White Sox GM Hahn tries lifting dour cloud hanging over team
Give general manager Rick Hahn credit for providing the best headline of the season back in late July, when he accurately described the Chicago White Sox as being "mired in mediocrity."
Hahn's verbal skills were on display again before Tuesday night's 2-0 win over the Detroit Tigers at U.S. Cellular Field.
After fielding a series of depressing questions - What's wrong with James Shields? Why did it take so long for Jose Abreu to start hitting? When is manager Robin Ventura and the rest of the coaching staff going to be fired? - Hahn pumped the brakes with another interesting statement.
"Everything is sounding so dour right now," the Sox's GM said.
Hahn understands the reason for all the doom and gloom, considering the White Sox are heading toward their fourth-straight losing season.
But for one day, at least, he stepped away from the bad.
"I think we're absolutely thrilled with our most recent draft," Hahn said. "You've seen the (Advanced Rookie) Great Falls club, which is made up of a lot of those players, go to the postseason. I think they had a 14-game winning streak to end the year and five all-stars. You see areas you can be hopeful about."
True, top draft picks like starting pitcher Alec Hansen (second round), outfielder Jameson Fisher (fourth round), starting pitcher Bernando Flores (seventh) and shortstop Mitch Roman (12th) helped Great Falls go 46-26 and advance to the Pioneer League playoffs.
But … how many are going to be able to help the Sox? And when?
Under new amateur scouting director Nick Hostetler, the White Sox did appear to execute a much-needed strong draft in June, also landing catcher/designated hitter Zack Collins with their first pick (No. 10 overall), hard-throwing reliever Zack Burdi with the No. 26 overall pick and promising outfielder Alex Call (.308/.361/.449 slash ling at Class A Kannapolis) on the third round.
With so much promising talent entering the system, it sure seems like a good time to continue adding young players with impact potential in trades for veterans this winter.
Hahn did say a "short-term step-back" has been discussed, and that is code for a rebuilding project.
Most Sox fans I've heard from are in favor of a youth movement, which seems to be working out quite well for the Yankees this season.
However, many of those same fans don't seem to believe Hahn, White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and vice president Kenny Williams can properly execute a rebuild.
While there have been some whispers Reinsdorf is considering selling the Sox after the season, he is expected to stay put, as are Hahn and Williams.
The same cannot be said for Ventura and the majority of the coaching staff, along with the White Sox's major-league scouting department.
"The most exposure is at the big-league level, that's where you see the most critique, the most analysis," Hahn said. "Obviously, we're all structured in a way that the results in Chicago are the most important thing, so when things don't work out in Chicago you have to look at sort of behind the scenes or behind the curtain about what else may not be going well, whether it's from an advanced scouting standpoint or it's from a major-league scouting standpoint.
"It really does go all the way down to our operations on the amateur level and player development."