’ analytics staff and front office to the players on the field in a more relatable manner (certainly a great role for a former player to hold). He was elevated directly from that role to GM in 2020 – certainly, a testament to the work he had done, though it also helped that Dave Dombrowski was hired as President of Baseball Operations around the same time. Fuld interviewed for some managerial openings but eventually focused on rising through a front office.

Fuld has had the ability to work under Dave Dombrowski – one of the more successful Presidents of Baseball Operations in recent memory, so while he may not have the highest level of credentials, he would be qualified for a new role heading into 2024. The problems are two-fold here: (1) it’s not clear if Fuld would even want to leave Philadelphia, because (2) he was just extended through the 2025 season. But, he is someone who blends the analytical knowledge with an ability to relate to the players playing the game, certainly a quality that is rare yet important to have. With the White Sox having such clubhouse culture issues, perhaps Fuld would have a better sense of the right players to bring into the mix and the knowledge of how to do it from working under Dombrowski.

James Click

Current Role: Vice President of Baseball Strategy, Toronto Blue Jays

Click, 45, is currently the Vice President of Baseball Strategy for the Toronto Blue Jays. He graduated from Yale University in 2000, and after graduation, wrote for Baseball Prospectus, playing a role in maintaining their PECOTA algorithm – which, if you’re unfamiliar, is their yearly projections system. He got into baseball at the recommendation of Chaim Bloom – who is now the General Manager of the Boston Red Sox. Click started with the Rays as an intern and was eventually promoted to Vice President of Baseball Operations in 2017. He was hired in January 2020 by the Houston Astros as their General Manager, winning the World Series in 2022.

After his contract expired after the 2022 season, Click rejected a one-year contract offer from the Astros and the team announced that they would move on without him. They would go on to hire Dana Brown from the Atlanta Braves, as it was rumored that Click and Astros’ owner Jim Crane did not get along well.

Click has become a relatively known name because of the World Series championship last season, and would certainly be more than qualified to head up the White Sox’ baseball operations department. However, it’s fair to question who really was the architect of that 2022 World Series-winning roster, as many of the names on that team came from the tenure of another name on this list.

Mike Fast

Current Role: Senior Vice President of Baseball Development, Atlanta Braves

In case it’s not abundantly clear, this list is going to be filled with names from winning organizations. Fast first joined the Braves when he was hired away from the Astros and Jeff Luhnow to be a special assistant to the general manager. In Houston, he was the Director of Research and Development and has been credited as one of the key analytical minds in the Astros’ rise to prominence. He led their analytics team and played a significant role in how that data translated to the field. He also contributed to player evaluations and transactions in Houston – a practice that continued in even his early days in Atlanta.

Prior to joining the Astros, Fast wrote for Baseball Prospectus, The Hardball Times, and MVN.com. He worked as a semiconductor engineer for 17 years after graduating from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in engineering physics. It was unclear what prompted Fast’s departure from the Astros, but it was universally considered a big loss for one of the deeper front offices in the sport. 

Fast was named the Braves’ Vice President of Baseball Development in 2021 – the role he still holds today.

There are two obvious questions here: (1) Would the White Sox be able to hire him away from the Braves, and (2) even if they could, is he ready to lead a baseball operations department? Working under Alex Anthopoulos certainly will get an individual ready for a future as a baseball executive, and based on the Braves’ Front Office page on their website, it does look like he is second in command behind Anthopoulos.

It’s probable that the only way to hire someone away from a team like the Braves would be through a clear promotion, so Fast would not be someone the White Sox could first test as a General Manager – even though that would be a promotion in title. He would need to be the one running the show – an opportunity he likely won’t have for a while in Atlanta. That would be the selling point, though would represent a clear risk in terms of readiness. But, having the Braves and Astros on your resume makes the risk a little bit easier to swallow.

Jeffrey Luhnow

Current Role: None

If you do enough research on baseball executives, you’ll see many of them spent some time working under Jeff Luhnow. So, why not put his name on this list?

Luhnow is a fascinating candidate. Ousted from the baseball world after the Astros’ scandal, it appears Luhnow is the only person around that team that hasn’t been welcomed back into Major League Baseball in some form or fashion. Perhaps it’s warranted, as he oversaw the team responsible for one of the largest cheating scandals in baseball history, even if he claims to not have known about it. But, if A.J. Hinch, Alex Cora, and all players can get a second chance, why not Luhnow? The resume will certainly speak for itself.

Luhnow was in baseball as early as 2003, working for the Cardinals in their front office after previously working in consulting. He began as the Cardinals’ Vice President of Baseball Development, establishing a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic and extending the Cardinals’ scouting in Venezuela. The Cardinals promoted him in 2005 to the role of Vice President of Player Procurement, which made him the director of amateur, international, and domestic scouting. He was named Vice President of Scouting and Player Development in 2006.

During his time with the Cardinals, he developed a reputation for scouting and player development, and he was credited with having a key role in the team’s successes in the minor leagues. The Cardinals won five minor league championships under his watch and had the best system-wide minor league record in 2010. From 2005 to 2007, the first three Cardinals drafts overseen by Luhnow produced 24 future major leaguers, the most of any team during that period. 

Luhnow was hired to be the Astros’ General Manager in 2011, and you know the story from there. He oversaw one of the most successful rebuilds in baseball history – which the Astros, by all accounts, are still benefitting from today (including that one previously mentioned in 2022). The Astros’ cheating scandal will forever put a stain on his career as a baseball executive; however, it’s not as though there aren’t plenty of tangible examples of Luhnow’s success over his career outside of the 2017 World Series.

In 2022, Luhnow bought a soccer team of the LaLiga Smartbank, so it’s not entirely clear if Luhnow would even want to step back into Major League Baseball. However, given his extensive resume, it would be foolish to not even consider him for this role if the White Sox are serious about winning.

Mike Rizzo

Current Role: General Manager & President of Baseball Operations, Washington Nationals

Rizzo’s name has been gaining some steam recently, as his contract with the Nationals ends this season with a contract extension still yet to be announced.

Rizzo, 62, has led the Nationals’ baseball operations department since 2009 and built the team that won the 2019 World Series. He was an assistant general manager in Washington prior to this leading role with the Nationals.

Prior to working with Washington, Rizzo worked with the Diamondbacks as a scout (1998-1999) and scouting director (2000-2006), as well as both the Red Sox and the White Sox as a scout. Rizzo earned a World Series ring with Arizona in 2001, and the organization brought an astounding number of homegrown players through to the Major Leagues during his tenure. Brandon Webb, Carlos Gonzalez, Chad Tracy, Justin Upton, Stephen Drew, Dan Uggla, Micah Owings, Tony Pena, Mark Reynolds, Conor Jackson, Miguel Montero, Chris Snyder, Carlos Quentin, Max Scherzer, and Brett Anderson were all signed by Arizona under Rizzo’s watch.

Rizzo also has many ties to the White Sox. He grew up in the city, and his father was a baseball scout for more than 50 years for the Angels, White Sox, Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Nationals. Mike worked for the White Sox under then-GM Larry Himes, who drafted Rizzo with the Angels. Rizzo caught the attention of many in the baseball industry when he scouted and signed Frank Thomas. Rizzo and his family have also had a good relationship with Jerry Reinsdorf for over 40 years.

All of this means nothing, of course, if Rizzo signs an extension with Washington. Rizzo’s contract with the Nationals is set to expire on October 31, so because he is still negotiating this extension, any inclusion of him in reports could be simply leverage to try and negotiate a new deal. However, on the chance that it isn’t, Rizzo would certainly be among the most qualified candidates available for this role, with the Chicago history to match.

Preston Mattingly

Current Role: Director of Player Development, Philadelphia Phillies

Mattingly, 36, is the Phillies’ Director of Player Development and the son of former major leaguer Don Mattingly. The Dodgers selected Mattingly with the 31st overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft and he played six seasons in the Minor Leagues before he enrolled at Lamar University in Texas. According to Dave Dombrowski, Mattingly was hired by him on the recommendation of a baseball person he respected who called Mattingly a “difference maker.”

Since being hired, Mattingly has been working to revive the Phillies’ farm systems after years of neglect created a toxic environment with communication issues. He modernized the entire Phillies development system, bringing a hitting and pitching lab to their Spring Training complex. They’ve also made a few upgrades to their facility in the Dominican Republic, like putting turf on their agility field for training sessions and building a plyo wall and covered mounds in the bullpen. Most importantly, he placed an emphasis on communication, including a wider staff — like strength and conditioning coaches, medical staff, field staff, and research and development employees — in conversations about which players the Phillies were considering releasing in Spring Training. Mattingly said the organization ended up changing course on a few players — either opting to release them or not release them — based on the feedback he received from staff members.

Click Here for a Story on Mattingly from the Indy Star

Mattingly is clearly well-liked and well-respected within the Phillies’ organization and among Phillies’ fans, and bringing the Phillies’ farm system from the pits of most rankings has certainly not been an easy task. But, he’s certainly made progress and seems to place an emphasis on things that matter within an organization. At the same time, it would be quite a leap to see him go from Director of Player Development straight to a head of baseball operations role – which is the same jump that Chris Getz would be making. However, according to Jesse Rogers of ESPN, he is at least notable enough to be considered a potential candidate, so keep an eye on him as we get closer to the end of the season.

Brandon Gomes

Current Role: Executive Vice President & General Manager, Los Angeles Dodgers

Hey, look, another name from a successful organization! Much like Mike Fast in Atlanta, Gomes works under one of the most successful executives in baseball, Andrew Friedman, so it’s likely Gomes would have to go elsewhere to be a lead executive.

Gomes, 38, is in his seventh season with the Dodgers and second as Executive Vice President and General Manager. He originally joined the Dodgers prior to the 2017 season as the organization’s Pitching Performance Coordinator before serving as the club’s Director of Player Development in 2018 and its Vice President and Assistant General Manager from 2019-2021. Gomes has been focused on the Major League club and works closely with Friedman, as he has been since he was promoted to Director of Player Development. So, he is more than familiar with the team’s philosophies and ideas. In fact, his philosophy at this year’s trade deadline is certainly one that can appeal to all fans, no matter where they fall on the spectrum of what they’re looking for in an executive:

“The guys we acquired … it’s looking at their true talent level like the Kikés and Lance Lynns and Joe Kellys, their numbers statistically were not indicative of how talented they are. It’s sifting through that, getting coaches’ perspectives, other players’ perspectives, how they would fit into different roles, the clubhouse culture and doing what we’re looking to accomplish, which is winning the World Series every year. You’re making an educated bet. You don’t really know how it will play out. It’s a lot easier to bet on somebody when you’re able to take the human factor in. We’re more willing to pour resources into a player who has a really good reputation.”

– Brandon Gomes (via Dodgers Nation)

Perhaps this philosophy comes from being a player – the former reliever spent parts of five seasons in the majors with the Rays, accumulating 167 innings and a 4.20 ERA in his time.

Gomes is similar to a few other names on this list – Getz, Mattingly, and Sara Goodrum – in that he spent time as a Director of Player Development. However, the biggest difference is that Gomes has spent time in the front office past that role as a VP and AGM, as well as now the GM and EVP. In terms of rankings, this would be a far more qualified hire and represents the sort of career path that it would be nice to see someone like Getz take before being appointed to head baseball executive.

Peter Bendix

Current Role: Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations & General Manager, Tampa Bay Rays

Bendix, 36, joined the Rays as an intern in 2009, returned for another internship in 2010, then moved up as an assistant of baseball operations, coordinator of baseball research and development, director of baseball development, VP of baseball development, and now senior VP/GM.

Erik Neander is still running the Rays’ ever-expanding baseball operations department, but he said Bendix functions as an “interchangeable partner” with an increased emphasis on overseeing the Major League club in his current role. Bendix has already played a big part in player evaluations, acquisitions, and roster management in his previous role as vice president of baseball development – especially down the stretch of Tampa Bay’s 100-win campaign in 2021. But this structure puts the Rays in line with the recent industry trend of clubs placing both a president and GM atop the baseball operations department to manage the increasing big-picture and day-to-day demands of the job.

Much like Gomes on this list, Bendix has a history in player development that makes this a natural career trajectory for him and puts him ahead of where Getz is at in his career. Usually, when a Rays’ staff member moves this far up the organization, they either rise to the very top like Neander or get poached from another organization to rise to the very top. Bendix is at that critical juncture where, if it’s not the White Sox, someone is likely to scoop him up soon.

Sara Goodrum

Current Role: Director of Player Development, Houston Astros

Goddrum currently sits as one of the highest-ranking female executives in baseball, and for the Astros no less. Goodrum, who played Division I softball at the University of Oregon before earning a master’s degree in exercise and sports science from the University of Utah, previously worked for the Brewers, where she created her extensive portfolio. After starting as an intern in 2017, she was promoted to Minor League Hitting Coordinator in 2021, where she oversaw the hitting program throughout the organization, managed hitting coaches at the team’s affiliates, and traveled around the system to assist in player instruction, including a stint with the big league club in Milwaukee at the end of the regular season.

In her role with the Astros, Goodrum oversees all player development staff and collaborates with coordinators on the core duties of the recruiting, hiring, and development of the staff. She also is spearheading the formation and execution of coach­ing philosophies and the player development goal process.

A knock on her is certainly the current state of the Astros’ farm system, though losing a few first-round draft picks due to the 2017 scandal and going through some new upper-level executives certainly didn’t help her out. The bigger concern is, like Getz, Goodrum probably doesn’t hold the qualifications just yet to be a “single decision-maker,” but she makes this list because it’s definitely possible to see her in a role where she is a GM under a more experienced baseball executive. Plus, with Preston Mattingly rumored to be considered for the job, it’s only fair that I keep current Directors of Player Development in this section.

Ross Atkins

Current Role: Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations & General Manager, Toronto Blue Jays

Could the White Sox convince Atkins to come back south of the border to receive a promotion?

Atkins, 50, has been in baseball since 2001, starting with the Cleveland Guardians as an assistant director of player development. He was promoted to director of Latin American operations in 2003. In 2006, the club promoted him to Director of Player Development, and finally, to Vice President of Player Personnel in 2014.

When Mark Shapiro went from Cleveland to Toronto to become the Blue Jays’ President and CEO, he brought Atkins with him as General Manager. During the offseason leading into the 2016 season, Atkins made several moves, including selecting Joe Biagini in the Rule 5 draft, trading Ben Revere to the Washington Nationals for Drew Storen, and signing several players to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training. The Blue Jays, still holding onto their core from the early 2010s, would make the playoffs in Atkins’ first season. However, the team would soon have to embark on a rebuild that led them to their current roster today – a successful one that Atkins has built and overseen.

Atkins is under contract with the Blue Jays until the end of the 2026 season, and his relationship with Mark Shapiro may prevent him from ever leaving. However, working for Shapiro certainly has allowed him to build the necessary qualifications to lead a baseball operations department, and the White Sox would be wise to reach out to assess his availability.

Josh Byrnes

Current Role: Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations, Los Angeles Dodgers

We round out our external candidates with – yes – another individual from a winning organization. Los Angeles is full of executives who probably deserve to be running the show for a team, but likely won’t anytime soon with Friedman in charge. Byrnes fits this category as well as anyone.

The 53-year-old began his career in 1994 with the Guardians as an intern. He rose to scouting director in 1998 and then joined the Colorado Rockies as assistant general manager after the 1999 season. He moved to the Boston Red Sox as assistant general manager in 2003 and was with the team in 2004 when they won their first World Series title since 1918. Byrnes was executive vice president and general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks (2005-2010) and the San Diego Padres (2011-2014). In fact, Byrnes was actually selected to be the Diamondbacks’ GM over Mike Rizzo – another name on this list. One of his more well-known moves in Arizona was hiring A.J. Hinch to manage the team – a move that was considered unorthodox at the time because of Hinch’s place in baseball front offices before. Byrnes also oversaw the 2006-2010 drafts for the Diamondbacks, which have produced players such as Max Scherzer, Paul Goldschmidt, AJ Pollock, and Adam Eaton.

In 2014, Byrnes joined the Los Angeles Dodgers as senior vice president of baseball operations. He was recruited by Andrew Friedman and was placed in charge of scouting and the team’s farm system. Since then, the Dodgers have placed in the top 10 in each of MLB Pipeline’s biannual farm system rankings since they began in 2015.

Throughout his tenure in Los Angeles, Byrnes has been in consideration for numerous roles with other teams as well, including most recently the President of Baseball Operations role for Detroit that eventually went to Scott Harris. There may be reasons why, at this point in his career, he’s never risen to the level of President of Baseball Operations, but at the same time, his resume is one of many on this list that speaks for itself and garners him worthy of consideration.

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Internal Candidates

With Getz already discussed, there are still others within the organization who would make sense to be part of any logical interview process – even if it wouldn’t make sense to give them the job.

Jeremy Haber

Current Role: Assistant General Manager

Despite working for the White Sox for close to 10 years, not much is known about Haber. According to Bruce Levine of 670 The Score, Haber is the team’s “contract negotiation expert and master of detailed information.” Haber reportedly compiled a 190-page profile on Grifol that was used for background information before Grifol’s hiring last November – which, depending on how you feel about Grifol, may say a lot about Haber to you. Haber has also spent time scouting the team’s minor league system, and according to Levine, his work and research were instrumental in the White Sox’s acquisitions of Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and Dane Dunning back in 2016.

Much like Getz, on paper, Haber has some qualifications that could justify a move up the ladder. However, a move directly into a head of baseball operations role likely isn’t in the cards at this point – or, at least, shouldn’t be.

Sam Mondry-Cohen

Current Role: Major League Analytics Coordinator

Mondry-Cohen was brought into the organization prior to the 2023 season in a role that was kept fairly quiet and was eventually named “Major League Analytics Coordinator.” Over the offseason, Mondry-Cohen’s role was vaguely described by the White Sox as the “offensive complement” to the work of assistant director of baseball operations Rod Larson – who has spent a lot of time in recent years working with pitchers. Larson travels with the team and frequently works with pitchers using Rapsodo and high-speed cameras to fine-tune their deliveries.

Despite how quiet news on him has been this season, Mondry-Cohen actually has quite a solid resume. In 2022, he spent time with the Philadelphia Phillies – who went to the World Series – as a consultant and is also an executive in residence at a biomechanics company called Reboot Motion and a senior fellow for Wharton’s sports analytics and business initiative. However, he is best known for his work with the Washington Nationals, where he was credited with effectively creating their R&D department and developing their internal statistical database.

Mondry-Cohen got his first job in baseball in 2009 as an intern for the Nationals. He would go on to become a full-time member of their analytics department, and after just a few years, was named their Manager of Baseball Analytics. He was promoted to Director of Baseball Research and Development one year later. According to the Washington Post, it was the R&D department that pushed general manager Mike Rizzo to trade for Howie Kendrick in 2017. During his four seasons with the Nationals, Kendrick batted .316/.361/.511 and was named the NLCS MVP in 2019.

Mondry-Cohen is well-regarded league-wide and was considered one of Eno Sarris’ eight “next-generation” general managers back in 2018 – along with eventual GMs Kim Ng (Marlins), Matt Arnold (Brewers), Mike Elias (Orioles), Chaim Bloom (Red Sox), and Brodie Van Wagenen (formerly Mets). Given his background, it would make a lot of sense for Mondry-Cohen to see a rise in the organization, should he be kept around. However, much like Getz and Haber, a move directly into a head of baseball operations would be risky.

Among the three internal candidates, he likely has the best qualifications to be named General Manager – which could happen in a world where Mike Rizzo is named the team’s lead baseball executive, given their time in Washington together.

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Other Names to Consider

This list of names was separated from the external candidates for one of a few reasons:

1. They have yet to hold a General Manager role or are new to it. That doesn’t mean they’re not qualified for a new role; however, if a head of baseball operations is hired, they will want to bring on their own staff. Jerry Reinsdorf will likely be hiring one person – the new head will be hiring anyone else.
2. There is just no way they are leaving their current role for reasons that are pretty easily explainable.
3. There is a good chance that they see their promotion that is deserved with their current team.

With that, here is another list of names that would ultimately be deserving of this sort of role:

• Raquel Ferreira (Executive Vice President/Assistant General Manager, Boston Red Sox)
  • Ferreira is one of three names on this list with a similar title – VP and AGM. As a result, she falls under the first category here: likely deserving of a promotion, but having not served as a GM makes it hard to give the reigns to someone like that in theory.
• Theo Epstein (Consultant, Major League Baseball)
  • Epstein has his sights likely set on bigger goals than working for the White Sox – Commissioner of Baseball is likely one of those goals. His role with MLB gets him close to that, and I doubt he ever leaves it to return to the executive world.
• Sig Mejdal (Vice President and Assistant General Manager, Baltimore Orioles)
  • Mejdal is going to be a GM one day – much like many of the names on this list. However, because he currently doesn’t have that experience, he probably doesn’t make the most sense here for the White Sox – though, bringing him into the organization under a head of baseball operations would be a great idea, as he is one of the hotter up-and-coming names in baseball right now.
• Matt Arnold (General Manager, Milwaukee Brewers)
  • Arnold is relatively new to his role, but if David Stearns is actually going to leave Milwaukee, Arnold would likely end up being named the President of Baseball Operations for the team he is currently with. That alone would probably be enough to keep him in Milwaukee.
• Eddie Romero (Executive Vice President/Assistant General Manager, Boston Red Sox)
  • Romero falls in the same category here as both Ferreira and Mejdal. However, he is one of three names in the previously mentioned Eno Sarris list that has not made the GM level yet, so that day could come soon for Romero.
• Kim Ng (General Manager, Miami Marlins)
  • With Ng’s team in a playoff race, on top of the fact that the Marlins took a chance on her and made her the first female GM in baseball history, it’s not likely that she would be leaving any time soon – especially considering her mentor in Kenny Williams was just fired.
• Pete Putila (General Manager, San Francisco Giants)
  • Putila is in his first season as the Giants’ General Manager, so he still is fairly new to the role. However, he came up with the Astros, and at just 34 years old, has a long future in baseball ahead of him. Don’t be surprised if somewhere down the line, Putila is being discussed for this role with another organization.
• David Stearns (Advisor to Ownership and Baseball Operations, Milwaukee Brewers)
  • Stearns would be a home run hire, but he’s already stepped down once from a President of Baseball Operations role, so it’s still unclear if he really wants to get back into that role at this time. However, it does appear his connection to the Mets’ President of Baseball Operations role is real (Bob Nightengale reported it as such back in June), so the other problem is that Reinsdorf likely isn’t going to beat out Steve Cohen to get Stearns if the White Sox were ever interested.
• Jordan Lazowski (Data & Analytics Consultant and Editor-in-Chief, Sox On 35th)
  • My phone has yet to ring, but my resume is ready as I patiently await a call from Jerry Reinsdorf

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Nightengale’s report regarding Moore/Getz on Wednesday morning really could render an article like this entirely useless. That being said, it was an exercise I wanted to undertake, so here we are anyway. Plus, this list identifies 15+ candidates other than Dayton Moore and Chris Getz for the job, so it’s not as though there aren’t enough people in baseball qualified for the job – or qualified enough to deserve an interview in a truly open process. The amount of executive-level talent in baseball today is rather incredible, and it would be foolish for the White Sox not to take advantage of it – or, at the very least, do their due diligence and listen to what individuals from other organizations have to say in an interview. I’d go as far as to say it would be disappointing if the White Sox have already settled on a Moore/Getz duo after writing this article – and I think you would agree after having read it.

As I mentioned above, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that many of the names on this list either currently work for the Dodgers, Astros, and Rays or have worked in one of those organizations previously. The reality is that most teams now have individuals who have worked for those organizations because they understand that hiring from winning cultures can help create a winning culture in their own organization. It doesn’t mean it’s perfect every time – but it’s certainly a good start.

Then, there’s the question of analytics. You’ll notice many of these names are up-and-comers who have made their way in winning organizations, but have graduated from places like Yale or have worked as software engineers throughout their lives. For some, that might not be acceptable. However, whether you’re a fan of analytics or not, bringing someone in who can build a staff adept at understanding, embracing, and utilizing them is paramount in today’s game. Remember when you were a kid, and your younger sibling wanted to play video games with you? But, you didn’t want them to ruin your game, so you gave them a controller that wasn’t plugged in and let them think they were competing against you? Well, that’s basically what competing in baseball without using analytics today is like – you’re the younger brother that every other team lets you think is competing when you really had no chance as soon as you stepped in the room.

The biggest concern, in my opinion, is the fact that the White Sox’s press release on the firings of Williams/Hahn included the goal of choosing someone to fill the role “by the end of the season.” While it logically makes sense, as the offseason comes quickly and the White Sox don’t need to be left behind, a lot of names mentioned above are going to be in the middle of playoff races. Would they be willing to leave before the season ends? Would they even be considered if they couldn’t come immediately? Basically, there is some concern I have that since the White Sox are prepared to make this decision before the season ends, Reinsdorf already has his ideal individual and isn’t going to conduct a truly open hiring process – hence why I’ve been so concerned throughout that Nightengale’s article has already told us the answers.

If the White Sox are looking for change – and their fans certainly are – I’m just not sure Dayton Moore/Chris Getz accomplishes that goal. That would mean Pedro Grifol likely stays as well, as all three worked together in Kansas City. If Grifol stays, that means a large portion of the staff is going to stay as well, assuming Grifol had a say in their hiring process in the first place. Now, if Moore and Getz were executives who were easy to get behind, this might not matter much. But, if the promise of a new executive team is a new look at how things are going, a biased evaluation of the coaching staff – and the players who came up through the system by their former farm director – doesn’t seem to be the best way to accomplish it.

But, that would be the White Sox way of accomplishing it, so maybe it’s not all that far off from reality. Let’s just hold out hope for better days ahead, while remaining cautiously optimistic about what we expect as fans over the next six weeks.

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