'Frustrated' White Sox GM not tipping hand on potential changes

It is becoming a habit, one that general manager Rick Hahn would surely enjoy kicking.

The Chicago White Sox returned to U.S. Cellular Field on Wednesday night for a rematch against the Pirates. They played a two-game series in Pittsburgh on Monday and Tuesday and lost both games while being outscored 14-0.

They also lost three straight at Tampa Bay over the weekend to start the road trip, and Hahn typically meets with the media when the Sox open a homestand.

That was the case Wednesday, and Hahn once again found himself on the receiving end of a series of less than flattering questions.

The most important inquiry was a repeat from Hahn's past few sessions.

Given the White Sox' mediocre start, are changes coming?

"I guess my response to that is, even if we were 10 games up right now in the division, I would not sit here and give you a date or a plan for impending moves or what our priorities or goals would be over the coming weeks," Hahn said.

"I'm not going to do that at this point, either. There's no real strategic advantage for laying out specifically what's going to happen and when.

"Do we have thoughts on potential moves to try to not only reinvigorate the 2015 club but also put us in a better position to contend going forward? Absolutely. In terms of timing or the nature of those moves, it's certainly not anything we are going to lay out in advance."

Fair enough. What about manager Robin Ventura's job status?

"From my standpoint, that hasn't changed," Hahn said. "We are all in this together. Until a player is traded or there's been a change on the staff or in the front office or with an advance scout or whatever, we are all in this 100 percent together.

"We are all accountable together and we are all doing everything in our energy and efforts to put ourselves in the best position to win. Should we get to the point where any of that changes, you'll know and we'll explain why."

Patience has been one of Hahn's trademarks since he took over as Sox GM at the end of the 2012 season. But Hahn can only sit back and wait for so long before making changes, whether they are in the dugout, on the roster or both.

"The organization absolutely believes in this team," he said. "I'm talking more in the focus of the matter at hand in terms of trying to win a ballgame. The belief that we are going to be in a position to win a ballgame is there and good. I realize and completely understand and have heard from outside the ballpark the frustration.

"We share that frustration. Our focus has to be on what the commitment is inside that clubhouse and their focus, their belief and their efforts to win that ballgame on any given night."

If the offense continues to sputter, the White Sox are never going to turn things around.

Melky Cabrera's double in the sixth inning Wednesday snapped a 30-inning scoreless streak, and seven of the Sox' nine hitters against the Pirates had averages under .245.

"We are at a point right now offensively where, from top to bottom, we are underachieving," Hahn said. "It certainly wasn't something we anticipated and it is something you can take some solace in, given the track records that it's going to get better.

"There does come a point though where you can only look at the back of the baseball card for so long and say it's going to get better. You need to start seeing some results on the field before you have to start making changes."

If the White Sox have not hit 64 games into the schedule, they're probably not going to hit at all.

"We are all extremely frustrated," said Hahn, who obviously is giving the Sox as much rope as possible after making wholesale changes over the winter. "It doesn't matter to me whether it's someone we brought in from the minors one week ago or a free-agent deal we made in the off-season or someone we drafted and developed for the last several years.

"If someone is not achieving up to the level we anticipated, it's disappointing."