The White Sox seem to be contemplating trading Chris Sale as part of a tear down. Rick Hahn spoke about the possibility:

“But we aren’t going to continue to take half-measures, so to speak, in order to hopefully, in some instances, catch lightning in a bottle or catch some upside here on a short-term basis in order to win,” Hahn said last week. “We want to put ourselves in the best and firmest position to win on a sustainable basis going forward. If that requires a longer term view or perhaps some short-term hardships along the way, we realize it’s going to be for the greater good.”

Teams can rebuild fairly quickly, it doesn’t need to take five years, provided you trade for the right pieces. The Yankees tried to tear down last season and wound up in a division race. I’m not sure I agree with the Braves interest in Sale, however:

The Braves will be opening a new ballpark in 2017 and they have already made two big win-now moves in adding veteran pitchers Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey in the last week. And the Braves have a ton of young talent, starting with center fielders Ender Inciarte and Mallex Smith.

Atlanta also has a stockpile of young pitching prospects, including Aaron Blair, Matt Wisler, Sean Newcomb, Kolby Allard, Ian Anderson, Mike Soroka, Toussaint and Max Fried.

I did not see the graying of the rotation as a win-now move, more of a way to put two inning eaters in the rotation until the youngsters are ready. If the Braves do trade for Sale, it should be a long term move where they extend his contract so he can serve as the anchor as the youngsters work their way into the majors, not a win now move. Of course, if they Braves do win this season, it will be another example of how quickly a team can rebuild.