This year’s MLB winter meetings are unlike any other Chris Getz has attended in the past.

“It’s different in the sense I’m running the meetings and having the direct conversations with other clubs and agents,” Getz said Monday at the Opryland Resort.

This is Getz’s first winter meetings since becoming the general manager for the Chicago White Sox. He was the team’s assistant general manager/player development before taking over as the GM on Aug. 31.

“More than anything, you’re just trying to find ways to get better with your club, regardless of what role you’re in,” he said.

The Sox are one of the teams to monitor at the winter meetings as they come off a 101-loss season. There are holes to fill and some players currently on the roster have been mentioned in trade speculation.

The one name that keeps popping up in that chatter is pitcher Dylan Cease.

“There’s certainly no urgency to move Dylan Cease,” Getz said. “And just like I’ve said from the beginning, if there’s an opportunity to help our club both near term and long term, we’ll look at it. But we’re talking about one of the best pitchers in baseball. There’s a responsibility for your organization, for the Chicago White Sox, to do what’s best for them.

“Dylan’s a star in our game. There’s no real reason to come here and expect us to move a Dylan Cease, but if a team brings something that meets a threshold that we feel we’ve just gotten a lot better, then we’re going to do that.”

Getz said there’s typically “a pace to these things.”

“I’ll continue to take the calls and certainly compare different opportunities for, perhaps, getting better,” he said. “The starting pitching market is always an area in which teams are looking to dive into to improve their club, and Dylan’s right at the top.”

With or without Cease, pitching is an area for the Sox to focus on.

“There’s different ways to go about it,” Getz said of addressing the pitching needs. “It could be a veteran. It could be a young player ready to break into the big leagues. We were fortunate to acquire some arms at the (trade) deadline. We’ve done a pretty good job recently with drafting and developing some of these arms that are pushing toward the top of the minor leagues.

“We are having a lot of conversations with both teams and agents that either have starting pitching and looking to move in deals, but also certainly talking to agents as well for guys who can cover innings for us.”

The Sox added pitchers Michael Soroka and Jared Shuster last month as part of the six-player trade that sent reliever Aaron Bummer to the Atlanta Braves.

They also acquired infielder Nicky Lopez in that deal and later added more defensive help by signing shortstop Paul DeJong to a one-year deal.

The Sox will continue what Getz said could appropriately be phrased as a “retool.”

“I say that because we do have talent on this roster,” Getz said. “Obviously, it hasn’t worked, so you’ve got to be creative and find ways to improve it. Whether it be, we talk about the makeup and the chemistry of the team or certainly add depth or acquire players who are flat-out better. We are on a pursuit to improve this team and there are different ways to go about it.”

Generally speaking, there isn’t an urgency for specific accomplishments this week, “other than the fact that we want to continue to use the momentum that we’ve already gained here in the offseason from the Aaron Bummer trade and look for opportunities and if we feel like there’s something to really act on, we’ll go ahead and do that,” Getz said.

There’s plenty of time — and work to be done — before pitchers and catchers report in February.

“Every day you wake up, you’re looking to better your club and quite honestly I’m obsessed with that,” Getz said. “Talk about winter meetings and accomplishing something while we’re here, it’s possible. We’ve got months before we get to spring training and we’re going to look for every opportunity to improve the club. There are different ways to go about that.

“We need to fill out a rotation, and to feel good about it. We need to have depth underneath it. The bullpen, you’ve got to have depth, both at Double A, Triple A that are, what you’re hoping for is knocking at the door to become an option at some point. The defense, improving the catching position and maximizing that area along with other areas around the diamond. We have time and I look forward to continuing to get back to work and finding ways to improve this.”

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — During their four-game winning streak, all under new head coach John Hynes, the Wild had started strong in each game. Their start on Thursday, though, might have surpassed all of them.

For the first 15 minutes, the Wild completely dominated a Vancouver team that was 8-3-1 at Rogers Arena, keeping the Canucks pinned in their own zone with the kind of quick, relentless attack that has been the norm since the team ended a seven-game losing streak that cost Dean Evason his job on Nov. 27.

And then suddenly, they weren’t.

Nils Hogerson and Teddy Blueger scored goals, and Casey DeSmith weathered an early storm and stopped 24 shots as the Canucks beat the Wild 2-0 late Thursday, the Wild’s first loss in five games since Hynes made his Minnesota debut on Nov. 28.

The Wild outshot the Canucks 10-0 over the first 13:18 of the game and held Vancouver to a single shot, period, over that time. Minnesota goaltender Filip Gustavsson didn’t have to make a stop until there was 6:42 in the frame.

But Hogerson broke a scoreless tie with 1:54 left in the first period, sending a wrist shot cleanly into the net from the high post to change the narrative of a game that had been going Minnesota’s way. During its win streak, Minnesota outscored its opponents 9-1 in the first period, and 18-5 overall.

Thursday was the Wild’s first shutout loss of the season. Gustavsson finished with 15 saves. DeSmith improved to 5-0-0 in his career against the Wild.

After a scoreless second period, during which the Wild were outshot 10-4, Blueger gave the Canucks a 2-0 lead when he took a pass between the circles and skated unmolested at Gustavsson, who guessed left and was beaten right two minutes into the third period.

Minnesota kept Vancouver pinned in its own zone early, and the Canucks had one shot attempt, period, at 10:51. Their first official shot on goal came with 6:42 left in the period. But in all that time, the Wild never got one past DeSmith, even during a strong power play that netted three shots on goal. And when Vancouver finally woke up and started playing in Minnesota’s end, Hogland sent a wrist shot in from the high slot that beat Gustavsson cleanly for a 1-0 lead at 18:06.

The Wild never recovered. They’ll try to regroup in an 8 p.m. puck drop Friday in Edmonton.

The NFL Black Monday countdown was at five weeks when Chicago Bears coach Matt Eberflus welcomed his players back to Halas Hall after their bye week.

Five weeks for Eberflus to convince team leadership his 4-8 Bears have made enough progress that he shouldn’t be a part of the annual league tradition of firings the day after the regular season ends.

Perhaps only Chairman George McCaskey, President Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles know if Eberflus, now 7-22 as the Bears coach, can do anything to sway the decision over the winnable final slate of games against the Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers.

When the topic came up a few times with reporters Monday, Eberflus — who has been around enough football teams over 32 seasons to be familiar with this ticking clock — stuck to his talking points about focusing on his daily work.

He didn’t bite on a question about whether he thinks his job is safe, given past team support. Poles, after all, publicly offered support Nov. 1 when he called Eberflus “a grown man that has leadership skills to get this thing out of the hole and into where it needs to be.”

“What you can focus on is leadership, and the first rule of leadership is leading yourself,” Eberflus replied. “Come to work every day. Put the plans together — offense, defense, special teams. Lead the football team. Help the leadership council.

“Because true leadership comes from within. That’s really what you focus on, and that’s put your best foot forward every single day.”

Bears players are, of course, aware of the fates that hang in the balance — not just Eberflus’ but those of the entire coaching staff, including offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, and quarterback Justin Fields. Those decisions are likely intertwined, with the Bears undoubtedly taking into consideration their 2024 quarterback-coach pairing.

With such decisions looming, Eberflus said he tries to strike a balance between being positive but also real with players and coaches, so they know where they need to improve.

“That is the business we’re in,” linebacker T.J. Edwards said. “No matter what, it’s always there. But at the end of the day, we’re here to win games and we’re here to be the best football players we can be. That is our job. That is what we’re here for.

“Our team is understanding that these are important games and we know … we’ve got to win them. And we’re excited about that. We have the right people in here, the right leaders who understand that and to keep the main thing the main thing.”

The main thing this week is a rematch with the Lions, who came back from 12 points down Nov. 19 to win 31-26. The Bears preached finishing after that deflation, and they did it — albeit in ugly fashion — in a 12-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 27.

“You can’t really mark it as full change until you do it consistently,” tight end Cole Kmet said.

So that’s a mission this week: show the consistency that has not been a hallmark of this Bears regime. They haven’t won back-to-back games since the end of the 2021 season under previous coach Matt Nagy.

Despite that, Eberflus, Edwards and Kmet asserted that progress is being made and is showing up on film.

“You see all the plays that are being made,” Edwards said of a defense that has seven interceptions in the last two games. “You see the effort that’s there, and that’s one thing that’s not looked on as much is just the tenacity that we’re playing with. That’s hard to do every single play, where someone’s giving it their all. You see that on film with our team.

“It is the league in terms of ‘You are what your record shows.’ But I don’t think we necessarily believe that. We know we’re a good football team and have got to go out there and finish. We’ve got to make those plays at the end of the game to seal those victories.”

And if they do, would that be enough to keep the Bears out of the Black Monday news cycle? They have five weeks to try.

“The season didn’t start the way everybody wanted, for sure,” Eberflus said of an 0-4 start. “But over the last eight weeks, we’ve put some good things out there. We’re certainly excited about doing that this week. Our focus, as anytime in the NFL, is where your feet are.”

Tyrique Stevenson expected back

Eberflus said it looks like rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson could return this week after missing the Vikings game with a foot injury. He said the Bears might consider rotating Stevenson and fellow rookie Terell Smith, who filled in when Stevenson was out.

“Smitty did play well and we want to get our young guys more and more playing time,” Eberflus said. “If they’re effective and produce, we certainly will play them.”’

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