Uribe second to one?
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Can the White Sox do better than Juan Uribe?
Considering his batting average has dropped in each of the last three seasons and his on-base percentage was below .300 the last two, the answer is yes.
The Sox already stripped Uribe of his starting shortstop duties by acquiring Gold Glover Orlando Cabrera in an off-season trade with the Los Angeles Angels.
Shifting Uribe to second base, the White Sox also have Alexei Ramirez, Pablo Ozuna and Danny Richar competing for playing time at the position. Richar is out 4-6 weeks with a fractured rib.
Uribe has clearly fallen out of favor, but Sox general manager Kenny Williams on Friday shot down reports from earlier in the week that the 29-year-old infielder is on his way out after being placed on waivers.
"It's obviously bothersome, but I learned that I cannot react to any and everything that's out there,'' Williams said. "But it gets frustrating because I still don't believe in this particular case that I read or heard anything that was an accurate description of what was going on.
"And I don't care to explain it because if people are going down those roads of (making) presumptions of matters that are sensitive to the club, sensitive to the player, then I don't feel it's needed or warranted that I need to expound on it.
"We'll continue to conduct business as we always have, and when something needs to be announced, we'll announce it.''
Major-league players are regularly placed on waivers, no matter who they are. It's a practice that allows teams to gauge interest and/or trade value, and teams placing players on waivers always have the chance to pull them back if a claim is made.
That is likely what happened to Uribe on Wednesday, and the White Sox chose not to comment on the matter.
Manager Ozzie Guillen initially was caught off guard by the flurry of rumors regarding Uribe's future with the Sox. On Friday, Guillen sure sounded as if Uribe is staying put.
"Juan is great,'' Guillen said. "Juan is fine. Juan is going to be here. We'll see how he plays, and hopefully he continues to play the way he is playing right now and we get the best out of him.''
Uribe wasn't in the starting lineup for Friday's Cactus League game against the San Francisco Giants, but he pinch hit in the ninth inning and delivered an RBI double. Uribe, who hiked his spring average to .351, stayed in the game in the bottom of the ninth and played shortstop.
"Juan is one of the best players in spring training so far,'' Guillen said. "He's played great.''
Does that mean Uribe still is on track to be the White Sox' regular second baseman?
"I don't know yet,'' Guillen said. "Does he have a good chance? Yes.''
Ozuna also has earned playing time at second base, and he is likely to be the opening-day starter at Cleveland on March 31 because he has a career .400 (12-for-30) batting average against Indians ace C.C. Sabathia.
Uribe is a career .200 hitter (9-for-45) against the left-handed Sabathia.
"(Uribe) has had real trouble the last couple of years against lefties, and the first pitcher we are going to face is a lefty,'' Guillen said. "Ozuna has had a lot of success against C.C. Right now I'm on the bubble to see what lineup I'm going to make for Opening Day.''