6 big questions about Sox offseason answered by Rick Hahn

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There’s only one thing on the White Sox to-do list right now: hiring a new manager.Indeed, the roster improvements we all assumed would take up the majority of Rick Hahn’s time this winter were pushed from the forefront by the team’s decision to part ways with Rick Renteria. And so any upgrades via free agency or trades will have to wait until there’s a new skipper on the South Side.But those needs aren’t going anywhere.Though Hahn spent much of his end-of-season press conference last week discussing the White Sox sudden managerial vacancy, he fielded plenty of questions, too, about what comes after the big hire is made.Here’s a look at what the general manager had to say about the team’s offseason priorities — the ones that come after the ongoing search for a new manager.

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Reminded that he painted a very clear picture heading into last offseason of what his front office would be looking for, Hahn couldn’t help but laugh.

Because the White Sox are looking for the same things this winter.

Despite an ascendant 2020 campaign that saw the White Sox rise out of rebuilding mode and snap the franchise’s 12-year playoff drought, the moves Hahn made to bolster right field and the DH spot didn’t work out. And while the team’s big pitching acquisition, Dallas Keuchel, performed terrifically, starting-pitching depth remains an issue.

So, it’s back to the drawing board for Hahn.

“We didn’t quite get the production out of right field or DH that we wanted this year. And just like, I’m guessing, all 29 other clubs in baseball doing their end-of-the-year summaries, they’ll tell you, ‘We would certainly be in the market for more pitching,’" Hahn said. "And we’re no exception to that.

“Now, we have some internal candidates, obviously, for each of those needs. But as we head into the offseason, if you were to identify the shopping list, you hit the nail on the head in terms of coming up with our solutions for the pitching staff as well as potentially in right field and DH.”

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If those are the three main areas of need for the White Sox this winter, where can they turn to fill them?

Hahn mentioned “internal candidates” for all three spots, though the attractiveness of those options varies.

The most obvious solution from inside the organization is Andrew Vaughn, the heavy-hitting top prospect who could slide right in at DH. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be swatting in the cleanup spot on Opening Day. He’s still just 22 years old and went a full year without playing in any minor league games. But dating back to “Summer Camp” in July, he looked impressive swinging against the White Sox big league arms, with staff ace Lucas Giolito describing Vaughn and the then yet-to-be-called-up Nick Madrigal as “a pain in my ass.”

Vaughn could get the Madrigal treatment, called up a little bit into the 2021 season, and obviously the evaluation process will be different with just 55 minor league games on his resume. But it’s expected he’ll reach the majors in 2021 and could play a role as big as the team’s everyday DH for the majority of the campaign.

“The only reason I would give any hesitation to saying similar projections on him like I did with (Luis) Robert or Madrigal … is just the absence of a minor league season this year,” Hahn said. “I think if Andrew had had daily competition outside of what we're able to do (at the team’s alternate training site) in Schaumburg, it would have been evident to everyone that he was ready for next year, if not sooner. That was just sort of a mild casualty of the pandemic.

“But the skills are there, tools continue to grow. He's a remarkable hitter and real solid makeup and a guy we envision being part of this thing in the not too distant future. The only hesitation is that he didn't get a chance to play 120 games last year against outside competition.”

As for the other spots, the internal candidates in right field would figure to be the guys who manned the spot in 2020. Nomar Mazara didn’t live up to the team’s hopes after it acquired him in a December trade. Adam Engel was a pleasant surprise and might have earned a shot at more regular at-bats. Leury García always brings versatility. There aren’t any obvious prospects like Vaughn to just plug into this spot.

In the starting rotation, Dylan Cease, Dane Dunning and Michael Kopech would figure to make up the Nos. 3 through 5 spots if the 2021 season started today. The White Sox have plenty of confidence that all three will blossom into high quality major league arms. They also have immediate championship aspirations and would be interested in, as Hahn said, a little more certainty.

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Speaking of Kopech, Hahn said the team has no doubts of where he’ll be come February.

“Zero mystery whatsoever,” Hahn said. "We look forward to having Michael back with us come the start of spring training.

“(We have) the same view of him as when we announced he was opting out of the season, that we still see his future as very bright and has the potential to be a very impactful arm for us for a very long time. Again, overcoming the two years of not facing big league hitters is something we’re going to have to work through together. And managing the workload and our own expectations. But in terms of his commitment being part of this, no mystery whatsoever.”

Of course, figuring out how to make Kopech an effective weapon after missing two full seasons could be quite the challenge. Since suffering the injury that required Tommy John surgery in September 2018, Kopech hasn’t pitched in anything more than a Cactus League game. Had all gone normal this season, the team’s plan seemed to be to start him in the minor leagues and build him back up after missing the entirety of the 2019 campaign. But nothing went normal, and Kopech didn’t pitch in any games for the second straight season.

His commitment might not be a question, but just about everything surrounding what kind of pitcher he’ll be in 2021 is.

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Simple: no.

The White Sox rotation might be crowded. But that will not preclude Hahn from making upgrades behind Giolito and Keuchel in the starting staff, the spot that was potentially the biggest reason for the White Sox elimination from the playoffs in the AL Wild Card Series.

“We do have a group of young pitchers that we feel really good about. And we have a group of young pitchers that we think are going to play roles on championship clubs going forward. We’re not really at a point yet where we know exactly what those roles are going to be just yet. … There’s not certainty involved with that.

“And as we find ourselves in a position where we’re talking about championships, it does help … to have a little bit more certainty about the rotation going forward. So, if there’s a way to address that, we’re going to chase it down. And if we wind up in a position where we have ‘too much’ pitching and guys who belong in the rotation can’t quite fit, you know, that will be a real nice problem to have and we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

“We still think the world of these guys, we think they’re going to factor in importantly into the future. … But we know where we’re at and we know the addition of some stability to the pitching staff is appealing.”

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Not at all simple.

There is no answer to this question right now, and it has nothing to do with the White Sox desire to spend on free agents. Hahn has both outlined championship aspirations and long described the impossibility of building a champion through homegrown players alone. Free-agent spending has always been part of the White Sox rebuilding plan.

Doing so in the middle of a pandemic was not. And that goes for far more than just the group on the South Side, making baseball’s offseason in the wake of a season unlike any other entirely impossible to predict.

“We’re not immune, unfortunately, to the reality of what’s going on around us,” Hahn said. “And these aren’t White Sox issues, these are macro baseball issues, macro economic issues. As an industry, I know MLB is going to wind up losing in the vicinity of $3 billion this year. And we aren’t certain what next season’s going to look like yet.

“We’re just going to have to wait and see how the market plays out and hopefully at some point get a better understanding of what next season is going to look like in terms of length, in terms of fan attendance, in terms of revenues. And all that will factor into how we will make moves. That’s not a White Sox thing. That’s a baseball thing.

“On the bright side, we put ourselves in a pretty good position economically, in terms of payroll management. There was some flexibility built in to our original models. It’s just a matter of how much do those models have to change because of the uncertainty about the world around us.”

The White Sox showed last winter that they are willing to move against baseball’s trends, moving quickly to sign Yasmani Grandal, for example, when past offseasons had seen big names wait deep into the winter to sign with teams.

Whether that means spending on a top-of-the-market player — like Trevor Bauer — while everyone else is trying to read the terrain remains to be seen.

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It sure seems like they’re interested. Of course, whether they’ll be able to do so or not is far murkier.

The White Sox signed McCann in 2018 after he’d been non-tendered by the Detroit Tigers. All he did in his two seasons on the South Side was blossom into an All Star catcher in 2019 and then put up an even better campaign in 2020.

That will obviously attract some suitors as McCann hits free agency.

He’s been an important piece for the White Sox and would obviously continue to be. But finding enough playing time for a guy who’s earned a starting job after signing Grandal to a multi-year deal to be the No. 1 catcher won’t be easy. And even if the White Sox got creative — perhaps figuring out some sort of rotation with McCann, Grandal and José Abreu at catcher, first base and DH — there’d likely be other teams offering McCann the spot at the top of the depth chart.

“We think the world of James McCann. He knows that,” Hahn said. “He knows it, whether it's what he's heard from me or (farm director Chris Getz) or the coaching staff or even from (team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf). He knows. He knows what we think of him.

“At the same time, he's earned the right to be a free agent, this time under much better circumstances than the ones he was last time when we were able to get him. We're going to stay in touch, and we're going to see how this market unfolds. He's going to explore his options, and we're going to be diligent about making sure he understands how he potentially fits and seeing how things go.

“That said, he's an awfully good player at a premium position, and those guys tend to have pretty good markets.”

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