White Sox Headlines of December 14, 2017
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WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF DECEMBER 14, 2017 “White Sox may be busy during Rule 5 Draft”… Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Rodon on schedule after shoulder surgery” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “‘Aggressive’ White Sox among reported ‘lead teams’ for Manny Machado, making deal seem something more than just ‘conceivable’” … Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago “Breaking down the cases for and against the White Sox trading for Manny Machado” … Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago “White Sox reportedly making strong bid for Manny Machado” … Tim Goldrick, NBC Sports Chicago “The Manny Machado rumors won’t stop, even if a deal still seems to make little sense for White Sox right now” … Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago “The White Sox are having a quiet Winter Meetings because the rebuild is ahead of schedule” … Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago “Will Avisail Garcia be traded this offseason? More important question is whether he can replicate 2017 success” … Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago “Jerry Reinsdorf: ‘It would be a joke’ if Jim Thome’s not a first-ballot Hall of Famer” … Chuck Garfien, NBC Sports Chicago “White Sox make ‘impressive offer’ for Manny Machado” … Mark Gonzales, Chicago Tribune “Cubs, White Sox scouts to be honored” … Mark Gonzales, Chicago Tribune “White Sox may pay Rule 5 draft price for upgraded depth” … Mark Gonzales, Chicago Tribune “Luis Robert catches Rick Renteria’s attention” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times “Rick Renteria getting his message across to White Sox” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times “Rosenthal: Machado in Chicago? White Sox are serious suitors for the Orioles star” … Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic “White Sox still willing to take a chance, but their big moves are in the rearview mirror” … James Fegan, The Athletic “White Sox continue to show they care about their Latin talent” … James Fegan, The Athletic “Levine: White Sox ready for bold move on Manny Machado” … Bruce Levine, CBS Chicago “White Sox, favorites to get Machado, may trade him to Yankees” … Nicholas Parco, New York Daily News White Sox may be busy during Rule 5 Draft Hahn also looking to add veteran reliever during offseason By Scott Merkin / MLB.com | Dec. 13, 2017 LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Reliever Anthony Swarzak and the Mets reportedly agreed to a two-year, $14 million contract, pending a physical, during the Winter Meetings on Wednesday. It was only 10 months ago when the 32-year-old right-hander was a non-roster Spring Training invite with the White Sox, looking to re-invent himself on the mound. Similar opportunities will be available to other veteran relievers who could become sign-and-flip candidates for the White Sox in 2018, much like Swarzak moving to the Brewers last season after posting a 2.23 ERA over 41 games with Chicago. "We're probably in a position as an organization right now to do our best to find the next Anthony Swarzak as opposed to going out and paying retail in the free-agent market for one," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "When we originally looked at this offseason, we anticipated those types of moves coming after these Meetings after free agents had a chance to fully understand their market and talk to a number of clubs. "With that said, this is a little bit slower developing of a market. So it's conceivable everything is a couple of weeks behind and it takes us into January before we start doing those deals. But we've laid some groundwork on things like that over the last few days, and we'll see how quickly they come together." It's conceivable the White Sox leave here on Thursday without making any trades or free-agent signings. It's a big departure from last year's Winter Meetings, when the club began its much ballyhooed rebuild by trading Chris Sale to the Red Sox and Adam Eaton to the Nationals for a haul of seven prospects. The White Sox won't leave these Meetings empty-handed, so to speak. With four spots open on the 40-man roster and holding the fourth pick overall, look for Chicago to be active during Thursday's Rule 5 Draft. Relievers could be the target for the South Siders, hurlers in line with their prospect-driven rebuild as opposed to the veteran category represented by Swarzak. "We'll expect to be active tomorrow, and we may well actually have a player or two selected, too. We're prepared for that," Hahn said. "We knew when we set our roster, consistent with everything else we've been doing around here for a while, we prioritized guys that we thought would have the greatest impact for the long term and would leave a greater potential long-term void had we left them exposed and then gotten selected. "We had some players not added to the 40 who might be able to help some clubs in the short term, and that's part of the byproduct of having a good system. A player that we select is someone that we feel not only has the ability to survive and contribute at the big league level, but ideally also fits for the long term. That's the type of players we will be targeting with any selection tomorrow." Rodon on schedule after shoulder surgery White Sox believe southpaw is potential frontline starter By Scott Merkin / MLB.com | Dec. 13, 2017 LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon continues to make solid progress with his rehab following arthroscopic shoulder surgery in September, sidelining him for six to eight months. "Everything is progressing according to schedule," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "Until he's in Spring Training and really getting after it and throwing the ball again, we won't really know when that window will fall. But so far it's been positive." "He's doing great," Rodon's agent, Scott Boras, said on Wednesday during the Winter Meetings. "From the doctors, we haven't heard anything other than the normal course of his rehab going forward. They [White Sox] see him as a top-of-the- rotation starter." Hahn doesn't believe Rodon's injury-plagued 2017 season will serve as a source of frustration for the southpaw, who turned 25 on Sunday. "Players get hurt. It happens," Hahn said. "It certainly is an unfortunate event for guys, but many players have come back from injury and gone on to have prominent, extended careers. We still think Carlos has the upside and potential to do that. "We certainly remain diligent with him in terms of his routine and his pre-rehab, at this point rehab, but once he gets back healthy, the pre-hab element of preparing in between starts and the importance of being diligent with that. And Carlos is a pro. He knows, he gets it, he's learned from this, and the upside and ceiling that he had the day we took him out of N.C. State remains the same." Hahn working under control Hahn was asked about the hypothetical potential to acquire Orioles third baseman Manny Machado on a couple of occasions during his Wednesday media session without Machado's name ever being directly mentioned. "We like good players who fit into the long term," Hahn said in response to the first question posed to him. That reply fit with what Hahn stated on Tuesday, in that contractual control would be an important part of trade returns involving the White Sox moving any of their recently acquired prospects. But Hahn left all possibilities somewhat open when he was asked again later in his interview about possibly acquiring and then trying to extend a player with one year remaining prior to free agency, a profile fitting Machado. "Sometimes you need to be creative. Sometimes you need to perhaps take a risk," Hahn said. "It's probably slightly easier after a player has been part of this organization, understand what we're about, to extend him as opposed to meeting him cold as a free agent and trying to sell him on the organization. "We've had success with both, so we're not afraid to do either, but perhaps there is a little advantage from time to time to have a guy already be on campus when you're talking about extending him into the future. You guys have heard from many of our players how much they enjoy being with us, how they want to stay here, how they want to be part of this rebuild. That's in part due to the type of guys we've brought in and in part due to the culture and direction we've created." ‘Aggressive’ White Sox among reported ‘lead teams’ for Manny Machado, making deal seem something more than just ‘conceivable’ By Vinnie Duber / NBC Sports Chicago | Dec. 14, 2017 LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — It looks like the notion of the White Sox trading for Manny Machado is a little more than just "conceivable." That's the word White Sox general manager Rick Hahn used Wednesday at the Winter Meetings when proposed with the idea that his rebuilding organization would try to pursue a player with just one year of control who could potentially be convinced to sign a lengthy contract extension. While the creatively worded question required some verbal gymnastics to avoid saying the word "Machado," that's exactly the player that was being discussed. And now it looks like the White Sox are doing a little more than just discussing a trade with the Baltimore Orioles. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported that the White Sox are making an aggressive push — the most aggressive push of any team — to acquire the Orioles' star third baseman, one of the headliners of next offseason's monster free-agent class.