Benetti: White Sox GM Hahn talks about rebuild

Editor's note: Here is an excerpt from a wide-ranging conversation between Jason Benetti and White Sox general manager Rick Hahn. To view the four-part video interview at whitesox.com, visit: http://tinyurl.com/yc737brs.

JB: What have the last few weeks at the trade deadline been like for you?

Hahn: It's been an exciting time for us. Obviously we had some fairly lofty goals internally in terms of what we were hoping to accomplish, not just over the last two weeks, but over the last several months of this process of putting ourselves in what we feel is a better position for long-term success and certainly with five trades over the last few weeks, we feel like we took a nice step forward in that process.

JB: What were the goals that you set out for yourself and the organization?

RH: The overarching thought was we need to build up a critical mass of potentially impact prospects that are going to mature on roughly the same time frame to put us in the best position to contend for multiple championships, even if that required us having to take a step backwards in the short-term.

JB: How does the speed at which this rebuild is happening compare to what you set out to do?

RH: It's on pace with what we set out to do, but I think we had lofty expectations. I think we set a high standard for what we wanted to do. Right around this time maybe 13 months ago, I remember a conversation with Kenny where, going through what we had on hand, one of us, I think Kenny said, "We should be able to net 10 top 100 prospects for what we have to move." Turned out we were a little bit wrong, it wound up being at the time 10 out of the top 68, I think, so we weren't quite as ambitious as we had thought we were being. The fact is, we were moving quality players so I think it was reasonable for us to expect a quality return.

JB: If you had one message for White Sox fans right now, what would it be?

RH: The most important one for me right now or perhaps the most heartfelt one for me right now is how much we've appreciated the support that White Sox fans have shown us, whether it's been showing up at the ballpark to watch this club or even the letters or emails or calls or blog reports that have understood what we're trying to accomplish and have bought into it.

I do think that requires a level of sophistication in terms of understanding where we are as an organization which is appreciated. It also requires some patience and some of that patience may well be tested here in the coming weeks or months before we get to the point where these players are all able to contribute at the big league level, but we appreciate that support and we look forward to reaping the benefits together here in the coming years.

• Jason Benetti is a play-by-play broadcaster for the Chicago White Sox, as well as ESPN. Follow him on Twitter @jasonbenetti.