Christopher Ryan Getz (born August 30, 1983) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

executive and former player. A

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

, Getz played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

from 2008 to 2014. Getz currently serves as the vice president and

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

for the White Sox.

Early life

Getz was born in the

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

suburb of

Southfield, Michigan Southfield is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Southfield borders Detroit to the north, roughly northwest of downtown Downtown Detroit, Detroit. As of the 2020 Uni ...

, and was raised in

Grosse Pointe Grosse Pointe is a group of five adjacent suburbs in the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area on the shore of Lake St. Clair. From southwest to northeast, they are: *Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, Grosse Pointe Park *Grosse Pointe, Michiga ...

, Michigan by Art and Betsy Getz. He attended

Grosse Pointe South High School Grosse Pointe South High School is a state school, public secondary education in the United States, high school of Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, state and National Register of Historic Places, national historical significance ser ...

('South'), where he was a three-time All-Michigan selection in

and holds the South career records for

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(.465), doubles,

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s, walks, and saves. Getz was a member of South's State Championship baseball team during his junior year. He shared the title of "Michigan's Mr. Baseball" in 2002 and also lettered in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

. Getz was drafted in the sixth round (180th overall) of the

2002 MLB draft The 2002 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 4 and 5. It is featured in Michael Lewis' 2003 book ''Moneyball''. First round selections Supplemental first round compensation selections * *Did Not Sign With Team Compensation ...

by the Chicago White Sox, but opted to play baseball at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

where his father had attended college. Getz transferred to the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

to play baseball after just one season. He holds the single season

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

records for

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

, and was an All Big Ten Selection in and . Getz also was a player in the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

(CCBL), a premier

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

league for major league prospects. In 2003 and 2004, Getz played for the CCBL's Chatham A's, now known as the

Chatham Anglers The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in ...

, and was named a league all-star in 2004.

Professional career

Chicago White Sox

Getz was again selected by the White Sox in the fourth round (125th overall) of the

2005 MLB draft The 2005 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best drafts in recent memory. ''SourceMajor L ...

. In 2005, he played six games for the

Great Falls White Sox Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

, the Sox rookie league affiliate, batting .333 with 4 RBI. He was later promoted to the Single-A

Kannapolis Intimidators Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte, and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. ...

, where he played in 55 games and batted .307 with a home run and 28 RBI. In , Getz played in 130 games for the Double-A

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The Baron ...

, and hit .256 with two home runs and 36 RBI. Limited by injury, Getz played in just 72 games for Birmingham during the season, batting .299 with three home runs and 29 RBI. In 2008, Getz was named to the

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League- ...

, then was called up to the White Sox on August 10, . He made his major league debut against the

on August 12, where he recorded his first hit and RBI off Royals

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Josh Newman in his one and only

at-bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

during the eighth inning. The next day, he had his first Major League start, replacing

Alexei Ramírez Alexei Fernando Ramírez Rodriguez (born September 22, 1981) is a Cuban former professional baseball shortstop. He has played for the Chicago White Sox, San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays in MLB and Pinar del Río (baseball), Pinar del Rio ...

at second base. He went 1-for-3 with a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

. With Ramirez moving over to shortstop for the season, White Sox manager

Ozzie Guillén Oswaldo José Guillén Barrios (; born January 20, 1964) is a Venezuelan-American former professional baseball player who is the current manager (baseball), manager of Tiburones de La Guaira of the Venezuelan League. He played in Major League B ...

announced Getz had won the starting role at second base out of spring training. In 2009, Getz ranked tied for first among AL rookies in multi-hit games (28) and 92.6 stolen base percentage (25-for-27) led the league. After the season, he was named 2009 Topps All-Star Rookie Roster.

Kansas City Royals

Getz was traded to the

on November 6, 2009, along with Josh Fields for

Mark Teahen Mark Thomas Teahen (born September 6, 1981) is an American-Canadian former professional baseball infielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays. He graduated from Yuca ...

. His career with the Royals was riddled with injuries. He played only 72 games during the 2010 season due first to a strained oblique muscle, and then later due to a concussion after being hit in the head with a baseball. In those games, Getz batted .255 with 18 RBI and 15 stolen bases. He fared somewhat better in 2011, appearing in 118 games and posting a .255 batting average, 26 RBI and 21 stolen bases. During the 2012 season, Getz made three separate trips to the disabled list, first in May with a bruised ribcage, then in June with a lateral strain of the left leg, and finally in August with a broken left thumb. The last injury required surgery, ending his season. Despite the injury history, the Royals signed Getz to a one-year contract on November 30, 2012. The base contract for 2013 was for $1.05 million, with additional performance bonuses totalling $150,000. Getz was optioned to the Triple-A

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, Nebraska, Omah ...

in June 2013 after starting the season batting .214 with a home run and 12 RBI.

Jarrod Dyson Jarrod Martel Dyson (born August 15, 1984) is an American former professional baseball center fielder. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago W ...

was called down up to replace him. Getz was later recalled on July 18. The Royals did not tender him a contract for 2014 and he became a free agent on December 2, 2013.

Toronto Blue Jays

On January 16, 2014, Getz signed a minor-league contract with the

. He was sent to minor league camp on March 24. Getz started the season with the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

. He was brought up to Toronto on April 29, and designated for assignment on May 11. Getz cleared waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Buffalo on May 13. On May 16, Getz announced his retirement from baseball. He had batted .160 in 10 games played for the Blue Jays.

Executive career

In 2014, Getz was hired by the Kansas City Royals as their assistant to player development. He worked with them until 2016 when he went to the Chicago White Sox as their director of player development from 2017 to 2020. There, he worked with many talented prospects like Luis Robert Jr.,

Yoán Moncada Yoán Manuel Moncada Olivera (born May 27, 1995) is a Cuban professional baseball third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox. He made his ...

Eloy Jiménez Eloy Arturo Jiménez Solano (born November 27, 1996) is a Dominican professional baseball designated hitter and outfielder in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. Jiménez signed with the Chicago Cubs in 2013 as an international free agent. He made ...

Michael Kopech Michael Talbert Kopech (born April 30, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox. He was selected by the Boston Red Sox in ...

Lucas Giolito Lucas Frost Giolito (born July 14, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Washington Nationals, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and ...

, and

Dylan Cease Dylan Edward Cease (born December 28, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago White Sox. The Chicago Cubs selected Cease in the s ...

. The White Sox farm system was ranked as the best in the MLB in 2017. In 2021, White Sox promoted him as assistant General Manager to then-GM Rick Hahn. Following Hahn's firing on August 22, 2023, Getz was promoted as the White Sox new Senior Vice President and GM on August 31.

Personal life

His wife, Nicole "Nicky" Getz, was a contestant on ''

The Amazing Race 23 ''The Amazing Race 23'' is the twenty-third season of the American reality competition show ''The Amazing Race (American TV series), The Amazing Race''. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured eleven teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationsh ...

'', where she was teamed up with

David DeJesus David Christopher DeJesus (; born December 20, 1979) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Ray ...

's wife, Kim.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Getz, Chris 1983 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Birmingham Barons players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Charlotte Knights players Chatham Anglers players Chicago White Sox executives Chicago White Sox players Great Falls White Sox players Kannapolis Intimidators players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball third basemen Michigan Wolverines baseball players Omaha Royals players Omaha Storm Chasers players Baseball players from Southfield, Michigan Toronto Blue Jays players Wake Forest Demon Deacons baseball players