White Sox: Draft Position Will Force Organization to Pick A Lane

Picking A Lane

To this point I’ve described how Chicago’s draft position could inform their offseason, not necessarily how it will. As a third party observer, my own inclinations about the pick and overarching direction have wavered like a boat on choppy seas.

About the only thing my disposition is clear on, is what the White Sox absolutely cannot do. They cannot take the hybrid approach.

Hybrid is really a synonym for mediocrity and a team “mired in mediocrity” can only tread water for so long before it drowns. It’s easy to be cynical about an organization that has treated decisiveness like the plague, but a few encouraging signs have surfaced.

Here’s some more Hahn quotes courtesy of Scott Merkin’s piece:

"“There is no one within the organization who feels let’s just do exactly what we are doing right now and we are going to have better results,” Hahn said."

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the inherent definition of insanity, so it’s a low bar to expect the Sox will finally deviate from the status quo. I certainly expect them to.

The 2016 off-season is a crossroads like no other for the South Siders. For the first time in a while, it seems as though the brain trust has had honest conversations about what either full measure approach will look like.

"“But I do feel certainly the notion of, we’re going to go for it in the 2017 season, [it] is going to involve a level of economic commitment.”"

My interpretation of that is we’ll either see a big ticket free agent in a Sox jersey or a big ticket member of the current roster in another. Either of those things should be reassuring as a clear initiative far exceeds mundane roster toiling.

Next: White Sox Season Review: Grading the Starting Pitchers

An unprotected first round draft pick is just the igniter Chicago needs to finally set it on a clear path. The 2017 draft pick isn’t just about picking a new member of the franchise, but rather about picking a new lane entirely.