Trade talk? Hahn still hoping White Sox get turned around, but time is running out

The fuse is still burning, but as of now, there have been no fireworks.

For the White Sox, that means general manager Rick Hahn is going to continue to wait on blowing up the roster before the Aug. 1 trade deadline and launching another rebuild.

"Obviously, we've got big decisions to make by Aug. 1," Hahn said before Tuesday night's game against Toronto at Guaranteed Rate Field. "I've seen quotes from players, I've heard from players directly, (manager) Pedro (Grifol) and the coaches have heard from players directly, that their priority and focus is getting things right here and figuring out a way for us to win the division and then do some damage in the postseason.

"I, or any of us in baseball ops, aren't going to do anything that takes focus away from that by saying, 'This is our direction, this is what we're doing, this is where we're committed.' And we're going to do everything in our power to continue to support the guys that want to get this thing right."

Hahn said many of the same things when he talked about the Sox's disappointing season in May and June.

Tearing down the roster and dealing players like Tim Anderson, Lucas Giolito and Dylan Cease is a decision that Hahn is not taking lightly. The GM does not want to rebuild for the second time in seven years, but he's also realistic.

"I'm fairly sure we had the best record in the division since May 1," Hahn said. "But at the same time, that's only been a couple games over .500, I believe, which obviously hasn't made up for the deficit we carved for ourselves in April.

"It's good to see the commitment. It's good to see, to an extent, the results since May 1. But we obviously have a fair amount of work to do still ahead of us."

If the White Sox didn't play in the incredibly weak AL Central, which the Twins lead with a 44-43 record, they'd be 10 or more games out of first place.

Hahn is staying as patient as possible, but time is running out.

"We've won a decent amount of series the last two months, but it hasn't proven to be enough yet," he said. "I'm not going to put a marker in the sand and say, 'We need to rattle off 10 (wins) out of 14 or we're doing this.' But at the same time, we can see the calendar, we can see the games back, and you want to have a reason to believe that this thing's going to get right between now and Aug. 1."

Winning such an unimposing division would likely reward the Sox with another early exit from the playoffs, but Hahn can only hope a talented group of players on paper finally gets hot on the field and changes that perception.

"Winning the division is our path in, but the goals have always been higher," Hahn said. "Given the deficit that we created for ourselves early in the season, I do think that if we manage to win this division, it's going to be the result of us going on a stretch of playing pretty (darn) good baseball, which should in turn give us confidence that we're going to be able to do some damage in October.

"But again, that first thing has to happen, and that's us playing better baseball and starting to cut into this deficit and ideally take the lead at some point."

The White Sox could still be well within striking distance of first place at the end of the month and Hahn decides offers for players like Anderson, Giolito, Cease, Lance Lynn, Kendall Graveman and Yasmani Grandal are too good to pass up.

"Absolutely," Hahn said. "In the end, we're going to make a decision about what is best for the long-term health of the organization, with obviously the priority being placed on the here and now, because this is the only year we can control. Ultimately, if you're overwhelmed by a potential return, that may tilt your balance more toward the future than the present.

"If you don't play at a certain level, that may tilt your focus more toward the future than the present. But again, as we sit here today, the goal is to beat the Blue Jays, go on a run and continue to give the guys in there who are fighting for this season a reason to believe it's going to work."