WASHINGTON -- It’s been only three weeks since Chris Getz was named the White Sox senior vice president/general manager. But his front office is already taking shape.

Getz has already shored up plans to add three executives to the organization, including Josh Barfield as assistant general manager, the club announced on Friday.

Barfield, a former utility infielder for San Diego and Cleveland from 2006-09, has been the D-backs' director of player development since 2019.

Chicago also added former Giants director of pitching Brian Bannister as senior advisor to pitching, and former Royals assistant GM/vice president of Major League scouting Gene Watson as director of player personnel.

Barfield, 40, joined the D-backs’ front office as a scout in 2016 and oversaw their perennially well-ranked farm system for the past five seasons. He and Getz now inherit a White Sox farm system that ranks 20th in baseball per MLB Pipeline, but one that added about as much prospect talent this July as any other organization.

As it stands now, Chicago’s system features three Top 100 prospects per MLB Pipeline: No. 17 shortstop Colson Montgomery, No. 61 left-hander Noah Schultz and No. 81 catcher Edgar Quero.

“Smart, smart guy,” manager Pedro Grifol told reporters of Barfield. “He’s been doing player development over there, which you know what I think about player development. That job really prepares you for a lot of things. Bright, bright, bright guy.”

Bannister pitched for the Royals and Mets from 2006-10, and he worked in the Red Sox’s organization in a variety of coaching and executive roles from 2015-19, earning a reputation as a forward-thinking rising star in baseball ops circles for his fluency in analytics.

Bannister had been the Giants’ director of pitching since 2019. The White Sox have not had a director of pitching and they lost Everett Teaford, their Minor League pitching coordinator, in-season when he took the job as Auburn University’s pitching coach.

“I texted with him a couple of days ago. Brilliant pitching mind,” Grifol said. “I’m excited to start working with him. I think we all are, [pitching coach Ethan Katz] and [bullpen coach Curt Hasler], and everybody is excited for him to be a part of this thing and help us move forward.”

Watson has spent the bulk of his 26-year scouting career with the Royals, eventually rising to senior director of pro scouting/assistant to the GM over a 14-year stint with the organization from 2006-20. He spent the past two seasons overseeing Kansas City’s scouting department as an assistant GM after one year in a senior advisory role for the Angels.

A longtime and accomplished evaluator, Watson has also worked for the Padres, Braves and Marlins during a career that began in 1997.

“I’ve known Gene for 13, 14 years,” Grifol said. “One of the most respected guys in the game. High energy, really, really good scout, really good evaluator, creative mind. Has put a ton of great deals together for World Series teams.

“A wealth of knowledge, great leader. In my opinion, he is one of the better scouts in the game.”

Getz, Bannister and Barfield are all younger executives with past playing experience who profile as having more of a modern analytic approach to player development, while Watson is more of the old-school scouting mold.

The Getz-Watson-Bannister connection stretches back to Kansas City, where they overlapped with the Royals in 2010.

White Sox beat reporter Scott Merkin contributed to this story.