‘Headed in right direction’
But GM Hahn admits Sox need to improve offensively, defensively
General manager Rick Hahn’s vision is formore than one championship. A disgruntled fan base will settle for one playoff appearance.
Even that seems like a tough nut to crack for a team that hasn’t played in the postseason since 2008. Only 11 of the 122 North American major pro sports teams are suffering through a longer drought.
The Sox won the American League Central in ’ 08, thanks to John Danks’ eight scoreless innings in the tiebreaking blackout game won 1-0 over the Twins. Danks calls it the highlight of his career, and he made a point of sharing it with his younger teammates as the season was sinking to another losing venture. Danks’ message? The postseason is what it’s all about, and the Sox need to get their great players — Chris Sale and Jose Abreu — to the playoffs.
“When we’re good, the support we get and just the excitement every day coming to the ballpark, being in contention and being in a position to go to the playoffs, it’s a blast,’’ Danks said. “Hopefully we can feel that next year. It’s definitely disappointing to be done in a couple of days.’’
For the Sox, the disappointment begins and ends in a division that has owned them since 2009. Their 4-3 walk-off win Saturday over the last-place Tigers improved their record in the AL Central to 226-289 during that stretch, their only winning season in the Central during that span coming in 2012 (37-35), manager Robin Ventura’s first year.
While the Sox (76-85) went for it last offseason with a number of splashy free-agent signings and a trade for Jeff Samardzija, Hahn tried to remind people that he’s still following a retreat-and-rebuild plan, albeit not a drastic one, that started two years ago.
“This really is an ongoing process that began in the middle of 2013, when we essentially bottomed out with that club,’’ Hahn said. “We were very clear that we needed to change our personnel and how we approached things.’’
Having Sale, Abreu, Adam Eaton and Jose Quintana locked up for several years, with Carlos Rodon quickly elevating toward their class, and patching up a bullpen are something to build on. But there’s a long way to go. “We have a lot of work ahead of us to continue that, and we did not meet our expectations,’’ Hahn said. “But we feel we’re headed in the right direction.
“We need to improve offensive- ly. We didn’t get on base enough, we didn’t hit enough home runs, especially when you consider this ballpark. Our defensive miscues, especially early on, were unacceptable. We’ve already taken some steps to tighten it up, and we expect to continue to do that into the offseason. Our baserunning mistakes are far, far too numerous and not the brand of baseball we want to play.’’
The Sox rank at or near the bottom in most key offensive categories and in defense. Which is a bigger need to address this offseason?
“You have to do both,’’ Ventura said. “Anytime you don’t do one or the other, it’s not good. Defense looks worse [for a team as a whole] when you don’t do it well. But if you can’t score, you’re not going to win games, either.’’
The Sox won on Leury Garcia’s RBI single that scored J.B. Shuck from second after Shuck drove in the tying run with a pinch double against Neftali Feliz.
Erik Johnson allowed two runs (Miguel Cabrera’s two-run homer) over 6„ innings. He received a nodecision but finished with a 3-1 record and 3.34 ERA in six starts.
Rookie Frankie Montas will make his second start in the season finale Sunday.