New White Sox assistant GM sees high upside in youthful team
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The word momentum has been tossed around frequently at the White Sox spring training camp this year.
It’s why new assistant general manager Carlos Rodriguez chose the White Sox in December after spending 16 seasons in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.
“I had a bunch of conversations with [general manager] Chris [Getz] over time,” Rodriguez said of the lead-up to his hiring, which the Sox announced Dec. 19. “Just felt we are really just aligned, aligned on his vision for the organization, the people, the process in place. Kind of got caught up in just thinking about the possibilities, the upside.”
As an outsider looking in, Rodriguez saw the White Sox’ abysmal last few years — three straight 100-plus loss seasons — as a fresh start for the organization to build up its player development system.
Many trades and a couple seemingly productive drafts later and the Sox may be trending in the right direction. The Sox are now one of seven teams with five prospects listed in MLB.com’s top 100 prospects across the league.
Rodriguez spent the last six seasons as vice president/assistant general manager for the Rays and before then, oversaw the strapped-for-cash team’s player development and international scouting department. They were perennial contenders for most of his tenure, making eight playoffs and one World Series appearance, and hovering around a .500 record the other years.
Perhaps the Sox brought him in as an attempt to emulate the Rays’ blueprint for success: winning without doling out too much cash or signing players to long-term deals.
The Sox have had similarly-small payrolls but haven’t found success. For example, in 2018, the Sox and Rays’ payrolls were both around $75 million, but the Rays finished that year at 90-72, while the Sox, going through a rebuild at the time, posted a 62-100 record.
“I think just it was a very collaborative process,” Rodriguez said of what worked well in Tampa Bay. “And just the relentless pursuit of trying to find different ways to get better. We were a higher transaction team but it does require the old cliché: great scouting, great player development and the ability to get the most out of those players also. Whenever you are transacting, making sure that you nail some of those traits.”
So far under Getz’ tenure, the Sox have shown a likeness to the Rays with many low-risk, high-reward acquisitions.
But several big trades have also helped replenish the Sox’ farm system in the last couple of years, mainly the Garrett Crochet deal with the Red Sox that brought in starting second baseman Chase Meidroth, catcher Kyle Teel, outfield prospect Braden Montgomery and reliever Wikelman González.
The Sox will need to continue building through the draft (three of their five top 100 prospects were drafted within the last two years) and eventually build up its international development system. That carries on this year with their No. 1 overall pick, which is projected to be UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky.
Nine players made their MLB debuts with the Sox in 2025, most of them showing some promise at sticking in the big leagues.
“I just feel like the younger guys on the team, just, you get to see the confidence that they have going into this year,” Teel said. “You can see how we're rolling on from last year. I feel like we're continuing that momentum, and it's a really great thing to see.”
The heightened expectations for this year were amplified when the Sox added slugger Munetaka Murakami and bolstered the back of the bullpen with Seranthony Dominguez.
“Coming into this year, they know what it is, they know what it’s like to be in the big leagues,” said veteran outfielder Andrew Benintendi. “Obviously, your confidence will go up and there’s a lot of great players in here, the guys who were here last year and some new faces that are going to help us a lot. Definitely an exciting time.”