White Sox GM Rick Hahn shouldn't be counting on guys on 1-year deals

Adam Eaton

It's no secret that I'm not a fan of White Sox GM Rick Hahn. I think he's replacement level, and I've never understood the irrational love he receives from some segments of the fan base.

I don't think his track record in free agent signings is good, and a lot of that stems from the massive failures we've seen the Sox have over the past six or seven years shopping at the bottom of the market.

And by the bottom of the market, I mean guys who are signing one-year deals. The latest Sox signing, Adam Eaton, comes on a one-year deal and is being sold to fans as a right field solution for a "World Series or bust" season.

Color me skeptical. Kudos to Jim Margalus over at Sox Machine for putting together a list of previous Hahn one-year contracts. It's every bit as bad as you think it is. Let's take a look at some of these names, and the WAR of those players:

2014:

• Felipe Paulino, 0 WAR
• Scott Downs, -0.5 WAR
• Ronald Belisario, -1.5 WAR

2015:

• Geovany Soto, 1.0 WAR
• Emilio Bonifacio, -0.8 WAR
• Gordon Beckham, 0.7 WAR

2016:

• Dioner Navarro, -0.7 WAR
• Alex Avila, 0.3 WAR
• Austin Jackson, -0.1 WAR
• Jimmy Rollins, -0.1 WAR
• Mat Latos, 0.4 WAR 

2017:

• Derek Holland, -1.6 WAR

2018:

• Miguel Gonzalez, -0.7 WAR
• Hector Santiago, 0.7 WAR 

2019:

• Jon Jay, -0.8 WAR
• James McCann, 1.0 WAR
• Ervin Santana, -0.4 WAR

2020:

• Gio Gonzalez, -0.3 WAR
• Edwin Encarnacion, -0.5 WAR
• Steve Cishek, -0.2 WAR

As Margalus notes, that's a total of -4.1 WAR for players that the Sox invested a total of $78.25 million in. Take out the two successes -- McCann and to a lesser extent Soto -- and it's $74.25 million invested for a -6.1 WAR.

So, you can understand the skepticism whenever the Sox sign a one-year stopgap. I'm a fair man, so let me say this: There's a lot of below-average or bad players on this list who were brought on with low expectations. Some of these signings were made to fill gaps in rebuilding seasons.

You can make an argument -- and a good argument -- that a lot of these players were available on one-year deals for a reason. 

That being said, I can retort by saying that Eaton is available on a one-year deal for a reason. He's 32 years old. He's often injured. He's been injured three of the past four seasons, in fact, and he's coming off a down year. His best years were from 2014 to 2016 with the Sox, and he hasn't been the same player since.

These kinds of "take a flyer" signings were fine during a tanking period, but this isn't rebuilding anymore. By the Sox's own words, this is time to win a championship.

So why is the front office still aiming low in free agency? Just asking.

C'mon, Hahn. C'mon, Jerry Reinsdorf. Step up, prove me wrong and sign a difference-making free agent. There are good fits out there.