The White Sox know the position they’ve put themselves in over the first two months of the season is unacceptable. But they’re not ready to wave the white flag and start trading away players to build for the future, again.
“There will come a point where that becomes apparent that (a comeback to contention) is not very likely to happen,” Rick Hahn said on Monday. “At that point we'll have to make the final decision about direction. It's not a decision we have to make on Memorial Day.”
A disastrous stretch in April, which included a 10-game losing streak, all but buried the Sox before the weather got nice enough in Chicago to really enjoy a ballgame. The White Sox are lucky to play in a division with several other bad teams, so they still have some hope of competing for a postseason bid if their play improves. There have been flashes of that improved play in May and the team has won five of eight series in the month. They’ll need to keep that up if they want to be involved as the summer progresses.
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“I think the frustration we all felt in April, we haven't completely rinsed ourselves off,” Hahn said. “We know that this team is capable of performing at a level we saw glimpses of over the last four weeks, but not enough consistency. So that's what we're looking for going forward.”
The White Sox just went through a lengthy rebuild to put themselves in a position to contend year after year. There was some regular season success in 2020 and 2021, but no postseason success. Things have sharply declined since. It would be painful for the White Sox to start another rebuild again, but Hahn said the team can’t let emotions get in the way of plotting the proper future for the team.
“Ultimately you have to make the decision about who you are, what your record says you are, and as a result, you need to prepare the organization for the future the best way you can. Again, that doesn't have to be on Memorial Day. So we still have a little bit of time to get this team playing up to the expectation levels of all of us in the front office and back in the clubhouse.
“But if that doesn't happen, it's the responsibility of all of us in the front office to realize objectively where we're at and what's best for the club going forward. Again, we're not at that date yet, but we know it's certainly a possibility.”
