Former Sox star Rowand admires Eaton's hustle

GLENDALE, Ariz. - Since coming over in a December trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks, Adam Eaton has vowed to give it everything he has every time he is on the field for the White Sox.

Given the gung-ho attitude, along with his center field position, a comparison was easy to draw. Eaton appears to be the second coming of former fan favorite Aaron Rowand, a key member of the 2005 World Series championship team.

Now retired, Rowand dropped by White Sox training camp Friday with the Las Vegas-based youth travel baseball team he's coaching. He had a brief chat with Eaton, and Rowand also met the newcomer earlier in the off-season when he was at Camelback Ranch for a White Sox fantasy camp.

"Just watching him play, obviously there's a ton of talent there," Rowand said. "He goes about his work and plays the game the right way. He plays the game hard, the way it should be played. Having him be compared to me, if that's what people are doing, that's a great compliment about the way I went about my business. I think White Sox fans are going to be treated to be able to go out and watch that guy hustle his tail off every day."

Shipped out:

The Sox made three roster moves Friday, optioning infielder Carlos Sanchez and pitchers Nestor Molina and Frank De Los Santos to Class AAA Charlotte.

Sanchez was having a solid spring and he was leading the White Sox with a .538 batting average in exhibition play.

"Compared to last year, he came in here and you can see that he just knows how to play," manager Robin Ventura said. "A lot of the innings that we were in, he did a lot of nice things to kind of compliment that inning. Swinging the bat, playing defense, he played a lot of different positions in the infield, but I just think he's more mature as a player."

Sanchez, 21, was expected to make a run for a utility infield job last spring but he batted .120 and wound up spending the entire year with Charlotte.

He's heading back to Triple-A, but Sanchez could make his White Sox debut at some point during the upcoming season.

"He's a lot closer," Ventura said. "He's at the point now where he's just gotten better. When you see him on the field, he does a lot of things that we like."

Achy Abreu:

Jose Abreu played in Fridays 2-2 tie against the Indians and looked pretty good with a double while moving around first base with noticeable quickness.

Earlier in the week, the White Sox' new first baseman was bothered by two bad ankles.

"He's had some soreness," Robin Ventura said. "It's nothing right now that we're to be alarmed about. He had a couple of days there he took off but he's doing better. He's still running. About four or five days ago it looked like something was wrong. Now he looks better; he's running better. We just have to get the soreness out."

Weather woes:

While the weather in Arizona has been ideal for baseball all spring, Chicago is still trying to shake off one of the worst winters on record.

On Monday, ace groundskeeper Roger Bossard will be available to the media in regards to the field conditions at U.S. Cellular Field and the difficulties of getting it ready for the March 31 season opener against the Minnesota Twins.

Manager Robin Ventura heard there is a deep layer of frost that needs to be eliminated and he also said the warning tracks are in bad shape.

The Sox are tentatively scheduled to workout at the Cell on March 30, but Ventura doubts that will be possible.