I get the significance of having a solid core like Sale, Quintana and Eaton, but it’s worthless if you can not surround them with better pieces. The longer you wait to trade Sale, the less value he has. They have been ‘going for it’ for three years and to use Rick Hahn’s term, they are mired in mediocrity.

Yes, last year would have been the year to strike in the FA class for a Fowler or Zobrist. I have no interest in signing Encarnacion or Bautista. Nor should they get involved with Wieters or Reddick. The first two are too old and are likely to break down, the other two are mediocre. Could they trade for worthwhile pieces? Sure, but do they really have the depth to do that? I don’t think so.

Rebuilding is not a preference as much as it is the best option. Also, if the trades are down correctly (a big if, I know) they could be relevant again within a couple of years. The Sox are unique in the sense they have significant chips to trade to rebuild quickly. For me, that would be when you strike in FA, after obtaining guys with 5, 6 or 7 years of control.

My parents would vacation in Sarasota, FL almost every winter and it was within a short distance of the White Sox spring training (Payne Park and then Ed Smith). I loved the access Spring Training allows and fell in love with the team and been with them ever since. How did you become a fan?

I also disagree that the Astros used free agents to supplement their core. Doug Fister and Scott Feldman hardly count as meaningful investment in the team.

And while it’s fine to talk about competing for sustained success, they are currently positioned to compete for at least 2017 and sacrificed the future to do so (e.g. Robertson, Melky draft picks). There is nothing stopping you from playing the hand you currently have, and if you fall out of it in 2017 to sell at the deadline anyway.

I’m not sure to whom you’re referring with regard to the lower levels of the farm system being stronger. Are you that sold on like, Alec Hansen already? That’s enough for you to punt on multiple years of cheap Sale-Quintana-Eaton? Really? Even if you sell there’s a low probability you wind up with a good, cheap core like you have now, so you’re basically rolling the dice that you will be maybe as well-situated as you are now. That’s a pretty lame reward for committing to 95+ loss seasons for several years.

And yes, the ’17 FA class is underwhelming, which is part of why I was yelling to anybody who would listen that their chance to strike was last winter. The thing is, this team doesn’t need huge FAs at this point (although that would help). They just need to actually evaluate players correctly and add mid-to-low level FAs to patch the black holes remaining on the roster.

Other than my family, I think I knew one other White Sox fan in Connecticut. How did you come by your fandom?

BTW, I am a lifelong Connecticut resident and White Sox fan. Definitely a unique combination!

But my free advice is probably worth what you paid for it.

The problem is they all sucked. And they sucked worse than the hole-fillers they already had in Charlotte (and lower, in the case of Narvaez).

If Jackson and Lawrie hadn’t got hurt, they likely would have finished 10 games under .500 instead of 6. Including defense (and you should) Avi Garcia actually performed better than Jackson and Schuck, Saladino and Sanchez played better than Lawrie and Rollins.

The last decade of results indicate that Williams/Hahn are incapable of building around a core. In that sense, to rebuild or not to rebuild really isn’t the question. I’m just hoping Hostetler continues with better drafts than his predecessors.