White Sox name Paul Janish director of player development

CHICAGO – The Chicago White Sox have named former major-league infielder Paul Janish (YAN-ish) as the organization’s director of player development. Janish, 41, replaces Chris Getz, who was named Chicago’s senior vice president/general manager on August 31 after seven seasons overseeing the club’s minor-league system.

“We are very excited to add Paul to our baseball operations team as director of player development,” said Getz. “With 13 years in professional baseball, including nine in the major leagues, and another six years at Rice University where he served as associate head coach, Paul brings a wealth of experience to our organization. He has lived every step of the development ladder, from being a National Champion player at Rice, to being drafted, reaching the majors and then coaching successfully at a high-level program like Rice. We are pleased to have him take the next step in his career with the White Sox and welcome him into the organization to lead our development system.”

Janish, a native of Cypress, Texas, has served as associate head coach for Rice University’s baseball team the past two seasons. He originally was hired by the Owls as an assistant coach in August 2017. During his tenure at Rice, 14 players have been selected in Major League Baseball’s First-Year Player Draft, including five in the Top 10 rounds.

Janish played in 473 major-league games over parts of nine seasons with Cincinnati (2008-11), Atlanta (2012-13) and Baltimore (2015-17). A fifth-round selection by the Reds in the 2004 MLB Draft, Janish was a member of Rice’s 2003 National Championship team, which included former White Sox pitchers David Aardsma and Philip Humber.