Williams would love to shut down rumor mill
NASHVILLE -- If there is a leak in the White Sox' front office, general manager Kenny Williams is going to try to smoke it out.
Otherwise, Williams is going to have to deal with the "deep throat'' issue that is prevalent around major-league baseball.
The Sox' cause is not being helped this off-season by "sources'' leaking information about their interest in players like Miguel Cabrera, who was traded from the Marlins to the Tigers on Tuesday, and free-agent center fielder Torii Hunter, who signed with the Angels.
"There are too many executives in major-league baseball offices that have loose lips,'' Williams said. "If they didn't have loose lips then you guys wouldn't know about it and the rumors wouldn't get out. Of course they affect how you do business, and if you're able to do business. It's a lot easier to do business when you don't have to deal with the public debate.''
All in the family: The White Sox are one of the few teams in baseball that have open lines of communication between the general manager, Kenny Williams, and key players like Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko, Jim Thome and Mark Buehrle.
Dye called Williams on Tuesday after hearing Miguel Cabrera was traded to the AL Central rival Tigers.
"They're not upset at all,'' Williams said of Sox players' reaction to Detroit's monster deal. "I keep in contact with my players. It's well known that if I am after a guy, I solicit my scouts' opinions, some of our core players' opinions, people in the office that may have an insight to a particular player.''
Show of strength: After trading veteran starter Jon Garland to the Angels for shortstop Orlando Cabrera, the White Sox head into the 2008 season with youngsters John Danks and Gavin Floyd expected to fill the final two spots in the rotation.
Kenny Williams said he's more than comfortable giving the ball to Danks and Floyd.
As a rookie last season, Danks was 6-13 with a 5.50 ERA. The left-hander was 0-7 with a 7.01 ERA over his final 9 appearances and he didn't pitch after Sept. 11.
Floyd, who split the season between the White Sox and Class AAA Charlotte, was 1-5 with a 5.27 ERA in 16 games (10 starts) with the Sox.
"They're in the back end of the rotation now, but in 29 other rooms around the building right here these are two guys that everyone would want,'' Williams said. "Most people in the industry view them as top-of-the-rotation guys. Our pitching is not going to be a problem this year. We'll be fine in that area.''
Gio Gonzalez, the White Sox' top minor-league prospect, was 9-7 with a 3.18 ERA at Class AA Birmingham this season. The left-hander also led all minor leaguers with 185 strikeouts.
While Gonzalez seems to be in a good position to win a rotation spot, Williams expects Danks and Floyd to produce.
"Gavin Floyd showed us last year that he's ready for full-time big-league work, so did John Danks,'' Williams said. "The only reason that John Danks did not pitch the last few weeks is because we knew what we had. We know what we have there and we wanted to see that in Gavin Floyd so we could take the next step with both of them.''