Ahoy!

After more than two weeks at Camelback Ranch, James is back in Chicago with a wealth of information about the White Sox's ambitions at the onset of the 2026 season. He's been rolling out one notebook after another on good ol' soxmachine.com, but the features will keep coming, starting with one today that attempts to put a finer point on Chris Getz’s vision, which you can read below.

Meanwhile, Josh headed out to Arlington, Texas, to watch Roch Cholowsky's No. 2 UCLA Bruins face No. 20 Tennessee, No. 23 Texas A&M and No. 4 Mississippi State in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series, which could be the toughest competition Cholowsky will see this regular season. While Josh is in the area, he'll also drive up to Frisco to watch top-ranked prep shortstop Grady Emerson in action. Nobody covers the draft through a White Sox lens like Josh, and he's taking it to another level over the next three days.

As always, thanks to the Sox Machine supporters who make this level of coverage possible. If you don't yet subscribe to Sox Machine, consider signing up today.

By JAMES FEGAN

In the wake of his hire, leaving the Mets to become a special assistant tasked with overhauling and leading White Sox international scouting operations, David Keller explained his choice in a manner that has since become commonplace.

"I came to work with Chris [Getz] specifically and for the White Sox because I believe in him as a person and I believe in his vision," Keller said. "In the short term I’ve been here, I haven’t seen anything that would change that."

Some 15 months later, as new assistant general manager Carlos Rodríguez was introduced to the media this spring after 16 seasons with the Rays, the language remained notably consistent.

"I had a bunch of conversations with Chris over time," Rodríguez said. "Just felt we are really just aligned, aligned on his vision for the organization, the people, the process in place. Kind of got caught up in just thinking about the possibilities, the upside."

The repeated invocations of Getz's vision is ironic on multiple levels, and the way White Sox GM laughs heartily at the suggestion that it makes him sound mystical in quality affirms his awareness of such.

"Well, it does sound like they were being complimentary," Getz said. "I would appreciate that."

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