Rozner: White Sox signaled aggressive intent early

The South Side of Chicago is in shock.

And most of the American League is equally surprised that the White Sox have thrust themselves into the 2015 Central Division race.

But if you were paying attention the last few months, the clues were all there.

While conventional wisdom was that the Sox would continue the rebuilding of last winter, Jerry Reinsdorf, Ken Williams and Rick Hahn were transparent about their desire to be aggressive this off-season.

"Rick will have the resources to improve the club," Reinsdorf told us on "Hit&Run" in August. "We have some great offensive players. I see us really building something and being a contender for several years.

"We need pitching. but with pitching you can't just acquire it with money all the time, but we have to shore up the bullpen and we need at least one more starter.

"That's what we'll be out trying to do."

As he was leaving our broadcast booth that day, I asked Reinsdorf if he was serious about 2015.

"We're serious," he said. "We will compete next year."

Enter No. 2 starter Jeff Samardzija, closer David Robertson, setup man Zach Duke and designated hitter Adam LaRoche, without subtracting anyone who could have helped the Sox win next season, moves certainly not associated with rebuilding.

"We don't rebuild here. You know that," Williams said in September. "We retool and we get right back to it."

Hahn had a terrific winter a year ago when he began rebuilding the offense, but in trading closer Addison Reed the Sox were left with a hole after injuries took out the back end of the bullpen.

Closers are not coveted by the new generation of GMs, of which Hahn is one. Sabermetrically speaking, closers are overvalued and certainly not worth the money Robertson got from the Sox (four years, $46 million), but Hahn isn't obstinate and he's working with two men who want to win yesterday.

That may have been the most overlooked part of this equation, the dynamic created by Reinsdorf and Williams. Not that Hahn isn't anxious to win, because he is, but he's surrounded by two very aggressive individuals who are more likely to pull the trigger on a deal that energizes the fan base and gives the team a chance to win immediately.

Hahn's job is to ensure he's not giving away the long term while bolstering their short-term chances, which is no simple task.

"I think we're all of the same mind in that regard," Hahn said recently. "No one here has an appetite for years of losing. We're all interested in competing quickly."

Consider Reinsdorf on the radio a few months ago, when talking about the signing of Jose Abreu.

"Kenny scouted him and was effusive in his praise," Reinsdorf said. "He said he hadn't seen anyone like this. I said, 'What are the chances of him being in the opening-day lineup?' He said, 'It's 100 percent.'

"Kenny said it would be expensive and we got in on it. Before I knew it, it was $68 million. I said, 'We have to go for it if he's that good.' Now it looks like a very good investment."

You have the analytics of Hahn, the aggression of Williams and the aging owner with the bankroll, all of them interested in winning and all of them competing with each other as much as with the American League.

"I hope I can keep doing this until I can't do anything," Reinsdorf said. "If I ever sensed I was losing my marbles or my health, I would stop doing it, but as long as I'm healthy, I'd like to keep doing it and win another World Series here."

So Reinsdorf even breaks some of his own rules, including signing pitchers to long-term contracts.

"When you sign a pitcher for more than three years, chances are once you get to the fourth year or fifth year you'll be very sorry that you did it," Reinsdorf said. "Unfortunately, sometimes the market requires it.

"A few years ago I signed a pitcher for four or five years and (Kansas City owner) David Glass called me and said, 'I thought you said you would never do that.'

"I said, 'No. I said it's stupid to sign a pitcher for more than three.' Sometimes the market dictates you sign a pitcher longer than you want and you know you'll regret it the last few years."

But Reinsdorf also knows that interest in the White Sox was at a two-decade low, further hinting that this winter was going to generate excitement.

"Nobody's obligated to come out and see us play. No one goes to see a bad show," Reinsdorf said. "It's incumbent upon us to put a product on the field so that fans will want to come to the games."

It seems that the White Sox have done precisely that.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Hear Barry Rozner on WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.