SoxFest is over, but the offseason isn't for Rick Hahn and the White Sox: ‘We're not done yet'

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Rick Hahn paused for a long time after Jason Benetti posed this question to the White Sox general manager during a Saturday-morning seminar at SoxFest: What’s been your happiest moment of the offseason?

Hahn’s been among the busiest general managers in the game during another frigid, glacially paced winter. He’s added a starting pitcher, two All-Star caliber relievers, a middle-of-the-order bat, a Gold Glove finalist outfielder and a backup catcher. But he didn’t pick any of those as his “happiest” moment. He didn’t pick any moment at all — at least no moment that’s already happened.

“It’s not over yet, for me,” Hahn said after his pause.

Despite all the items Hahn’s crossed off his winter to-do list, it sounds like the White Sox roster hasn’t yet been completed, even though spring training starts in a little more than two weeks.

That’s partially because there are some items still on that list, notably an arm to fill the fifth spot in the starting rotation (more on that later). And it’s partially because of the elephant in every room of the Hilton Chicago this weekend, Manny Machado. The White Sox are waiting on his free-agent decision, and if that decision ends up being that the 26-year-old superstar will spend the better part of the next decade on the South Side, that would probably qualify as the happiest moment of this offseason for everyone in the organization.

But whether because of pending moves or new ones that might pop up, there’s still more to be done, more to be accomplished.

“The way the free-agent market, or even the trade market by extension, has played out over the last several winters, we sort of moved away from the SoxFest date on the calendar sort of being essentially the unofficial start of the season, sort of the kickoff before spring training,” Hahn said. “There’s still, on our mind, conversations we’ve had over the last 48 hours, there’s still three or four potential acquisitions that we’re working on. If we’re able to convert across the board on all of these, then we’ll take a step back and look at how we’ve made progress this offseason toward our ultimate goal.”

Mention of three or four potential acquisitions ought to excite White Sox fans, who despite the aforementioned flurry of moves over the past few months are still itching for more thanks to the unending waiting involved in the Machado situation. What potential moves could Hahn be alluding to? Machado is almost certainly one of them, though there’s no sign of when that saga could reach its conclusion.

As for the others, Hahn said the team is still looking at external options to fill that spot in the rotation. The trade for Ivan Nova plugged one of the holes caused by James Shields’ departure and Michael Kopech’s Tommy John surgery, but there’s still another. And while Hahn talked glowingly about Manny Banuelos, a minor leaguer the White Sox picked up from the Los Angeles Dodgers early on in the offseason, he said his front office is still looking around at other possibilities. Just last spring, the White Sox added a starting-pitching possibility in Hector Santiago right as spring training was starting. And it’s also possible the White Sox sign a couple of options to low-level deals, providing some competition in Glendale.

There might be more bullpen help on the way, too, just because it seems teams can never have too much of that. The trade for Alex Colome and the signing of Kelvin Herrera were a pair of huge upgrades and transformed the relief corps. But, again, there’d be nothing wrong with adding more.

And while the White Sox outfield looks a bit crowded at the moment and will only get more so once Eloy Jimenez arrives from the minor leagues, perhaps that’s still a place where the White Sox could add. Jimenez would figure to have left field spoken for once he gets to the South Side, and the newly acquired Jon Jay also figures to be in line for a prominent role, whether that’s starting in one spot every day or rotating around the outfield. Adam Engel is a sensational defender in center field but his offense has been lacking the last two seasons, so perhaps the front office could bring in a bat to bolster the lineup on a daily basis and make Engel more of a defensive specialist. That’s just speculation.

The infield seems locked in, with or without Machado. Welington Castillo is the starting catcher, Jose Abreu and Yonder Alonso are set to split time at first base and designated hitter, Yoan Moncada is the starting second baseman, Tim Anderson is the starting shortstop, and Yolmer Sanchez is the starting third baseman. If Machado does sign with the White Sox, Sanchez likely gets bumped to a bench role. Without Machado, the possibility exists, too, that Moncada could get shifted to third base, in which case Sanchez would likely just take over second-base duties.

So there are still some things that can happen. Hahn admitted the White Sox are trying to make more moves. Whether those happen or not remains to be seen, the same diagnosis for the Machado sweepstakes.

But as the offseason steams toward its conclusion with spring training on the horizon, know that the White Sox aren't finished shaping this 2019 roster.

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