2018 will let White Sox know where rebuild stands

GLENDALE, Ariz. — So when will the White Sox be ready to contend?

Next season?

2020?

When the subject is brought up to general manager Rick Hahn, a suggestion that 2020 was his targeted year for the rebuild to come together seems to touch a nerve.

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“I never said that,” Hahn said. “I’ve been very careful never to put a date out there other than to say, in general, these things tend to take five years.’’

With significant assets to work with as a starting point, a five-year plan doesn’t pertain to the Sox, whose rebuild began in earnest before last season when Chris Sale and Adam Eaton were traded. It shifted into a higher gear when Jose Quintana was dealt last July. And when other veterans followed out the door, it was in full swing.

The haul for those players, which included Michael Kopech, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Dylan Cease, Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez, accelerated the timeline for everything to click in less than five years. Just how quickly it could happen, though, will come into clearer focus by the end of this season.

“We feel we’re on a good pace, but only after we get through this year, when we see the development and pace some of these guys are on, will we have a firmer sense about that timeline,’’ Hahn said. “But we continue to be optimistic about the pace we’re on. But I have not put a year on that — publicly.”

Hahn couldn’t help but laugh ending the sentence in that way because you know he has a year in mind.

It’s not this year, though. On paper, the 2018 Sox figure to improve on the 95-loss performance of 2017, but not by much. And if they don’t, that means a better draft pick in June 2019 (they pick fourth this year), so there’s a shiny silver lining there.

That’s a big reason why, even though the Sox signed catcher Welington Castillo to a two-year,

$15 million free-agent deal in the offseason, Hahn resisted any temptation to spend a little more on a free agent this spring. And there were bargains out there for the taking at reasonable prices.

“We explored via trade and a few free-agent [possibilities] along the way the opportunity for similar such deals as [Castillo],’’ Hahn said, “but at no point were we going to do anything that would strictly serve 2018, much less compromise our ability to compete and develop in the future.’’

And know this, it still gets in Hahn’s craw when the Sox lose. Rebuild or not.

“Nobody likes losing,’’ he said. “None of us [in the front office] likes losing. We get frustrated down here in Cactus League games, where it literally means nothing. If you sit there for three hours, you want to see a clean game that’s executed properly. Everyone is competitive and wants to win as much as possible.

“But I think people get where we’re at, why we’re where we’re at and where we’re headed. Unfortunately at times, losing is going to be a part of it.’’

As you might expect, the players are hearing none of what the so-called experts are saying about where the Sox will finish in the American League Central in 2018.

“I don’t pay attention to what people say, and I don’t believe what they’re saying right now because we have a very good group with a lot of talent,’’ first baseman Jose Abreu said. “We know what we can accomplish. If you fill your mind with positive thoughts, good things will happen.’’

Maybe sooner rather than later, as far as Castillo can tell.

“I was with the Cubs when they were rebuilding, and I see a lot of good stuff here,’’ Castillo said. “This organization is doing really good things with the prospects. There’s something special here. I don’t think it’s going to take a long time.’’

Follow me on Twitter @CST_soxvan.

Email: dvanschouwen@suntimes.com