CHICAGO (670 The Score) -- After trading five veteran pitchers away this week, the White Sox began their selloff in earnest.
Still, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn was in no mood to state what the direction of this ballclub is for the coming years.
"If you are talking rallying cry, market slogans and crap like that? I'm not really focused on that right now,” Hahn said. “We have work to do and focus on making more deals like the ones we have. Come August, October and the offseason, that is the time to reflect on what is next for us."
The pain of these two disappointing seasons for the White Sox has forced this front office to pivota and return to a possible rebuilding mode, this for a team that has played under 500 baseball since July of 2021.
The White Sox won the American League Central crown in 2021 with mark of 93-69 before bowing out in the American League Divisional Series with the Astros. The White Sox finished 81-81 last season, missing the playoffs during their window for contention.
This season, the White Sox are 42-63 and have fallen well out of contention.
The White Sox dealt starter Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo Lopez to the Angels on Wednesday night, landing a pair of prized prospects in return. They dealt starter Lance Lynn and reliever Joe Kelly to the Dodgers on Friday, bringing in two prospects and outfielder Trayce Thompson. Then came a deal of reliever Kendall Graveman for catching prospect Korey Lee.
Unlike the trade of Giolito and Lopez, who are potential free agents, Friday's trades involved players with options and or contracts for 2024.
"With that in mind, we were able to get the future pieces that we got in these trades,” Hahn said. "The guys who are pending free agents, you should get what you can get if you are not going to compete this year. With the trades of players with future control, it comes down to a balancing of the return compared to the value of that player in the organization for next year. In each of the deals today, we were very pleased what we were able to get back. But there was no urgency to move any of those three players."
The White Sox selloff is expected to continue leading up to Tuesday’s trade deadline. Former All-Star shortstop Tim Anderson has been mentioned as a potential trade chip for this team. Anderson is hitting .239 and owns a .561 OPS in a career-worst season.
The Marlins and Brewers have expressed interest in White Sox slugger Eloy Jimenez.
As Hahn explores what’s next for the White Sox, he is focused on a new dynamic within the clubhouse and developing a stronger leadership core.
"I think it's going to be a really interesting clubhouse over the next few months,” Hahn said. "I mean that in a good way. It will leave room for some of these young guys to grow and blossom. They can take some of the leadership reins. I talked to Andrew Vaughn about his former college teammate today before we traded for him, that's a guy I think will take a new leadership role in that room. There are certainly others on that pitching staff that can now seize that mantle now that some of the veteran will be elsewhere."
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