Big crisis down at Camelback Ranch:
New Chicago White Sox player Luisangel Acuña is not a switch hitter, despite being advertised as one by general manager Chris Getz.
What this means for the rest of the 2026 season is unclear. But for Getz, beginning his fourth season on the job, it was an unforced error that fueled outrage from Sox fans on social media — not that that’s hard.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhen Getz acquired Acuña from the New York Mets last month in the Luis Robert Jr. deal, he said Sox scouts were high on the versatile 23-year-old.
“We’ve been tracking him for a long time,” Getz said. “When you’re assessing a player, obviously you go through your scouting process, your analytic process, and you come to a decision. But to be able to bring in a young, exciting player that plays all over the diamond, a strong defender, an elite defender, elite baserunner (who) can make contact … very strong instincts for the game.
“I know over in New York, talking to individuals over there, they did not want to get rid of him. I know that. That’s because of how valuable he can be with a team.”
Getz didn’t mention that Acuña is a right-handed hitter, though it was in the press release he presumably read. But he later said in an interview with David Kaplan that Acuña is a switch hitter, then repeated it at SoxFest. I was at SoxFest but couldn’t hear what Getz was saying on stage because so many fans were ignoring him and conversing among themselves.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementApparently no one corrected him. Getz has a habit of repeating his talking points, so when he got to spring training this week at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., he told reporters Acuña is “a strong defender, baserunner, switch hitter …”
At this point the mistake was all over social media. A blogger put together a video of Getz saying it four times. It got 2 million views and became rich fodder for sports-talk radio. Getz was put through the shredder, and by Thursday enough people had discussed the error that he was forced to respond.
He had left camp and was back in Chicago, so he sent out a statement through the Sox that read: “So I probably have been carried away describing his versatility. He can play every position on the field. Why does it have to stop there? I called Luisangel and told him that even though he’s just right-handed, we still love him.”
I’m not sure if Getz wrote that himself or if the Sox brainstormed lines during an emergency crisis management session in Bridgeport. But the attempt at humor didn’t satisfy some angry fans who believe Mets President David Stearns swindled Getz in a trade that essentially was a salary dump.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGetz made 26 errors over his seven-year big league playing career, but this one threatens to be remembered more than any of the rest. It will go down in Sox annals with other unforced errors, such as the upper deck of new Comiskey Park, extending Terry Bevington’s contract and Disco Demolition Night.
Getz has company now with his adviser, former manager Tony La Russa, who didn’t know the COVID-19-related extra-innings rules in 2021 and left reliever Liam Hendriks on second base as the ghost runner to start the 10th inning. Hendriks had entered in the ninth in a double switch.
When reporter James Fegan asked La Russa about the decision afterward, La Russa admitted he was unaware he could’ve used a position player in the lineup, José Abreu, instead of his closer: “I’m guessing you know the rules better. Now I know.”
It was a relatively small mistake on a new rule that few fans or media members knew. But the coaches and manager should’ve known, and La Russa was forced to live with it for a while. When the Sox won the division, it was all but forgotten. No harm, no foul.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementGetz’s error wasn’t nearly as embarrassing as one former GM Ken Williams made during his rookie season at the helm of the Sox in 2001.
Before the trade deadline, Williams dealt starter James Baldwin to the Los Angeles Dodgers for cash and three prospects, including Triple-A outfielder Jeff Barry. When he met with the four Chicago beat writers to discuss the trade, Williams said there was some “miscommunication” with Dodgers GM Dan Evans, a former assistant GM with the Sox, over a pitching prospect the Sox wanted named Jon Berry.
“And there was a little bit of a mix-up as far as how that was communicated to me and to where Danny Evans was,” Williams said. “We got on the same page, whereas Danny didn’t want to give up the Berry that we were after. So we agreed on another player.”
“So you wanted a pitcher named Berry and he wanted to give you the outfielder named Barry?” I asked Williams.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I don’t know how far I can go with that discussion,” he said. “Because now, talking about another player is falling along the lines of tampering. So you figure it out.”
We were all puzzled.
“You have the player who is an outfielder?” another reporter asked.
“No,” Williams replied. “We substituted a different name. You’ve got to see the press release. Did they not get you the press release?”
A Sox employee pointed out that the press release said it was an outfielder named Jeff Barry.
“Obviously there has been another miscommunication,” an exasperated Williams said.
Williams was getting hot and the conversation was turning into a “Who’s on first?” routine.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“So you are getting the pitcher named Berry?” one reporter asked.
“No Berrys?” another reporter asked.
“Halle Berry?” a third reporter cracked.
“You’ve got to be (bleeping) me,” Williams said, grabbing his cellphone and leaving. “You never know.”
In the end the Sox honored the miscommunicated trade and wound up with the outfielder named Barry. I later wrote, “it’s no secret baseball has not been Barry-Berry good to Williams in 2001,” a line I still haven’t lived down.
Barry played 13 games for Triple-A Charlotte that summer and ended his career in 2002 in the Mexican League. The pitcher named Berry never made it above Class A. Much ado about nothing.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFour years after the trade, Williams won a World Series with the Sox, and the Barry-Berry saga became a minor footnote in his career, mentioned only whenever the Sox beat writers gather together to trade stories about the olden days.
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