GLENDALE, Ariz. — Not long after the all-star break last season, general manager Rick Hahn said he was tired of the Chicago White Sox being “mired in mediocrity.”
Ten days later, Hahn traded veteran relief pitcher Zach Duke to St. Louis for minor-league center fielder Charlie Tilson and the Sox’s rebuilding project was officially on.
Chris Sale wanted no part of the youth movement, and it’s hard to blame him. The White Sox’s ace starter for the last five seasons, Sale never made it to the playoffs.
He’ll have a much better chance with Boston after being traded to the Red Sox for four promising prospects in December. So will Adam Eaton, who was traded to the reigning National League East champion Nationals for three prospects.
But Todd Frazier is still with the White Sox, he played in the postseason two straight years (2012-13) with the Reds and would obviously enjoy playing more baseball in October.
Believe it or not, the always optimistic Frazier believes the White Sox can be a contender this season without Sale and Eaton.
“We are just missing one hitter (Eaton), basically, from last year,” Frazier said. “We still have a healthy core of guys that are going to come in here and hopefully pick up the slack. I think we are going to be just fine. It’s a matter of putting everything together.”
Sale and Eaton are the only notable names missing from last year’s team, which went 78-84.
Hahn is still weighing trade offers for veterans like Jose Quintana and David Robertson, and Frazier’s name has also been mentioned.
If Quintana and Robertson are moved, the Sox will be in full-blown rebuild mode. Should that happens, Frazier will still be positive.
“I don’t really like that word, rebuild,” Frazier said. “I always talk about refueling the team. I see a lot of guys talk about rebuild. We have (seven) guys back for two (Sale, Eaton), that’s a lot of guys to get back. We’ll see how they step up when it comes to major-league time, baseball time.”
Frazier can only help the new faces in the White Sox’s training camp, and any future young talent Hahn happens to land.
As for his own performance, the 31-year-old third baseman led the Sox with 40 home runs last season and was second to Jose Abreu with 98 RBI.
On the flip side, Frazier batted .225 and was even worse (.171) with runners in scoring position.
“Basically everything,” Frazier said when asked what he needs to improve on. “It’s a new year, man. I just try and build off what I did last year. Think about the positives, the home runs, RBI, all that stuff. But I need to try and hit the ball to right field more. Get the average back up, on-base percentage, little stuff like that.”
Much like Frazier, new manager Rick Renteria is not a fan of the term “rebuild.”
“The question is, how do we approach our daily routine to have these guys maximize their ability to learn and execute on a daily basis to give ourselves a chance to win today?” Renteria said. “There’s no player on the face of this earth that comes to the ballpark saying ‘Today, it’s OK if we lose.’ None of them. So that’s when you say rebuild, many people might equate rebuilding with accepting losing.
“No, no one accepts losing. What we will not accept is not learning from the situations and the circumstances that might surround us on a daily basis. We have to gain knowledge, and every time we gain knowledge, we win. In the long run, if we execute as a team and perform as a team, we give ourselves a daily chance of coming out on top.”
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