MLB: Assessing the AL Central GMs at the midway point

Chicago White Sox, Rick Hahn, +6.2 games.

The White Sox entered play Friday with a five-game advantage over Cleveland in the AL Central race, and Hahn gets a lot of the credit for it.

Although Chicago was a popular, if not consensus, preseason choice to reach the MLB postseason, that popularity was to a significant degree built on players who have delivered little or nothing in 2021. Eloy Jimenez, seen as a star-in-the-making in the outfield, has not played an inning due to injuries.

The injury bug has also sidelined second-year outfielder Luis Robert for much of the year. Second baseman Nick Madrigal is also out for the rest of the season with an injury.

That these problems have not slowed down the Sox is a testament to the work Hahn did over the winter. Here’s a recap of his most significant moves along with the values (expressed in Wins Above Average) of those moves:

• Traded for starter Lance Lynn (+1.9) from Texas in exchange for pitching prospect Dane Dunning (+0.4) and a minor leaguer. Net gain: +1.5 games.
• Signed free agent closer Liam Hendriks (+0.6).
• Released and then re-signed starter Carlos Rodon (+2.4) to a one-year, $3 million deal. As a fourth-year arbitration eligible, Rodon probably would have cost more than that had Chicago not risked losing him on the open market, and that gamble paid off when Rodon accepted Hahn’s proposal to come back at what was very likely to be a lower salary.
• Saw rookie starter Michael Kopech (+0.9) blossom in his return from arm surgery.

The mid-term report has Chicago more than six games better off so far in 2021 than the Sox would have been without Hahn’s various personnel moves.