GLENDALE, Ariz. \u2014 What does Luisangel Acu\u00f1a want Chicago White Sox fans to know about him?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I play hard,\u201d Acu\u00f1a said through an interpreter while sitting at his locker and breaking in his outfield glove.<\/p>\n
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Simple and to the point.<\/p>\n
The new addition to the Sox outfield isn\u2019t going to speak boldly or put expectations on himself. He\u2019s trying to win the center-field job and stick in the majors, which he wasn\u2019t able to do last season as an infielder with the New York Mets.<\/p>\n
Acu\u00f1a, the younger brother of Atlanta Braves superstar Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr., turns 24 next month and has yet to get a prolonged opportunity to show off his talents at the major league level. This is his best shot, and he fully intends on taking advantage of it.<\/p>\n
Acquired in late January along with pitching prospect Truman Pauley for Luis Robert Jr., Acu\u00f1a was off to a good start in the Cactus League before being removed from Wednesday\u2019s game with a cut above his left eye when his helmet came off and hit him in the face while he was sliding into second. Acu\u00f1a received four stitches and said afterward his exit was precautionary and he would miss only a couple of days.<\/p>\n
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Acu\u00f1a\u2019s arrival at Camelback Ranch was memorable for reasons out of his control. A few days into camp, a blogger put together a video reel of general manager Chris Getz referring to him as a switch hitter on four occasions and posted it on social media.<\/p>\n
There was no way around it. Getz misspoke, and no one around him corrected the mistake to him.<\/p>\n
It was easy pickings for fans who hold Getz accountable for two of the three straight 100-plus-loss seasons, along with those who blame Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf for handing him the job during the 2023 season without looking outside the organization.<\/p>\n
The gaffe also put a spotlight on Acu\u00f1a, who was ranked the No. 3 prospect in the Mets system in 2024 but struggled last season and fell out of the top 10. Getz released a self-effacing statement after the mistake and admitted to me in an interview that he \u201ccaught a lot of flak,\u201d even from colleagues in the industry, including close pal Jed Hoyer of the Cubs.<\/p>\n
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What are friends for if not for mocking each other when they\u2019re down?<\/p>\n
The most grief he received among his colleagues was from former Sox teammate Gordon Beckham, a part-time analyst at Chicago Sports Network.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was like, \u2018Oh, my gosh, this is amazing, you are going to get absolutely torched,\u2019 \u201d Getz recalled with a laugh.<\/p>\n
Beckham was correct, and Getz knew what was coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the truth,\u201d Getz said. \u201cIt\u2019s like you say it once and you get into this mode (of repeating it).\u201d<\/p>\n
By the time Getz realized his error, it was too late.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then it became a thing, and I was like, \u2018OK, let me call Acu\u00f1a,’\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a classic conversation. I\u2019m like, \u2018Hey, man, I\u2019ve been saying you\u2019re a switch hitter. I\u2019m sorry. We know you\u2019re right-handed.\u2019<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe said, \u2018Yeah, yeah, I\u2019m right-handed.\u2019 I said, \u2018We still love you.\u2019 Obviously any new guy to the organization, you want to make him feel some love, so I tackled that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The incident didn\u2019t affect Getz\u2019s rebuilding plan, and a few weeks into camp it\u2019s mostly forgotten as the Sox go about their business of preparing for the season.<\/p>\n
\u201dI don\u2019t think anyone here thought it was a thing,\u201d he said. \u201cI deserved to catch some flak for it and I did. But I think we\u2019re going to be OK.\u201d<\/p>\n
If that\u2019s the worst thing that happens to Getz this season, he probably can be thankful. The person who should have been most upset, Acu\u00f1a, didn\u2019t seem at all bothered.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt was just a mistake, just a brain fart,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Did he feel sorry for Getz after all the criticism?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no, no,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n
Former Cubs President Theo Epstein had a pedigree when he arrived from the Boston Red Sox in 2011, so Cubs fans showed a lot of patience for his rebuild, which was basically a complete teardown. Getz, however, never will get the benefit of the doubt in Chicago until the Sox start winning.<\/p>\n
Last season was a reboot after the ill-advised Pedro Grifol experiment that resulted in a record 121 losses, and Getz believes manager Will Venable has changed the clubhouse culture, a 60-102 record aside.<\/p>\n
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Robert, Tim Anderson, Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, Yo\u00e1n Moncada, Eloy Jim\u00e9nez, Dylan Cease, Garrett Crochet and Andrew Vaughn are among the former core players Getz has either dealt or let go in his two-plus seasons on the job. These days he talks about taking \u201ca step forward,\u201d which should be easy considering they lost 102 games.<\/p>\n
Reinsdorf, who turned 90 on Wednesday, isn\u2019t getting any younger. Is there more pressure on Getz to speed things up?<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, he\u2019s been supportive,\u201d Getz said. \u201cOur focus on infrastructure, doing better on the amateur side, the international side, player development, medical, research and development and major-league staff, he\u2019s been a supporter of our commitment to improve those areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s gratifying to begin to see the fruits of that labor, to that commitment, showing up at the major-league level. He sees the progress and he\u2019s been great.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Reinsdorf has a laundry list of controversies attached to his name over comments he has made as controlling partner of the Sox and Bulls, so he probably can empathize with Getz over the damage to his reputation. I\u2019d ask him, but he stopped talking on the record years ago, much to my chagrin.<\/p>\n
In 1986, when the Sox were looking to move from Bridgeport to Addison, Reinsdorf addressed his sagging reputation in a Tribune interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people like me and some people don\u2019t,\u201d he said. \u201cBut when you\u2019re in public life, like politics, 52 percent is a landslide. You can\u2019t expect much more than 50-50.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think the tide will turn. I think I\u2019ll be vindicated. And then I\u2019ll find my niche, which is basically as an ordinary guy who most of the time makes the right decision but sometimes makes the wrong one. Like everyone else in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Forty years later, with one Sox championship, he remains unpopular on the South Side. But Reinsdorf plans on eventually handing the team over to billionaire Justin Ishbia, who told me in November he intends to make Sox fans happy whenever he takes control.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo doubt it\u2019s life-changing to have an opportunity to represent such a wonderful organization,\u201d he said. \u201cMy job is to create wonderful memories when it\u2019s my turn. But, to be clear, it ain\u2019t my turn, and I know my place and my day job in business. I respect deals with people. I\u2019m not stepping on anyone\u2019s toes. I\u2019m not going to go outside the bounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll say this: Jerry has given me a wonderful gift to be able to be the steward of a franchise in your hometown. It wasn\u2019t like he said, \u2018Here\u2019s the auction process,\u2019 and there\u2019s 10,000 people ahead to go through. He\u2019s given me the baton next, and I\u2019m eternally grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ishbia won\u2019t become that steward until at least 2029, and there\u2019s a probable lockout next season. If the Sox rebuild hasn\u2019t turned the corner by the time he takes over, Getz\u2019s gaffe in 2026 will be the least of their worries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GLENDALE, Ariz. \u2014 What does Luisangel Acu\u00f1a want Chicago White Sox fans to know about him? \u201cThat I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2379],"tags":[4204,1749,46,5,48,138,49,2561,4071,161,76,7918,922,25490,6251,585,999,2186,1149,4,61,921,286,3764,396,2562,998,3511],"class_list":{"0":"post-597387","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-white-sox","8":"tag-acuna","9":"tag-andrew-vaughn","10":"tag-atlanta-braves","11":"tag-baseball","12":"tag-boston-red-sox","13":"tag-chicago","14":"tag-chicago-white-sox","15":"tag-chicagowhitesox","16":"tag-chris-getz","17":"tag-cubs","18":"tag-dylan-cease","19":"tag-eloy-jimenez","20":"tag-garrett-crochet","21":"tag-gordon-beckham","22":"tag-jerry-reinsdorf","23":"tag-lucas-giolito","24":"tag-luis-robert-jr","25":"tag-luisangel-acuna","26":"tag-michael-kopech","27":"tag-mlb","28":"tag-new-york-mets","29":"tag-ronald-acuna-jr","30":"tag-sox","31":"tag-tim-anderson","32":"tag-white-sox","33":"tag-whitesox","34":"tag-will-venable","35":"tag-yoan-moncada"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116146180430177071","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=597387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/597387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=597387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=597387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=597387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}