After finishing with 99 losses in 2013, Hahn started his rebuild by acquiring one of Detroits top prospects, right fielder Avisail Garcia, and opening up some cap space by dealing Jake Peavy.

More big contracts including Alex Rios, Adam Dunn, and Paul Konerko were cleared from the books and the gears to Hahn’s plan were in motion.

The next steps consisted of signing the 2014 AL ROY Jose Abreu and trading for prototypical leadoff man and center fielder Adam Eaton.

Expectations for the 2014 season were not high, as it was seen as just a stepping-stone for bigger things to come. Though young and exciting, the ’14 squad was also a frustrating group to watch thanks to a bullpen that was not invested in and a couple key injuries to guys like Nate Jones and Matt Lindstrom which left manager Robin Ventura with slim pickings.

Those injuries, however, forced youngsters like Jake Petricka, 26, and Zach Putnam, 27, to pick up the slack which they did… and then some. Petricka finished the year with a 2.96 ERA and 14 saves in 18 opportunities while Putnam was the proud owner of a 1.98 ERA in 54.2 IP.

Although they finished with 89 losses, the MVP caliber season from Abreu, another CY Young worthy performance from Sale, the continued progression of hurler Jose Quintana, the emergence of Conor Gillaspie at third base, the presence of a real leadoff man for the first time since Scott Podsednik in Adam Eaton, combined with an All-Star season from maybe the best SS in the AL, Alexei Ramirez, gave Hahn and the White Sox the feeling that they were closer to contending than people realized.

This confidence, along with the owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s willingness break the piggy bank, allowed the Sox to tackle some big necessities. Hahn’s shopping list was made up of a Right handed starter to slot between Sale and Quintana, a lefty power bat, left fielder, and a bullpen renovation.

Hahn wasted no time getting started, and signed 1b/DH Adam LaRoche in late November. Not only will his bat take some pressure off Abreu, the Gold-Glover will also be able to spell Abreu at first when needed.

The 35 year old batted .259 with 26 long ones, 92 driven in, and a .362 OBP in 2014 with the Nationals and will bring a nice veteran presence to the clubhouse after the retirement of Paul Konerko.

Lefty power bat? Check.

The LaRoche signing was just the beginning. Next to bolster a rotation that had two great pieces in place with Sale and Quintana but fell off from there. Hahn worked his magic once again and without giving up any major prospects acquired Jeff Samardzija. Now with a three-headed monster at the top of the rotation and the possible call up of Carlos Rodon who is said to be the best lefty drafted since David Price the Sox rotation is looking “Very nice. Very nice.”

Right-handed starter? Check.

Next was the bullpen. Disastrous in 2014, the Sox ranked last in nearly every category and blew 21 saves. So what does Rick Hahn do? He goes and brings in Zach Duke, a lefty specialist who had the best season of his career last year and then on the same night he gets Samardzija he shocks everyone and signs David Robertson.

David Robertson is the guy who was given the task of replacing the greatest closer of all-time, Mariano Rivera, in the dog-eat-dog city of New York. None of this seemed to faze Robertson as he posted a 3.08 ERA and converted 39 of his 44 save attempts.

With those two additions, the signing of Dan Jennings from Miami, the emergence of Putnam and Petricka, and the possible return to dominance of Jesse Crain, who signed with the team in January, and Nate Jones, a once depleted Pale-Hose bullpen now looks fairly deep and reliable

Bullpen help? Check.

Last was the gaping whole in left field. Another position where the Sox had been experimenting for a while. The platoon of Alejandro De Aza and Dayan Viciedo surely hadn’t been the answer a year prior as the Sox ended up DFA’ing De Aza towards the end of ’14 and Viciedo this offseason.

The aggressive moves Hahn made early had paid off and caught the attention of Melky Cabrera as he turned down a four year offer from an unannounced team to accept the White Sox three-year $42 million contract.

Left Fielder? Check.

With all those moves including the constructing of a super bench with utility man Emilio Bonifacio, defensive specialist Gordon Beckham, and a dependable backup at catcher in Geovany Soto the Sox are sitting in the catbird seat.

As Detroit’s championship window closes and after the Royals failed to make any moves of big impact this offseason, and the Indians being, well, the Indians, it’s time for the Hahn Dynasty to start conquering the Central.

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The Bulls are Barrymore, a team that has no identity and has to constantly be reminded by Adam Sandler, or in this case head coach Tom Thibodeau, of who they are: a title contender.

Up to this point however, coach Thibs hasn’t been as successful as he’d like to be. In the past the Bulls have been the hard-nosed defensive team that wore teams down and fought until the end.

That killer instinct has faded many times this season as they are giving up 99.1 points to opponents and the only consistency we’ve seen from them as a unit is their inconsistency. One night they’re beating the feared Golden State Warriors on the road in double overtime and the next they’re falling apart against a lowly, Kobe-less Lakers squad.

Some may argue it’s the injuries as the Bulls have gone through stints, some short some long, missing guys like Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Mike Dunleavy, Jimmy Butler and the list goes on. In fact, they’ve only had their starting five together for 20 games this season.

Yet, even when healthy the Bulls seem to lack the killer instinct and toughness that had propelled them through playoff runs as underdogs in the past. Nazr Mohammed disagrees however and thinks grittiness is still there, “We got us a dog. We got us a couple of dogs…There’s nothing in particular that we need. It’s more of us not having focus and desperation, along with the understanding of what it really takes to win a championship.”

We have seen Tony Snell step up as of late and Derrick Rose continues to show more and more flashes of his glory days. Noah has been on the ups and Pau Gasol continues to have what may be the best year of his career. First time all-star Jimmy Butler has been a treat to watch besides a slump in January and Aaron Brooks is the latest piece of evidence that proves any decent point guard can succeed in Thibs’ system.

So fine, maybe they do have some “dogs” but what’s scary is that Mohammed mentioned the Bulls not having focus. With only 28 games left in the season the Bulls must get focused immediately if they’re serious about bringing a title back to the Windy City.

Finishing the first half on a four game winning streak with a huge win against division rival Cleveland, who had stolen the first two of the season series prior to that Bulls 113-98 victory, was a very necessary step in the right direction.

Now well rested after the all-star break and seemingly healthy the Bulls will have to put it all together in the final months. They start the last stretch on Friday at Detroit before heading home for a big seven game home stand.

The pieces are in place to succeed. If they really want this all they need to do is focus.

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The south siders have been bashed for years in regards to their lack of talent in the minor leagues and had been given the tag of an old, slow team. In his second year as GM, however, Rick Hahn has injected a once old White Sox squad with young and exciting talent.

The White Sox, currently 72-86, have nine more wins than last season with four games remaining. The additions of Adam Eaton and, and Cuban-slugger Jose Abreu have been a huge boost to an offense that struggled to do virtually everything last season. Abreu has stolen the spotlight during his remarkable rookie season with a slash line of .318/.384/.587 to go along with his 35 bombs and 105 RBIs, and oh, did I mention he missed 15 games? Abreu bat gives the White Sox a Miguel Cabrera-like presence in the middle of their lineup that can wreak havoc for years to come.

As crazy as it sounds, Abreu’s numbers have a chance of improving next year when he will have the luxury of Avisail Garcia, 23, batting behind him the lineup. Garcia missed most of this season after suffering a torn labrum, but has shown in the past the possibility of being a five-tool player.

At the top of the lineup, Adam Eaton has lived up to all of the off-season hype after the Sox felt confident enough to deal their 25 year old 40 save closer, Addison Reed. Eaton’s ability to get on base set the table for the White Sox all season long, and it was very noticeable that the Pale Hose offense had trouble scoring runs when he was out of the lineup. Eaton’s ability to work the count and make pitchers throw pitches has made him the epitome of what the White Sox want to see at the leadoff position.

Here’s a look at some key offensive stats of Sox players who will be returning next season.

*= Only played in 44 games

With only 46 million committed to the 2015 payroll the White Sox have a lot of spending money and the arrival of rookie Carlos Rodon will give them three top of the line starters in Sale, Quintana, and Rodon. Sure, it’s a little early to consider Rodon a top of the line starter when he hasn’t thrown a pitch yet, but the kid who has been called “the best left hander drafted since David Price” has lived up to the expectations so far in the minors.

Rodon streaked through single and double A ball, and in his second triple A start he fanned eight over four innings while giving up one run on one hit. If the Sox can land a solid number two in free agency and let Danks and Noesi battle for the fifth spot, they would have one of the better rotations in baseball.

The rest of that spending money could then be used to fix a bullpen that was not invested in for this season and to add an additional bat to the lineup. With an MVP candidate in Abreu, a CY Young candidate in Sale, and an exceptional leadoff hitter in Adam Eaton, the pieces are certainly falling into place for the South Siders to make some noise in ’15.

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Rose was helped off and put no pressure on his right leg. We have since learned that Rose’s injury is a medial meniscus tear, and while not as a serious as an ACL tear, it’s still a major setback not only on Rose’s game, but on his confidence.

Rose’s confidence is the reason he missed the entire 12-13 season , one that many thought he should have returned in. Now needing surgery, a process that should require around 3 months of healing, the Bulls are left waiting for another return. It was tough to say if Rose would ever be the same after ACL surgery and now that crystal ball just got even foggier.

What makes this injury harder to swallow than the last one is the fact that there is nowhere to place the blame. Coach Tom Thibodeau received most of the blame for playing Rose too much when he tore his ACL during a first round playoff game in which the Bulls were blowing out the Sixers with under 1:30 left to play. This time however, it was in the third quarter, on a routine play, in a game that the Bulls ended up losing by three. At this point, there’s not much left to do but wait…again.

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Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it’s also the official return of Derrick Rose and the Heat are receiving their NBA Finals Championship rings. Here’s a quick preview of the contest:

The Bulls will return three of their five starters (Deng, Noah, Boozer) and add the to it the improved explosiveness of Derrick Rose and the suffocating defense of Jimmy Butler who matured greatly in a sixth man role last season. While the Bulls did lose  Italian sharp-shooter Marco Belinelli, they quickly filled his spot with veteran Mike Dunleavy to work around the perimeter, not to mention Rose’s improved range. Marquis Teague, who looked very good in summer league and the preseason, will see an increase in minutes. Taj Gibson (my prediction for 6th man of the year) added 15 pounds of muscle, and looks to have a major contribution this year, especially if Joakim Noah’s groin irritates him.

On the Miami front things will look pretty much the same as they have ever since the “Big Three” joined forces. A returning starting five of James, Wade, Bosh, Haslem, and Chalmers will have all of their key backups returning this season along with three key additions. Michael Beasley, former number two overall pick for the Heat (behind Rose), returns to South Beach after a couple very average seasons in Minnesota and Phoenix. Along with Beasley are newcomers Roger Mason Jr. and Greg Oden. Mason Jr. hasn’t really been relevant since having a solid year with San Antonio in ’09. As for Oden? He hasn’t  been relevant since 2009 either after having multiple knee issues.
Overall, this matchup will be what it always is: The Chicago Bulls vs Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. I do expect to see Norris Cole have a breakout season, but not so much in this game. My prediction: Bulls win 98-90.

Key Additions
Bulls: Mike Dunleavy, Derrick Rose (technically)
Heat: Michael Beasley, Greg Oden, Roger Mason Jr.

Key Losses
Bulls: Nate Robinson, Marco Belinelli, Assistant Coach Ron Adams
Heat: None

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