Josh Barfield was probably leaning toward accepting general manager Chris Getz’ offer to become a White Sox assistant GM when a sign seemingly clinched it.
Sitting at a traffic stop with his wife and daughter, Barfield’s wife Kristy was stunned to see a SOX 29 license plate in front of them.
Barfield and his father, Joliet native Jesse Barfield, an All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder who hit 241 career home runs played 12 seasons with the Blue Jays and Yankees, only wore No. 29 during their major league careers.
“We were like, ‘This is meant to be,’ ’’ Barfield said Wednesday.
Described by Getz “as a real rising star,” Barfield, 40, was the Diamondbacks’ director of player development the last four seasons. He was the organization’s assistant director of player development from 2018-19 and worked in scouting from 2015-17.
“Anytime in life when you want to do something great you have to take a step out of your comfort zone,” Barfield said. “Everything lined up with this. Yeah, the D-backs fought to keep me, and as I went back and forth, talking to my wife, everything made sense here.”
The Sox are expected to hire a farm director, but Barfield will be involved in the player development segment of a Sox operation faced with the huge undertaking of turning around an organization that is sinking fast just two seasons after winning the AL Central. The Sox trailed the Diamondbacks early Wednesday, trying to avoid falling to 60-98 with four games to play. Barfield will also be involved in roster construction and player acquisition when the offseason unfolds shortly.
“I’m still getting to know a lot of the staff and players here, but there are a lot of good pieces, there’s a lot of talent here,” said Barfield, who played in 309 career games over four seasons with San Diego (2006) and Cleveland (2007-09) after being selected by the Padres in the fourth round of the 2001 draft out of Klein (Texas) High School. “That was something else that interested me about this opportunity. You’re going to a situation where you have a chance where things can turn around. It might take a little time but there are definitely pieces here to be a winning team. It wasn’t that long ago when this team was winning a division, so hope to turn it around very quickly here.”
Manager Pedro Grifol looks across the field and sees a polished product, almost with covetous eyes. It speaks well for Barfield, he said.
“Watching these guys play, from our dugout over there, those guys were developed right,” Grifol said. “I’m glad he’s on our side. Smart, articulate, well spoken, you can go on and on and on. I’m happy he’s on our team.”
The new Sox front office team following the firings of Ken Williams as executive vice president and GM Rick Hahn is led by Getz, with Barfield and Jeremy Haber as assistant GMs. Brian Bannister was hired as senior advisor to pitching and Gene Watson as director of player personnel the same day as Barfield.
