Ex-Sox Uribe missing his former teammates

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - On Sunday, the White Sox are going to get their first look at Orlando Cabrera, an infielder they couldn't wait to get rid of.

Cabrera, a frequent source of disruption in his one season with the Sox in 2008, is now with the Oakland A's.

On Friday, the Sox were happy to see another erstwhile infielder, Juan Uribe.

Now playing for the San Francisco Giants, Uribe is vying for a spot on the 25-man roster after settling for a minor-league contract.

Uribe, who started at third base for the Giants against the White Sox, was happy to see his old teammates.

"I played over there for five years," Uribe said. "I played a long time in Chicago. They are all a bunch of good guys, the manager (Ozzie Guillen), my hitting coach (Greg Walker), players like Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko, Jose Contreras. It's like when you go to the United States and you miss your family in the Dominican. I think of my team as family. That's why I miss them."

Guillen, among others, misses the versatile Uribe, who started at shortstop, second base and third during his time with the Sox.

"I love Uribe," Guillen said. "That's a guy that showed up every day and played the game. He played great for us and he made my life easy. He played all over the place and he did a tremendous job. I had a conversation with the Giants and I told (manager) Bruce (Bochy): 'You've got a special kid in Uribe. Don't be fooled by his body; he's a tremendous baseball player.'

"It's nice to see him and (Aaron) Rowand, and I hope he makes the ballclub. I know he can help at the big-league level."

Rolling along: John Danks pitched 5 shutout innings in his start against the Giants Thursday, and the Sox' left-handed starter has allowed just 1 run over his last 10 innings.

"This is the first outing in a couple where I felt like I made progression," Danks said. "I've been kind of down on myself the last couple of outings, even with the good results. For sure, to go out there and throw 5 scoreless and feel better than I have all spring, it definitely is a little boost for me."

Poor outing: Top prospect Aaron Poreda has been making a bid for a long relief job this spring, but the big lefty took a step back Thursday after allowing 5 runs in 11/3 innings.

"No good," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "He has been pitching well all spring. He just had a bad outing. I like to see that because you all of a sudden know you are not that good. It brings you back down to earth because it's easy when you're doing well. I like to see that because I want to see how they bounce back the next day."