Sox sorry to see Thome, Contreras go

MINNEAPOLIS - Sad, but not surprised.

That was the prevailing mood in the White Sox' clubhouse Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after two popular veterans, designated hitter Jim Thome and starting pitcher Jose Contreras, were traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies, respectively.

"Well, as we speak, we are not in a good place," captain Paul Konerko said. "We are having a horrendous road trip here and we've been giving up ground. I think some times we know as players that people who run the team, you can put them in tough spots and they have to make decisions.

"All you hope is you don't put them in those spots other than to obtain more to keep trying to win. We didn't do that, so we have to take our medicine on that."

Thome, who battled back and heel injuries for much of the season, jetted off to L.A. on Tuesday mired in a 1-for-15 slump. Contreras headed for Denver with a 5-13 record and 5.42 ERA.

The aging duo weren't having banner seasons by any means, but they were remembered as ideal teammates, especially Thome.

"Definitely tough to see him go," said Konerko, Thome's closest friend on the Sox. "Great teammate, great guy. He was everything he was cracked up to be before he got here. I could always say I played with him, like everyone else in here. You play with a legend like that, it was definitely a privilege."

"He was great," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "Getting to play with Jim for four years, getting to know him on a personal level was awesome. He was one of the best people I ever played with.

"I'll miss having him around. I'll miss his face every day. I'll miss seeing him work his tail off every day to play a game."

Contreras was the White Sox' ace during their 2005 World Series championship season, and he holds the club record with 17 consecutive wins (Aug. 21, 2005-Sept. 14, 2006).

"Any time you win a World Series with a guy - I just remember all the good things with him," Konerko said. "He always took the ball, and I'll remember the fact that he came back way ahead of schedule this year (from a ruptured Achilles' tendon).

"Maybe that wasn't the best thing that he should have done. I don't know that he got off to the best start he could get off to, but that was all in the name of him trying to be there for his team.

"So forget all the ERA and wins and losses and all that other stuff. As players, we will remember a guy who was supposed to come back in June or July and he came back April 1 for his team."

After losing seven of eight to open their toughest road trip of the season, the White Sox paid a steep price.

"It's hard," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "That's the way baseball is. If you hang around long enough in this game, you see that thing come and go.

"Sometimes you lose people you really love, and sometimes you keep people you don't like. But those two people are special people."