White Sox have needs for winter meetings, but no signs

The winter meetings don't often result in signings or trades for the White Sox, at least during the same week. Last year, I recapped Kenny Williams' history at the winter meetings in advance of the proceedings in Dallas, and he carried a three-year drought of moves into the meetings before the Sergio Santos-Nestor Molina swap that caught everybody by surprise.

That said, Williams usually had a couple of big moves under his belt by early December. Rick Hahn has tied up loose ends with incumbent players like Jake Peavy, Gavin Floyd and Dewayne Wise, but he has yet to add outside talent of any significance.

So White Sox fans look to this week with the hopes that some questions will be answered, but Hahn isn't tipping his hand in any direction. As Daryl Van Schouwen writes:

‘‘There is no expectation that anything specific is going to happen,’’ Hahn said. ‘‘We’ll continue to have the same conversations we’ve been having with clubs and agents. There is nothing magical there in Nashville that something has to happen.’’

Yawn?

Not so fast. Hahn added something could happen before or shortly after. And keep in mind, he’s the same guy who said re-signing Jake Peavy ‘‘would be a tough one’’ a few days before he got the job done and signed Peavy to two more years with an option for a third.

Van Schouwen says that he doesn't expect the Sox to be any less aggressive than usual. Mark Gonzales has a different impression:

Williams' repeated phrases of "championship players" and "pieces" when referring to potential acquisitions have been replaced by Hahn's emphasis on "value" and "resources."

Entering his first December session as the Sox's general manager, Hahn sounds as if he doesn't need to make the kind of splash that his predecessor was known for executing during his 12 seasons as the Sox's GM.

Then again, those splashes seldom took place at the winter meetings. Instead, White Sox fans had to settle for this:

This year's fountain is going to present a little more of a challenge.

The Rays are getting an early start on the proceedings by nearing an agreement with James Loney, so let's hope this week provides a little more action. If you see something, say something.