Rick Hahn & Co. picked a lane and stuck to it, and despite an already impressive prospect haul in the deals that sent away Chris Sale and Adam Eaton, there are likely still a number of chips to fall before the Sox roster bottoms out completely, something Hahn alluded to during SoxFest.

“We feel very pleased with our initial returns in our first few efforts on this with the Chris Sale trade and the Adam Eaton trade,” Hahn said. “I said at the time at the Eaton press conference that if we had our druthers we’d knock off four more of these things in the coming weeks. Obviously that hasn’t happened.”

If and when Jose Quintana, Todd Frazier, Melky Cabrera or others are sent elsewhere is impossible to predict, but with two weeks until camp opens and two months until Opening Day, it’s increasingly likely this is the team the White Sox open the season with.

The guys talked on Monday’s episode of The Catbird Speaks about how one of Rick Renteria’s challenges this season will be weighing playing time between guys who need it and guys who are just roster filler. This is a challenge for any rebuilding team — trying to focus on longterm goals against the chance of winning that day’s game — but it shouldn’t be as hefty of a challenge with this season’s roster as currently constructed.

At nearly every position, the White Sox will employ one of three types of player:

A) a veteran who could be used as a trade chip at some point in the near future,

B) someone with a legitimate chance of being a player on the next White Sox contender,

C) someone more than likely bad but young and intriguing enough to have a non-zero chance at being in Category B.

Category A includes the usual veteran suspects: Frazier, Cabrera, Quintana, Jose Abreu, Derek Holland, Brett Lawrie, Miguel Gonzalez, David Robertson, Nate Jones, essentially every other reliever.

Category B is basically just Tim Anderson and Carlos Rodon.

Category C includes the likes of Charlie Tilson, Omar Narvaez, and maybe a few others you could talk me into.

The main exception, as you’ve probably already shouted at your computer screen, is James Shields, whom the White Sox still owe $22 million over the next two seasons and, barring a minor miracle, is immovable. But even then, after 2017, which will be a lost year anyway, it’s down to just $12 million and low enough that it wouldn’t be inconceivable to just pay him to go away if things stay terrible.

The point of all of this is to say there are worse ways to construct a rebuilding team. The White Sox have given the impression that they’ll be patient with their new haul of prospects, but even if Lucas Giolito or someone else forces their hand into promotion sooner than expected, there isn’t a lot of dead money holding them back.

It’s not often we’ve been able to praise the White Sox roster construction in this space. In the aforementioned podcast, it was once again rehashed that the reason the White Sox are in this place to begin with is that they went into the 2016 season relying on the likes of Jerry Sands, Austin Jackson, J.B. Shuck and Justin Morneau to provide value instead of spending on the robust free agent market that offseason.

But while the 2017 season is likely just the start of some really ugly baseball for the foreseeable future, there are certainly worse ways to start a rebuild than with the roster the White Sox will have on their hands.

James Fegan contributed to this article.

Lead Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Hahn’s statements throughout the weekend, both to reporters and fans, seem candid as he addressed the long-term goals for the White Sox after trading away both their best pitcher and position player for gaggles of prospects.

“There’s still going to be entertaining elements of the 2017 season, even if it doesn’t wind up that we’re competing. But I do feel it’s important for us to be as transparent as we can be about what we’re trying to accomplish and the timeline it may well take.”

There’s really no urgency, there’s no deadline, there’s no financial pressure to make a move. The only reason to be motivated to make a move is based upon receiving what we feel is appropriate value and helps advance what we’re trying to accomplish over the long term.”

Taking these quotes at face value, this is a refreshing take. Acknowledging that this will be the first year in recent history in which the White Sox don’t expect to compete isn’t a necessary proclamation — nobody would have blamed Hahn if he got up on stage and said he thought the White Sox could compete for a playoff spot, particularly at an event designed to build fan morale ahead of the season (and he did sprinke in some of that) — but it does exude the confidence of a general manager and organization comfortable with where they’re at and ready for this drastic change.

Still, words are just words, and as the months and years go by, losses pile up, attendance numbers dwindle, and the hot shots in the minors progress, the pressure will be there to expedite the rebuild if the opportunity presents itself.

The White Sox should resist these temptations.

This is not a blanket statement, of course. Nobody knows the timeline for when the White Sox will be competitive again. But whatever individual plans they have for their future — the progressional expectations of the likes of Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, and Lucas Giolito — the financial decision making, whether or not they ever actually intend on splurging in free agency, should be followed to fruition.

Hahn’s ability to do this — and honestly, I’m less concerned with him than with his being ordered from above — is integral in not only the White Sox ability to eventually break their playoff drought, but build a consistent winner and year-after-year playoff and championship contender.

For the first time in a long while, the White Sox seem to have a plan. No more half-assed attempts to contend, no more impatient acquisitions despite an inability to supplement their core with adequate players. But the next step is following through.

Patience is required for any fan base going through a rebuild, but it’s just as important for the front office executing it. Only time will tell how much the White Sox have.

Lead Photo Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports