White Sox announce player development staff

During the White Sox’ rebuild, it’s crucial that the team puts the right people in charge of developing their prospects.

The White Sox announced Tuesday their player development staff and assignments for the 2018 season. These managers and staffs will work under Chris Getz, who is entering his second year as the Sox’s director of player development.

Five managers will return to their minor-league positions, while the Sox welcome one new skipper.

The newest addition to the organization’s managerial staff is Omar Vizquel, who was announced as the manager at Class A Winston-Salem last month. Vizquel will be joined by former catcher Guillermo Quiroz, who appeared in 148 games over his 10 major-league seasons with seven different teams.

Mark Grudzielankek of Class AAA Charlotte, Julio Viñas of Class AA Birmingham, Justin Jirschele of Class A Kannapolis, Tim Esmay of Advanced Rookie Great Falls and Ryan Newman of Arizona Rookie League will maintain their managerial positions from last season. Both Jirschele and Esmay reached the playoffs last year in their first season with their respective clubs.

The team’s pitching staff remains relatively the same. Steve McCatty (Charlotte), Matt Zaleski (Winston-Salem), José Bautista (Kannapolis), John Ely (Great Falls) and Felipe Lira (Arizona Rookie) will all return to their respective clubs.

Here’s the full staffing lineup:

Director of Player Development: Chris Getz

Field Coordinator: Doug Sisson

Director of Minor League Pitching Instruction: Kirk Champion

Hitting Coordinator: Mike Gellinger

Infield Coordinator: Vance Law

Catching Coordinator: John Orton

Outfield/Baserunning Coordinator: Aaron Rowand

Camp Coordinator: Tommy Thompson

Quality Control Coach: Everett Teaford

Leadership Development Coordinator: Ben Broussard

Assistant, Player Development: Rafael Santana