The Bernstein Brief: Rick Hahn's Sci-Fi Superpowers
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) Obi-Hahn Kenobi just used the Jedi mind trick on the Nationals on Wednesday, making Mike Rizzo part with three top pitching prospects to the White Sox in exchange for Adam Eaton.
It appeared to have worn off in time for Rizzo's press conference alongside manager Dusty Baker, the two men looking like they had already seen and heard the reaction around baseball. It was a swift and brutal consensus mixing shock, laughter and pity over anybody giving up that much for a questionable defensive center fielder already with his third organization at age 28, due largely to the same kind of annoying personality that moved Nick Swisher through five teams.
Getting a proper return for Chris Sale was one thing for White Sox general manager Rick Hahn, but getting a package including some of the names originally linked to a potential Sale trade for an interchangeable part coming off an outlier of a career season is just mastery.
The longer Hahn stalks the cantina at Mos Eisley spaceport looking for more potential victims of his use of the Force, the closer the White Sox get to sustained contention for championships.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.