Hahn eager to get top three Draft picks in the fold

CHICAGO -- For most observers, the White Sox getting left-hander Carlos Rodon with the third overall pick was the focal point of the team's First-Year Player Draft selections.

But general manager Rick Hahn, in his first public comments regarding the Draft on Monday, preferred to focus on his team's first three picks, which also include Spencer Adams, a high school right-hander from Georgia, and Oregon State University left-hander Jace Fry.

"Taking Carlos in the first round, we get a high-ceiling, close-to-the-Majors, potential front-end piece to fit in with this rebuilding plan that we have going on now," Hahn said.

"But behind him, in being able to get Spencer Adams in the second round -- a high-ceiling high school kid, who a lot of people thought would be gone in the first round -- was a nice follow-up. The kid, Fry, we took in the third was the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year and is a polished left-handed starter who potentially could come quick as well.

"There's a lot of other guys of note that we were pleased to get, but I think those first three really set a great tone there."

There's already speculation that Rodon could follow the path of Chris Sale in 2010 and make it to the Majors quickly.

"Obviously, we were a beneficiary of that and Chris was a beneficiary of that, but that's really a special situation," Hahn said. "You don't see that too often, a player making his Major League debut the same year he was drafted, much less having an impact and going on with his career without ever returning to the Minors.

"That's pretty atypical, but if there was one player in this Draft that potentially had the ability to do that, it would probably be Carlos Rodon.

"But until we get the player on campus and in our system and understand truly where he's at and how he's feeling, how quickly he is to take to the professional lifestyle, I don't think it's fair to put any time frame on his arrival."

There's already been speculation that signing Rodon won't be easy because he is represented by agent Scott Boras.

"Look, in reality, we have a history with Scott, a positive history with Scott," Hahn said. "He had Joe Crede, he's got [Dayan] Viciedo, [and] we had Andruw Jones here. A fair amount of this concern, or discussion on how this could be difficult, I think is unnecessary and really not significant to us determining what's going to happen here.

"This will be the last time I discuss any negotiations until we get to the point where Carlos is ready to sign and start his professional career or has elected to go down a different path. But as we enter into this, we intend to be aggressive, be fair and make an offer that, hopefully, convinces him it's time to begin his professional career."