Danks, White Sox agree to terms

John Danks is going to be at SoxFest at the Palmer House Hilton this weekend.

The White Sox' left-handed starting pitcher was a late addition Tuesday, but Danks agreed to attend the annual winter convention after avoiding salary arbitration and signing a one-year, $6 million contract.

The Sox also agreed to one-year contracts with their other two arbitration-eligible players: right fielder Carlos Quentin and relief pitcher Tony Pena.

Quickly agreeing to new deals with Danks, Quentin and Pena was no surprise considering the White Sox haven't taken a player to salary arbitration since 2001, when reliever Keith Foulke won his case.

Less than a month before spring training opens, a source said the Sox' final payroll for 2011 is going to be in the neighborhood of $125 million.

In addition to Danks, who was 15-11 with a 3.72 ERA last year while reaching career highs in wins, strikeouts (162) and innings pitched (213), Quentin signed for $5.05 million and Pena for $1.6 million.

Quentin batted .243 with 25 doubles, 26 home runs and 87 RBI last season while making $3.2 million. Pena was 5-3 with a 5.10 ERA while logging a career-high 100 innings last year, when he made $1.2 million.

The White Sox also claimed right-handed pitcher Phil Humber off waivers from the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old pitcher spent most of last season with Class AAA Omaha, the Royals' top farm club, and was 5-6 with a 4.47 ERA. In eight games (1 start) with Kansas City, Humber was 2-1 with a 4.15 ERA.

Initially selected by the Mets with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2004 draft, Humber is a career 2-1 with a 5.26 ERA in parts of five major-league seasons with New York, the Twins and Royals.

With the addition of Humber, the Sox' 40-man roster stands at 38.