Past month was about ‘putting Chicago White Sox in as good a position possible going forward.’ So where do they stand now? – The Denver Post

The Chicago White Sox had a lot of dialogue with other teams leading up to Tuesday’s trade deadline.

“There was, as usual and really just the nature of the beast, a lot of at times erroneous or contradictory information out there about what we would do or what we wouldn’t do or who we’d listen on and who we want,” Sox general manager Rick Hahn said during a video conference call Tuesday. “And the reality is that from the start of this process, we entered the entire thing extremely open-minded.

“That’s how you end up with a Jake Burger for (Jake) Eder deal. Obviously far, far more deals did not come to fruition than the six that did, but even those conversations could help us come this offseason. Sometimes these conversations take a little longer. Different periods for player acquisition have different results. But we got a good sense of the value of many of our players, potential fits for not only the past few days but for the future as well.”

The Sox completed an active week with three trades Tuesday, including sending Burger to the Miami Marlins for the pitching prospect Eder.

In all, the Sox made six trades since July 26. In addition to dealing Burger, they sent starter Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo López to the Los Angeles Angels, reliever Joe Kelly and starter Lance Lynn to the Los Angeles Dodgers, reliever Kendall Graveman to the Houston Astros and reliever Keynan Middleton to the New York Yankees.

The moves come as the Sox sit in fourth place in the American League Central with a 43-65 record. They matched a season-worst 22 games under .500 after Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field.

“It was very clear obviously that 2023 wasn’t going the way any of us intended,” Hahn said. “We entered this deadline knowing there were players we would be best served by moving on from and restocking the farm system, prioritizing arms and getting guys at premium positions like (catchers Edgar) Quero and (Korey) Lee were of importance to us. None of us wanted to be in this position. But we all feel very good about what we were able to accomplish once we accepted the fact this was the position we were in.

“We still have many impactful talents in Chicago. We still play in a division in which nobody has run away and hid in. Certainly competing for the postseason is viable in 2024. In all candor, sitting here 55 minutes after the trade deadline just ended, proclaiming this is how we’re going to get there in ‘24 isn’t exactly our mission. Over the last several weeks it’s been, put ourselves in the best position to execute this deadline effectively. We felt we’ve done that.”

While the Sox made the six moves, some other players were mentioned in trade speculation, including starter Dylan Cease.

“It was just kind of a wait-and-see moment,” Cease said after Tuesday’s game. “I really didn’t have any other information on that. I was just hanging out and seeing what was happening.

“The unknown of it is kind of interesting. I still had other things to do. We were all of us watching it closely, but at the end of the day, (it) kind of just is what it is.”

Sox manager Pedro Grifol said that type of chatter is commonplace around a clubhouse this time of season.

“Going through so many of these, I’ve learned that nothing is off the table until that clock hits 5:01,” Grifol said. “So, there were all kinds of rumors. I’m sure Rick and (executive vice president) Kenny (Williams) and our front office who have been through a ton of these and done really well in these deadlines, went through a bunch of different scenarios. At the end of the day these are the ones that came up.

“There weren’t other ones that came up, that means it wasn’t the right thing for the organization right now.”

The Sox added six pitchers, two catchers and veteran outfielder Trayce Thompson in the trades.

Hahn said starting with the draft, the past month was about “putting the Chicago White Sox in as good a position possible as we can going forward.”

“Based upon what we were able to do in this year’s draft and what we’ve been able to do at the deadline, the organization is much stronger for ‘24 and beyond,” Hahn said. “Precisely what that looks like in terms of the big-league level in ‘24, let’s get to the end of the season and assess everything — performance of the players in the big-league level, what we’ve got in the minors (and) what our assets are going forward.”

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