White Sox GM Hahn: If player fits, contract length not an issue
Before taking questions to officially launch SoxFest Friday afternoon at the Hilton Chicago, over six weeks passed since Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn last met with the media.
Not much actually happened over that lengthy stretch of winter, at least in reality.
But on a nearly daily basis, the internet was cranking out breaking news that Hahn and the Sox were rumored to be in hot pursuit of one of the "Big 3" free-agent outfielders - Alex Gordon, Justin Upton and Yoenis Cespedes.
The one catch? The White Sox were not willing to go more than three years on any of the prized outfielders.
Back before the internet exploded and anyone with a cellphone could throw rumors against the wall, major-league GMs would often take calls from beat reporters and provide clarity.
It no longer works that way, unfortunately, and Hahn waited until SoxFest to shoot down all of the three-year max contract speculation.
"Let me make something real clear, there is absolutely no hard line, dogma limit on contract terms with free agents," Hahn said. "The reason we didn't sign any of the players that thus far have signed elsewhere, at the end of the day, it was not about any contract term limitations. We had numerous conversations with various parameters, various structures, right up until the day or day before these players wound up choosing their ultimate destination."
Hahn used two current players as an example of the White Sox' willingness to offer extended contracts.
"Two years ago we won a bidding war with six other clubs to give an international free agent a six-year contract, who had never played professional in the States, in Jose Abreu," Hahn said. "Last year, we targeted the bullpen as an area to improve, went out and gave a three-year deal to Zack Duke, gave a four-year deal to (David) Robertson, because that's where the market took them. So again, there is no hard line, limit, dogma.
"Every free-agent negotiation is different, every player evaluation is different, in how they fit for us, what they could bring going forward and what the market for their services is. And that's what dictates what limits we put on where we're willing to go."
Gordon and Cespedes wound up returning to their respective teams, the Royals and Mets. Upton signed a six-year, $132.75 million with the Tigers, and there was no way the Sox were going to match that offer, especially when you consider they got Abreu for six years and $68 million, the most lucrative contract in franchise history.
Gordon, Cespedes and Upton are off the market, and the Sox appear to be OK with Avisail Garcia back in right field after his disappointing 2015 season (257/.309/.365 hitting line, 13 home runs, 59 RBI).
Then again, spring training is still three weeks away and there is time for the White Sox to make a roster move.
After ranking last in the American League in runs scored, homers and OPS in 2015, the Sox have already added Todd Frazier at third base, Brett Lawrie at second and Dioner Navarro and Alex Avila at catcher.
"We feel stronger in at least three positions than we were at the end of the season last year," Hahn said. "But frankly, in our opinion, we aren't quite done augmenting this roster. That doesn't mean that anything's going to happen necessarily. But at the same time SoxFest, much like the winter meetings, much like other dates on the off-season calendar, is a bit of an artificial deadline so to speak. Last year, we clearly had a lot of the heavy lifting done at this time, but we're going to work in what seems to be a rather fluid market still for players right up until opening day to set this roster."
In other words, let the rumors continue.
Gauging Garcia:
On Thursday, a slimmed-down Avi Garcia said: "I know what I can do, and I know the White Sox trust me."
We'll see if the Sox pull the vote of confidence and replace Garcia with a player like Dexter Fowler, who is still a free agent.
"(Garcia's) got work to do, there's no question about it, and that much he understands," manager Robin Ventura said. "He understands where he's at in his career and what he needs to do in order to make improvements in different parts of his game. Everybody reacts differently when they get in that situation, and I've really enjoyed and liked his reaction to it."
LaRoche watch:
After signing a two-year, $25 million contract last winter, Adam LaRoche was a huge flop with the White Sox in 2015, posting a .207/.293/.340 slash line with 12 home runs and 44 RBI.
"I made a joke earlier that sabermetrics shows that (LaRoche) has a really good year every other year," Ventura said. "If we're going to go with all the sabermetrics about everything else, we're counting on that to hold true, too."
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