SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Kenny Williams has arrived at the GM meetings. And it sounds like he, and the White Sox, are ready for business.
The team vice president helped to back up the notion that the South Siders are planning an aggressive offseason, saying that they’re here to do business as usual, before an added bonus that ought to get White Sox fans excited.
“Well, more than usual,” he said.
Again, that supports the aggressiveness the White Sox have been pledging since this time a year ago, when it was reported they were chasing the two biggest names on that free-agent market, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. And chase them they did, though both players opted to play elsewhere.
With some huge names on this winter’s market, too, the White Sox could again look to capitalize on the opportunity to add a high-impact “finishing piece” to their rebuilding effort. That’s been a stated goal of Rick Hahn’s throughout this process, and he’s continued to say the White Sox won’t be shy about pursuing those kinds of opportunities.
Does that mean chasing Anthony Rendon this winter? Or Gerrit Cole? Or Nicholas Castellanos? Or a trade with the Boston Red Sox for J.D. Martinez or Mookie Betts? All are varying degrees of fits for a team still looking at things through a long-term lens — but a team that’s also looking to make the jump from rebuilding mode to contending mode.
The GM meetings are rarely the site of wheeling and dealing at such an early stage in the offseason, especially considering the slow pace recent offseasons have gotten off to. But the foundation for a busy winter could be set.
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Hahn has laid out his list of objectives already: finding new everyday players in right field and at designated hitter and adding some heft to the starting rotation. That sets up for more business than usual already.
But Williams’ tease of a different kind of offseason for the White Sox could be the biggest hint yet that they are thinking big this winter.
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