White Sox GM Chris Getz breaks silence on Luisangel Acuna switch-hitter mistake originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Chicago White Sox traded away Luis Robert Jr. after plenty of trade rumors over the last year or so. It was a trade with the New York Mets, and it brought two players to the White Sox organization.
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Truman Pauley was one pickup, but the headliner was Luisangel Acuna. But not long after he was acquired, Chris Getz, the White Sox general manager who just traded for him, made an embarrassing mistake calling him a switch-hitter when Acuna is a righty only.
After a video went viral depicting the many instances in which Getz got Acuna’s handedness at the plate wrong, Getz released a statement. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic shared Getz’s statement, which took on a joking tone.
Chris Getz breaks silence on Luisangel Acuna’s switch-hitting mistake
“So I probably have been getting carried away describing his versatility,” Getz joked in a statement to Rosenthal. “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.”
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This is an awkward situation on its own, and Getz’s comments after the fact, joking around about this mistake, don’t help him look any better.
As the general manager of a Major League Baseball team, one would think that Getz would know all there is to know about the players he’s acquiring.
What makes this all the more confounding is that this isn’t some random minor league signing that might never make the Major Leagues. This was the main return in the trade that sent Robert Jr., a core contributor for some time, to a new team.
More:Â Pirates to sign former Padres, White Sox 3.55 ERA veteran righty on one-year deal
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Making a mistake with a player is a bad look on its own, but for the GM to make this mistake right after trading for Acuna is a very bad look.
This embarrassing mistake, repeatedly calling Acuna a switch-hitter when he’s not, is a rough look for the White Sox general manager.
Any fan can figure out Acuna isn’t a switch-hitter with a quick search on the internet. Acuna isn’t a switch-hitter, and never has been.
For Getz, the general manager of an MLB team, let alone the one that just acquired this player, to make this mistake is more than an embarrassing mistake.
This statement doesn’t help quell the embarrassment for Getz. It’s still an unfathomable mistake to make, especially after negotiating a trade for the player not long ago.
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