Sox GM Williams eyes Padres' Gonzalez
GLENDALE, Ariz. - On the second try, White Sox general manager Kenny Williams landed Jake Peavy in a trade from the Padres last July.
It should come as little surprise that Williams has already asked Peavy for some background on former San Diego teammate Adrian Gonzalez, who is expected to be the next to go in the Padres' extended fire sale.
"All of the best players in the game, the impact players, rest assured I've asked about them," Williams said when asked about Gonzalez.
The Sox' GM apparently went after Roy Halladay over the winter and did make an offer to Johnny Damon right before training camp.
CBSSports.com speculated the Padres would want Gordon Beckham and more in exchange for Gonzalez, but that's highly unlikely.
Gonzalez, an all-star first baseman who had had 40 home runs and 99 RBI for an awful Padres team last season, is a steal this year at $4.75 million and he also has a $5.5 million club option for 2011.
Speaking to reporters at the Padres' camp last week, Gonzalez said he's looking forward to his next contract, be it with San Diego or a new team.
"This next contract is going to be the one where I look for what I deserve," Gonzalez said. "I'm going to let my agent (John Boggs) worry about those negotiations, but in talking to my agent, it's going to be about where my value is."
Jenks gets going: It was raining at Camelback Ranch Sunday morning, but closer Bobby Jenks impressed pitching coach Don Cooper while throwing in an indoor batting cage.
"Bobby had his day today, which is getting him more and more on track because he's been a couple days behind," Cooper said. "He made some ground up on the pack."
Jenks always seems to take more time than most getting ready for the season, but Cooper said there's not a big rush right now.
"Bobby worked so hard on his conditioning, plus Bobby had another child, plus the weather in Chicago is bad," Cooper said. "And he told me he had a little difficulty getting somebody to catch him. So he was just playing more catch than actually pitching off a mound.
"But one thing I know about Bobby, every year if you look back, everybody is, 'Jeez, we've got to get him in shape. Jeez, he's not ready.' But when it came to be Opening Day, he was always ready. I know he's going to be ready again. Today was the best day he's had so far."
Rotation plan: Mark Buehrle and Jake Peavy are the White Sox' top two starters, and pitching John Danks and Gavin Floyd next would give them a lefty, righty, lefty and righty combination.
Pitching coach Don Cooper strongly hinted Floyd will pitch third for matchup reasons. The Sox' fourth game of the season is against the Twins, who are loaded with left-handed hitters, so Danks is likely to pitch against Minnesota.