Nov. 09--The White Sox insist they can still bring shortstop Alexei Ramirez back after declining his $10 million option last week.
"Essentially the decision that was made that day was that we weren't going to pay Alexei $10 million for 2016," general manager Rick Hahn said on the opening day of the general managers meetings. "We haven't closed the door on potentially bringing Alexei back. We served us extremely well for eight years in a While Sox uniform, and obviously middle infield is a position of interest for us going into the offseason.
"So we'll continue talking to his guy. Nothing has been shut for the future just yet."
Ramirez, who hit .249 with 10 home runs and 62 RBI, ranked last among qualifying shortstops with a -0.5 WAR, according to fangraphs.com. He was ninth in 2014, when he made the American League All-Star game, with a 3.1 WAR. Ramirez may not get $10 million on the free agent market, but he's likely to get a decent deal.
"I'm sure he will," Hahn said. "He's a proven commodity and you have a decent idea of what you're going to get moving forward. It's a fairly scarce position, so I'm sure his market will be strong."
The Cubs could be shopping Starlin Castro, and if so the Sox are likely to listen. The two teams seldom make big deals, but Hahn said they wouldn't hesitate to deal with the Cubs if it improved the team.
"It's probably the added wrinkle that if you're wrong you have to live with it eight miles away for each of us," he said. "But certainly the way we approach it and I'm confident (Cubs president Theo Epstein) and those guys approach it is if it makes your club stronger, you explore it."
Hahn added that "controllable young guys are always of interest to us." The Sox were one of the most active teams last winter, but Hahn said "ideally we're going to be adding pieces that are younger and more controllable for an extended period of time."
Castro is guaranteed $37 million through 2019, with a $16 million option for 2020.
While the door hasn't been closed on Ramirez, Hahn is likely turning the page on starter Jeff Samardzija, though the Sox extended him the $15.8 million qualify offer despite a subpar season. Samardzija's 4.96 earned-run-average was third-worst amongst qualifying starters.
"These things happen from time to time, a guy with a relatively solid proven track record occasionally has a year that ultimately when all is said and done looks like an aberration," Hahn said. "And that could well be what happens with Jeff. Obviously it's unfortunate it happened on our watch, and we all had high expectations, including Jeff himself. But in terms on the impact of him going forward or us going forward, I think it's relatively non-existent."
Samardzija is still expected to get a lucrative contract, and even the Cubs are interested in bringing him back.
As for Tyler Flowers, Hahn said "we can't cut off any avenues of getting better right now, and catcher is certainly not immune to that."
Hahn lauded Flowers' framing and said Sox starters like throwing to him.
"We enter this offseason looking at any way we can get better at any spot," Hahn said. "We don't feel we're in a position to say we're too good or too set at any spot, and that includes catcher."
Hahn declined to address reports that the hiring of former Cubs manager Rick Renteria as Robin Ventura's bench coach is imminent.
Renteria is likely to replace Mark Parent, who was fired near the end of the season.
