CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The most important addition to Guaranteed Rate Field this offseason was one that most White Sox fans will never see.
What was open space in the bowels of the stadium now holds both a high-tech training facility and a high-quality family area for players and staff. The biometric lab — similar to the one the team has at Camelback Ranch in Arizona — will keep general manager Rick Hahn’s White Sox ahead of the curve.
“I don’t know too many teams that have full labs at their major league ballpark and their spring training place,” Hahn said.
The team’s family spaces needed help, though, for current players and future free agents, Hahn said.
“From a family lounge and child daycare stuff, we did hear feedback from a few of our players who had been with other clubs that what we were doing was a little different from what they had elsewhere," Hahn said.
"I’ve already had a couple come up and thank me, and I said, ‘Talk to Jerry (Reinsdorf).’”
Reinsdorf, of course, authorized over $1 million in spending on the expansion as well as the hires to staff it.
“The last few years, for a variety of reasons … have been suboptimal, and we looked at ways that we could perhaps improve it,” Hahn said. “This has been in queue for a while, and it’s something that we knew was going to help player comfort and player performance, and hopefully player availability.”
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