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Chris Getz said Chicago became a home to him after the White Sox drafted him in 2005 and he worked his way up through the system to make his major-league debut with the team in 2008.

The former infielder, then, is returning home as the club’s new director of player development. Getz, 33, replaces Nick Capra, who was named the Sox’s third-base coach under new manager Rick Renteria.

“The relationships I was able to build, it was something that will always be in my heart, something that always will be in my DNA,” Getz told reporters on a conference call Friday. “So when this opportunity arose to get back to Chicago and be a part of the White Sox organization, there was a great appeal.”

Getz, a Michigan native, said he was pleasantly surprised to receive the Sox’s call after he spent the last two seasons as a baseball operations assistant in player development with the Royals.

In the last couple of years of his seven-year major-league playing career with the Sox, Royals and Blue Jays, he knew he wanted to transition to a front-office role, and he learned the inner-workings of player development with the Royals. He said the role is task-oriented — make players better each day — but also allows for creative thinking in ways to do that.

“It is carrying out the vision of the scouts,” Getz said. “It’s a commitment by both the player and staff members to create an environment for (each) player to reach their ceiling.”

Getz said it has been a “quick week” since meeting with general manager Rick Hahn and assistant GM Buddy Bell so he doesn’t yet have a great feel for the Sox system. He plans to travel to the Sox academy in the Dominican Republic and hit the Arizona Fall League to begin to familiarize himself.

Hahn, in a statement, cited Getz’s “intellect, background and energy” as positive additions to the Sox front office and said he is “extremely well-regarded throughout the game.”