Emma: It's The Dawn Of A New Day For The White Sox
By Chris Emma--
(CBS) This is the day it all could change, when the halfhearted efforts finally end and a direction is clear. The White Sox are building for their future, and it suddenly seems brighter after Tuesday's big move.
Gone are those days of the past in which the White Sox were hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. Finally, they're committed to doing this right. That was the statement made when the team traded ace left-hander Chris Sale away to Boston in exchange for a haul of four promising prospects.
The White Sox scored big in landing top prospect Yoan Moncada, the 21-year-old second baseman who's been compared to Robinson Cano, plus flame-throwing pitchert Michael Kopech, a 20-year-old who routinely hits triple digits on the gun. Outfielder prospect Luis Alexander Basabe has potential, too, as does right-hander Victor Diaz.
Credit goes to general manager Rick Hahn, who played his cards right. He stood firm at the trade deadline, refusing to sell Sale for anything short of the value he sought. For one of baseball's premier arms on a team-friendly contract, that price deserved to be high.
Hahn waited until these Winter Meetings, fully aware of the trick he could pull. He worked Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo into an offer that he could then use as leverage, forcing Red Sox baseball boss Dave Dombrowski to pay up.
In Moncada, the White Sox have one of the game's budding young stars. He's a switch-hitting second baseman with power and speed. Across Single-A and Double-A last season, he cranked out 15 homers with a .918 OPS and stole 45 bases.
Moncada was the Minor League Player of the Year in 2016. He's Baseball America's top prospect, taking claim to the position Corey Seager and Kris Bryant held the previous two years. Moncada offers the White Sox hope. Imagine a middle infield with Moncada and shortstop Tim Anderson.
Then there's Kopech, who reportedly hit 105 miles per hour on a minor league gun. Myth or not, the comparisons to Noah Syndergaard are real. Down the line, the White Sox can look forward to a rotation with Kopech joining Carlos Rodon and Carson Fulmer.
Hope is stronger with Moncada, Kopech, Basabe, Diaz, Fulmer, Rodon, Anderson, Zack Collins, Zack Burdi, Spencer Adams, Charlie Tilson and more. Some new names could be added to this list before even these Winter Meetings are over. Hahn has taken control of a team and an organization that was going nowhere.
Sale's legacy with the White Sox was complicated. He was the first-round pick in 2010 who joined the team months later as a 21-year-old. In seven years, he went from the quiet kid to the vocal leader. Teammates looked to Sale, who was never shy.
Many will remember Sale for his blowups, like the criticism of executive vice president Kenny Williams over the decision to remove teenager Drake LaRoche from their clubhouse last spring or the silly cutting of throwback uniforms in a protest against the organization in July. Sale's actions -- even the petulant ones -- were misplaced passion. He wanted so badly to win with the White Sox.
Sale Day on the South Side will be missed, because watching dominance once every five days was quite the treat. He's one of the greatest pitchers the White Sox have ever seen. In the last five years, only Clayton Kershaw has more strikeouts and a better ERA. Sale is deserving of that company.
Sadly, for all the numbers he posted in a White Sox uniform, there's one that matters most: zero -- the number of pitches he's thrown in the playoffs.
Through these years, the White Sox have tried and tried again to get Sale on the mound for a Game 1 of the postseason. Hahn has admitted it crushed him that they hadn't accomplished that, even down to their final try of patch-working a winner last season.
Ultimately, the only way for the White Sox to no longer be "mired in mediocrity" was by rebuilding. That started Tuesday with the trade of Sale to Boston.
Perhaps a decade from now, we'll be looking back on the extraordinary credentials of Sale and remembering the day in which the White Sox moved their greatest arm.
But change was needed. A direction had to become clear, because 2005 was a long time ago.
The White Sox are committed to doing it right, building a premier farm system that leads to sustained success at the major league level. They only have to look eight miles north to realize the potential reward.
Adding four prospects is just the start, it seems. More could be on the way. Hahn is hard at work with an eye toward a bright future.
Today, the White Sox have something different. It's hope, and it's real.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago's sports scene and more for CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670 and like his Facebook page.
