3 candidates for the Chicago White Sox’s GM opening

On Tuesday afternoon, the Chicago White Sox announced that they fired general manager Rick Hahn and executive vice president Ken Williams.

The moves to fire both Hahn and Williams did not come as any surprise considering the White Sox’s struggles once again this season. What was shocking to executives around baseball was the move was made in the middle of the regular season.

White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf should attract plenty of interest in the GM opening, a position that he hopes to fill by the end of the regular season. Chicago is a big market, there is talent on the major-league roster, and there should be money available long-term and, in the words of one rival executive, “an attractive rebuild.” But it will be an extensive rebuild, with that same executive saying: “The team is in shambles, the stadium sucks, and their system isn’t very good.”

Here are three candidates that make sense for the opening:

White Sox: 3 replacements for Rick Hahn as GM

3. Chris Getz

Getz, 39, is currently in the White Sox organization. He has spent the past seven seasons overseeing the team's minor-league operations and player development system. Before that, he had spent seven seasons as a player with the Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays and White Sox.

He is expected to be a candidate and, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, is the top candidate to replace Hahn and “expected to be named the next White Sox GM.”

If Getz is hired, Nightengale says that the White Sox could hire Texas Rangers senior advisor Dayton Moore in a key front office role. It would give Getz a veteran sounding board – Moore was previously the Royals’ general manager – though it’s unclear if he would leave the Rangers less than a year after joining them.