Sox' Hudson stays focused on the moment

While trade rumors continue to fly in advance of Saturday afternoon's deadline, White Sox rookie starting pitcher Daniel Hudson is keeping his feet on the ground.

"It definitely feels good, you know, to be mentioned with all the big names that might be coming here," Hudson said. "It feels nice to know that other teams think highly of you and your talent, but I want to pitch in Chicago. Hopefully they know that, and hopefully I can do that."

There's been recent speculation that Washington Nationals first baseman Adam Dunn would cost the Sox Hudson and a minor-league prospect.

"Just go out there and do your job," Hudson said. "You can't control anything. If the front office feels like they need to make a move to help win a championship, they're going to do it. If I'm part of it, really, I can't control anything other than going out there and throwing the ball."

Hudson has made 3 starts for White Sox since coming up from Class AAA to take injured Jake Peavy's spot in the rotation.

The 23-year-old right-hander, who starts against Oakland on Friday, is 1-1 with a 6.32 ERA. Hudson has 14 strikeouts in 152/3 innings, but he's also walked 11.

"You've got to throw the ball over the plate, and I know that's one thing I haven't done well 2 of my last 3 starts," Hudson said. "I haven't thrown strikes, I haven't gotten ahead of guys and it's pretty easy to hit no matter what level you're at if you're up 2-0 every time. It's pretty difficult to pitch when you're down 2-0 every count. It's one of those things you have to push through."

Hudson also has two more days to deal with trade rumors.

"He should be proud," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "If your name is out there it means somebody wants you. That's all you can say. Players read papers, especially when they play under my direction. They want to know what I'm going to say about them. I made it very clear since the first day he got here about I'm pulling for him. I want him to part of this team.

"I want him to be the guy. He's got the chance. If he's pitching good, we'll keep him. If he continues to pitch good, we might trade him. That's the only thing you can do when your name is out there, play good for the team so they won't trade you or play good for the team that wants you."