Doug Padilla, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Next wave of Sox rebuild set to begin

CHICAGO -- The end of the World Series sets the reset button for everybody, including the Chicago White Sox, who appear to be ready to do a little shopping this winter.

Free agents aren’t eligible to sign with new teams until Tuesday, and most won’t pick a club for another three to eight weeks, if not longer, but the White Sox’s front office has been putting together a roster plan even before the regular season ended.

Where the White Sox actually spend their money remains to be seen. Even if they get their No. 1 targets to listen to offers, there is no guarantee they will sign to play on the South Side. The club also knows that it won’t be feasible to afford everybody on its wish list anyway.

Then there are the trade targets the team has focused on as well.

“The board in my office has more than two names at each position, and that’s for a reason,” general manager Rick Hahn said at the end of the season. “Our intent is to convert on the No. 1 target at every spot and address every need with the ideal fit. Realistically there are 29 other clubs, some of which have similar needs to ours and similar resources, whether it be from a player to trade standpoint or an economic standpoint.

“So, we’re realistic and know that we’re not going to be able to necessarily convert on every top guy. At the same time, our scouts and our analytics people are fairly well-versed and skilled at being able to target, perhaps, I don’t want to say second-tier, perhaps less notable targets who’ve been able to develop into integral parts of championship clubs here. So, the list is long. It continues to be vetted. It’ll continue to be vetted over the next few weeks.”

While the product on the field hasn’t come close to meeting expectations, where the White Sox have been successful the last two years is in shedding big contracts. Adam Dunn, who made $15 million this past season, is no longer on the books. Paul Konerko, who made $13.5 million as recently as 2013, is now retired. In addition, guys like Jake Peavy and Alex Rios came off the books in 2013 and both made at least $13 million that year.

The White Sox might not be ready to return to the 2013 payroll total that reached above $115 million, but they still have plenty to spend even if they fall short of that total.

They could even aim for a high-ticket free agent pitcher like Jon Lester, James Shields or even Max Scherzer. Catcher Russell Martin could also be a target, although he is expected to he headed toward a big payday. The White Sox do have a number of spots to fill, though, and could end up spending on a number of players instead of putting so much of their resources into one person.

With the bullpen needing an entire overhaul, spending wisely on a number of arms will make sense. While a closer is a necessity, the White Sox won’t necessarily take a black-and-white approach to the bullpen rebuild.

Casey Janssen, Francisco Rodriguez, Sergio Romo are all closers who could be available this winter as free agents, but none will come at a bargain.

“There’s zero doubt in our mind that we need to make some bullpen upgrades,” Hahn said. “We’ve talked about this for several years. I’ve never been of the specific mindset that someone has to be anointed ‘the closer,’ and only pitch in the ninth inning with leads of three runs or less. I don’t think that’s necessarily the ideal way to deploy what should be your best reliever.

“So, it’s not imperative in my mind we go out and sign or acquire someone who has 150 lifetime saves and say, ‘This is the guy.’ If that happens, from a market standpoint that player’s available and he’s available for a cost we see as reasonable, fantastic. But the overall goal of the bullpen is going to be to acquire multiple options, potentially from the right and left side ... many of which could be end-game options for us.”

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