Hahn, White Sox prepare for quick ramp up into regular season

So, what did White Sox general manager Rick Hahn do during major-league baseball's lengthy lockout?

"If you talk to my wife (Jean), there was probably a little too much loitering around the house and interfering with her world," he said on Friday.

"She is perhaps as happy as anyone in the baseball family that I'm departing for spring training tomorrow."

Before heading to the Sox's training camp in Glendale, Ariz., Hahn had over three months of downtime to think about all sorts of things.

"When you're not able to talk to other teams or free agents, there's only so much you can do in terms of planning," the White Sox's GM said. "It could be frustrating because we all are by nature wanting to do what we can to make a team better and obviously, for the last few months we haven't been able to do that.

"At the same time, it did give us a chance to sort of pause and reset and assess where we are as an organization and it gave us a chance to perhaps appreciate some of the things we've accomplished here in the position we're in going forward."

With baseball back up and running, Hahn is looking forward to getting out of his wife's way and returning to work.

He already has a roster that won the AL Central last year while making a second straight trip to the playoffs.

"We're prepared to go forward with the roster we have right now," Hahn said. "However, we are fully aware that there are places where we can get ourselves better."

The Sox could use upgrades in right field and second base, and Hahn is also going to keep a close eye on the pitching staff with MLB starting the 162-game regular season on April 7 after a condensed spring training.

"I think the combination of the shortened ramp up, the lack of dialogue over the last few months, as well as obviously our high expectations for this season, has created the expectation that pitching depth is going to be a priority," Hahn said. "I think all 29 other clubs would probably say something similar in terms of trying protect those very important elements of the club. But certainly, from our perspective, being able to start the season off with the depth we need and build hopefully for over seven-plus months of baseball, having that pitching depth is going to be key."

As it stands now, Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and Dallas Keuchel are in the White Sox's starting rotation. If it gets expanded to six, Reynaldo Lopez and Garrett Crochet are options.

Carlos Rodon, a key starter last season when he was healthy, signed a free-agent contract with the Giants Friday.

"If there is a way to improve the club, we're going to exhaust those opportunities here over the next few weeks," Hahn said. "I know there was some understandable expectation that the second the lockout was lifted that there were going to be all sorts of deals and a feeding frenzy, sort of like how we see in some of the free agencies in other sports.

"That said, given the fact that we weren't able to communicate with agents and other clubs, I'm not surprised it's been a little bit slower than anticipated at this early stage. But I think that also means that this is probably going to continue at this pace or continue to have these dialogues and chances to improve likely leading right up into the opener."