Imrem: There's still time for Chicago White Sox this off-season

Hold your fire, White Sox fans, along with your tongues.

It's too early to vent.

Yes, yes, SoxFest came and went without a dramatic announcement about a dramatic player acquisition.

The Sox are so frustrating that so often they make you want to scream.

The past few weeks were a good example as free-agent outfielder after free-agent outfielder, the kind the Sox need, signed elsewhere.

Alex Gordon, back to the Royals … Justin Upton, over to the Tigers … Yoenis Cespedes, back to the Mets.

If Minnie Minoso were still alive, he might have escaped to the Marlins.

I held back my reflex displeasure because of a lesson I learned a long time ago from Jerry Reinsdorf, of all people.

The Sox/Bulls owner became an expert in media criticism the hard way: by being criticized twice as much because he is chairman of two Chicago teams.

Decades ago when Reinsdorf still had hope for me, he would express in notes or in person why he thought I was being unfair to him and his.

Don't hear much from Reinsdorf anymore - apparently I squandered all his hope - but some of his tips remain relevant:

Don't judge an off-season until it's over, and maybe not until the season is over.

Reinsdorf offered that advice in December 1982, when the Sox let outfielder Steve Kemp sign with the Yankees as a free agent. The Sox had acquired Kemp from Detroit a year earlier in exchange for popular outfielder Chet Lemon.

Naturally, I did what I do, which was rant about letting Kemp get away for nothing.

Kemp was gone, Lemon was gone, and the Sox had nothing left to show for either.

Reinsdorf cautioned that it was still early.

Sure enough, after Kemp left the Sox used his money to sign pitcher Floyd Bannister, who helped them win their division in 1983.

Could that scenario repeat itself in 2016? Could the Sox fill a dire need before the season begins? Could it be enough for them to qualify for the playoffs?

Sox general manager Rick Hahn indicated over the weekend that he is still trying to improve the club.

The American League Central is awfully tough with the Royals defending their World Series title, the Tigers still in go-for-it mode, and the younger Twins and Indians appearing ready to contend.

But the Sox aren't that far away, either, because of pitching they held on to and hitters they acquired.

The Sox added offense - Todd Frazier, Brett Lawrie and a couple of catchers - to complement Jose Abreu.

One more big bat could be enough for the Sox to compete with the AL Central's best.

A bat like Cespedes' would have fit nicely, no?

Abreu and Frazier are 30-home run sluggers at the infield corners, but Cespedes is a charismatic 30-home run animal who scares pitchers and makes everybody else in the lineup scarier.

Cespedes' milk has been spilled, however, and now the Sox have to mop up.

Is there another slugger out there to be had? Maybe a Carlos Gonzalez? Maybe someone not mentioned yet?

It's up to Hahn to make another significant move by the first day of spring training or by Opening Day.

I'll hold my fire for now, if not my breath, while waiting for the hitting equivalent of Floyd Bannister to arrive.

But only for now, Mr. Chairman.

mimrem@dailyherald.com