SAN DIEGO -- Rick Hahn and the White Sox chose a poolside venue for his meeting with the media Monday night at the Manchester Grand Hyatt on Day 1 of the 2019 Winter Meetings.

It was a chance for Hahn to leave his suite and get some fresh air before resuming conversations, focusing more on trade talk with other teams as opposed to free agency on this particular day. Here’s a look at four takeaways from Hahn’s session.

Present vs. championship future
First baseman Andrew Vaughn, second baseman Nick Madrigal and maybe even right-handed starters Dylan Cease and Reynaldo López stand as the organization’s biggest trade chips if outfielder Luis Robert, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 3 overall per MLB Pipeline, is deemed virtually untouchable. These four players also figure to be major parts of the White Sox extended contention window, which could open as soon as this season.

The balancing act for Hahn is improving for the present in a winnable American League Central while keeping an eye toward the four or five years down the line. So any trade involving these top talents, as an example, certainly would be for a controllable player in return.

“If we are trading a premium type prospect, it’s going to be for someone who will be here for a while,” Hahn said. “You want that benefit, that promised land side of things to come more quickly. At the same time, we have to keep in mind why we started this and that was to build something sustainable. You don’t want to do anything shortsighted that’s just going to trade-wise give us a quick bump next year but compromise the extended window we foresee coming.

“You need to be cognizant of that temptation to try to accelerate things. We want to get this to where it needs to be as quickly as possible. We don’t want to do that at the expense of shortening the window or making the window more difficult when it does open, whether that’s in the next few months or it takes a little longer.”

Wheeler reaction
A reporter mentioned to Hahn the media had not really talked to him since free agent right-hander Zack Wheeler chose the Phillies -- essentially over the White Sox -- last week.

“It’s a shame for you,” Hahn said with a wry smile. “I’ve been a treat to be around.”

Wheeler went with family considerations in his decision to stay East, choosing less money than the White Sox offer of $125 million over five years. While Hahn was disappointed as a competitor and as a general manager targeting Wheeler right behind catcher Yasmani Grandal in terms of offseason importance, he understood the decision.

“You have the right to choose whatever you want, whether it’s the most money, whether it’s a certain city, whether it’s something that makes your family happy,” Hahn said of free agency. “You have to respect that.

“That’s what these guys have fought for. Certainly, in the end, you can be individually disappointed, but you’ve got to understand what you are dealing with and know that’s fully possible.”

When asked if he thought the White Sox offer was good enough to get Wheeler, Hahn gave a direct response based on the hurler’s final choice.

“I’m not going to go too deep into how fine of an effort or how great of an offer or any of that stuff,” Hahn said. “You either get the guy or you don’t. When you don’t, you move on to the next one.”

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Ozuna and social media
A social-media report this past weekend had free agent outfielder Marcell Ozuna coming to the United States and signing with the White Sox on Monday. Hahn portrayed the rumor as the White Sox “being involved in something that we weren’t heavily involved in.”

He then went on to address doing business in the social-media age.

“You've heard me talk a bunch about Twitter and the world has changed, in terms of everyone with a Twitter account having potential credibility as a reporter,” Hahn said. “Obviously, from our standpoint, we try not to respond to each and every rumor that's out there.

“It would be a full-time job if we did, and we obviously don't want to criticize anyone's process who may for a living put stuff out there as part of their job. It's part of the world we live in now. We all have to deal with it, good, bad or indifferent.”

Winning the trades
It was about three years ago, on a Tuesday at the 2016 Winter Meetings, when the White Sox traded ace Chris Sale to Boston for a four-player return that included third baseman Yoán Moncada and right-hander Michael Kopech. They traded outfielder Adam Eaton to Washington the following day, bringing back right-handers Lucas Giolito, Dane Dunning and López.

Both Sale and Eaton contributed to each of the past two World Series titles. And while Hahn likes the White Sox return, he knows the only way to win their side of the trade is to win it all.

“We're certainly a lot closer to that today than we were three years ago when we made those trades on back-to-back days at the Winter Meetings, but we still have work to do,” Hahn said. “I'm not personally going to view those deals as a win from the White Sox perspective until we're also having parades in October.”