After signing Melky Cabrera to a three-year, $42 million after the 2014 season, the White Sox held a joint press conference featuring Cabrera, David Robertson and Jeff Samardzija.
Those three new players, along with first baseman Adam LaRoche, were greeted as a sign the Sox were going for it again after an 89-loss season.
General manager Rick Hahn was widely lauded for the offseason moves, and began the press conference by saying: "So, how was your week?"
Hahn explained that vice president Ken Williams and Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf wanted to contend immediately, and the flurry of offseason moves would do just that.
"Kenny spoke earlier in this offseason about getting us back into a position where fans could dream again," he said.
All four of the key players from the Class of 2015 are gone, with Cabrera's departure on Sunday marking the end of an era.
The dream is over.
Long live the rebuild.
Hahn couldn't get much for Cabrera, sending him off to the Royals, a division rival, for two low-level prospects, including pitcher A.J. Puckett, who was ranked 13th in the Kansas City organization by mlb.com.
The Sox also had to pay part of Cabrera's remaining salary, which suggests the market for his services was weak, despite his solid bat.
The Melky Era will be remember as one of great promise and little success. They overpaid to sign the former PED user, knowing he carried the stigma from his drug suspension in 2012 with the Giants.
Hahn said Cabrera had shown "remorse" and deserved a shot at redemption, and Cabrera got that on the South Side. Hahn praised him on Sunday for being a "great ambassador" for the game.
After the Cabrera signing, Hahn said Reinsdorf "smelled it and he wanted to get it done." Robertson was handed a four-year deal despite having only closed for one season with the Yankees. Samardzija had been acquired from the A's in a deal for prospects, including shortstop Marcus Semien, giving the Sox a quality top end of the rotation along with Chris Sale and Jose Quintana.
Cabrera got off to a rough start in 2015 and the season eventually turned into a nightmare. He put up decent numbers for losing teams all three years, and his .287 average over 2 { season with the Sox was what you'd expect from a .286 career hitter.
Cabrera also delivered 39 home runs and drove in 219 runs, and smashed a guitar while batting in a TV promotion for Country Music Night.
The Royals know what they're getting. They had Cabrera in 2011 when he put up solid numbers before being dealt to the Giants. Cabrera was hitting .346 the next year in San Francisco before the steroid suspension on Aug. 15, 2012, right in the middle of a pennant race.
He still received a World Series ring, and a two-year, $16 million deal from the Blue Jays the next offseason.
Crime paid after all.
The dumping of Cabrera on Sunday was not a shocker, though he said he liked it here and wanted to stay. No one ever leaves and says they didn't like it in Chicago, except perhaps for LaTroy Hawkins.
The trade leaves Jose Abreu as the only remaining Sox star from that '15 team. It's doubtful he'll be traded since he's the mentor of fellow Cubans Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert, though Abreu obviously is a more valuable piece than Cabrera.
The Sox players will miss Cabrera in the clubhouse, and his dugout antics, such as climbing on the backs of his teammates, were always fun to watch.
On the flip side, Cabrera didn't always hustle, and just last week in Kansas City turned an easy double off the wall into a single because he thought it was a home run and didn't bother to run. Sox radio analyst Darrin Jackson called Cabrera out for the loafing during the broadcast, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Cabrera was setting a bad example for the younger players, but since he was so well-liked, they shrugged it off.
No one could be mad at Melky, who just wanted to have fun.
