You don't shake things up just to shake things up.
That's what Rick Hahn told the media Tuesday evening after effectively gutting the roster of some of its biggest names, certainly major factions of its pitching staff.
But in terms of defining the shake-up, Hahn was reluctant to call the product of the White Sox' trade deadline a "rebuild," just as he was after the White Sox traded Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez to the Los Angeles Angels last Wednesday.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
"We still have many impactful talents in Chicago," Hahn said Tuesday. "We still play in a division where no one has really run away and hid in. Certainly competing for the postseason is viable in 2024."
Sure, the White Sox have their positional core intact.
They held onto Tim Anderson, Yoán Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Eloy Jiménez and Elvis Andrus -- all of whom were rumored at one point or another to be traded from the Sox.
They also skipped out on trading Dylan Cease, who looked like he could've been traded all the way up until the buzzer sounded. Assuming the reports of the White Sox shopping him to the final minute are accurate, it makes the White Sox' affinity to compete in 2024 even more confusing.
White Sox News
After gutting the pitching staff for prospects -- who at the highest level can compete at Double-A -- do the White Sox really have a chance at contending for the postseason in 2024?
I'd be reluctant to display optimism about the White Sox' chances at competing next season.
Optimism for the long-term future? Sure, why not? The White Sox acquired some intriguing prospects from the five trades they made before the MLB trade deadline.
Four of the prospects the White Sox traded for cracked the top ten prospect list for their farm system. Edgar Quero (No. 2), Jake Eder (No. 4), Nick Nastrini (No. 5) and Ky Bush (No. 7) put the farm in a much better place.
They also brought in Korey Lee (No. 14) and Juan Carela (No. 29 on the Yankees list) to help bolster one of the league's most depleted farm systems.
But the direction of the organization remains in major flux, making future decisions more difficult to make. We know the 2023 season isn't going anywhere, but should we expect 2024 to be any different?
The White Sox are out two starters, four relievers and their second-best power bat -- Jake Burger. Plus, the contracts of Andrus, Clevinger and Grandal expire after this season. How will the White Sox approach free agency in the offseason?
There are more questions raised than answered after a busy deadline for the White Sox. Selling at a rate the Sox did and expecting to become postseason contenders next season stands as the most puzzling one.
"What we've put out there the past couple of years hasn't worked," Hahn said. "There's absolutely dialogue and various permutations that we've played with that have a different look going forward. What exactly that's going to be come the '24 season? There's a lot of time between now and then to put that in place.
"The organization is much, much stronger for '24 and beyond."