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The Bernstein Brief: White Sox Keep Plugging Away

By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist

(CBS) Perhaps it's because their actively involved owner is about to turn 80 or because they're stuck trying to please a small and fussy fanbase, but the White Sox keep trying to try.

Dealing three of their top 15 prospects for a veteran third baseman Wednesday is just the latest effort to stay competitive, with Todd Frazier joining last year's cast of mercenaries in yet another attempt at relevance in the now. The White Sox hope to avoid wasting all of the best years of  top pitchers Chris Sale and Jose Quintana.

With no high-impact position players in the pipeline, general manager Rick Hahn is using what he has to prop up the everyday lineup into something at least competent -- unlike that of 2015, which was an embarrassment at both run scoring and run prevention.

The White Sox will expect some regression to career norms across the board that suggests at least a dead-cat-bounce, and they'll bet again on enough good luck and starting pitching to outperform larger trends and surprise people. Whether that brings consumers to the park, they have no idea.

But it's what they do. The White Sox don't seem to have the time or patience for anything else.

Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter  @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.

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