Baffoe: Rick Hahn's Moves Show Control, Direction Of White Sox
By Tim Baffoe--
(CBS) Everyone feeling Star Wars advertising fatigue, you're expected the topical joke of "Rick Han is solo" here, aren't you? Would I do that to you?
Instead, recall about a month ago when Chicago White Sox executive vice president Kenny Williams was saying weird things seemingly just to say them. Williams has always been pretty candid, sometimes to a fault. The supposed three-year White Sox plan was a topic of conversation as Williams spoke to media in November from a baseball-less U.S. Cellular Field, and the fault came out.
"As I sit here (on Nov. 17)," Williams said, "we have had a number of conversations, even as late as this morning, and (general manager) Rick (Hahn) hasn't presented to us a definitive direction based on his talks that he wants to travel down.
"Until (Hahn) puts on the table what he wants to do, it's premature for me to comment one way or another on any player or path or anything else because of our process."
It was a less-than-ringing endorsement of Hahn and a read-between-the-lines declaration that Williams wasn't too happy with his level of understanding of the direction the White Sox were aiming for.
"Rick is having conversations on a daily basis," Williams continued. "I have a number of conversations with him on a daily basis with regard to how things are evolving.
"But if I went to him and said, 'OK, I want your definitive plan heading into the Winter Meetings,' he couldn't give it to me."
At the time, Williams's timing — just weeks before the Winter Meetings — and passive-aggressive tone about Hahn instilled in anyone with interest in the White Sox something between bewilderment and worry, especially after such a disappointing 2015 that left fans in a gray area of rooting for a (maybe-rebuilding?) team that was (maybe?) going for it all now.
Now a month later, the guy not making the moves has been shut the hell up by the guy making the moves. And it suggests the latter hasn't been gelded by his superior as had been speculated every time the former spoke like the dad who questions why the A on your report card isn't an A+.
Hahn improved the 2016 White Sox over the last 10 days, and he did so presumably under a similar mindset he had a month ago when Williams was undermining him in the press. The combination acquisitions of second baseman Brett Lawrie and third baseman Todd Frazier immediately upgrade the woebegone infield and bring more pop to a ballpark built for it. As Nick Shepkowski points out, the advanced stats on Lawrie and Frazier project to increase positional WAR at second base and third base by about four and five wins, respectively.
What it cost to trade for Lawrie is arguably negligible in two "whatever" pitchers. To summarize the breakdown from SouthSideSox of what it cost for Frazier, Frankie Montas seems destined to be a smoke-throwing bullpen guy, Trayce Thompson could blossom into a starter someday but as of now seems like a fourth outfielder and second baseman Micah Johnson is fast, can't play a lick of defense and is oft-injured.
Even if your reflex is to think Hahn is going for the quick fix at long-term expense, it's evident that isn't the case with these moves. The White Sox are better today than they were a month ago, and the beyond-2016 Sox — which includes Chris Sale, Jose Abreu, Jose, Quintana and Carlos Rodon — are in no worse shape. That's a testament to Hahn and that "not definitive plan" his boss previously mentioned, one that doesn't involve a rebuild nor should it, as SB Nation's Grant Bisbee pointed out just days before Williams's odd comments.
From Bisbee:
If there's anything preventing a reload instead of a rebuild, it's the daunting task of finding a third baseman and a shortstop and a second baseman … The White Sox are over the tipping point. They have enough talent to build around, and bold headlines about rebuilding seem premature. They had the splashy offseason last year and were dreadful. But they could be right in the middle of the AL Central with a modest, understated offseason and some help from within. That seems like a more reasonable goal than punting and hoping for good things in 2018.
And the Hahn isn't finished.
"We're going to continue to be aggressive on numerous fronts and certainly continue to talk to various free agents as well as other clubs about trades," Hahn said Wednesday, "and we'll have to see how the coming weeks unfold."
Outfielders Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton and Alex Gordon are still out there in free agency, and the White Sox certainly still need an outfielder. Frazier's an All-Star making just $7.5 million this coming season, and Lawrie's cheap. There's still some money on the South Side for a splash signing.
And after what Hahn did recently — not just the acquisitions but dismissing the falsity that his direction wasn't certain and that he isn't in control — those concerned about the White Sox should be much more comfortable with what Hahn is doing. Solo.
(Sorry, not sorry.)
Tim Baffoe is a columnist for CBSChicago.com. Follow Tim on Twitter @TimBaffoe. The views expressed on this page are those of the author, not CBS Local Chicago or our affiliated television and radio stations.
