Williams, Guillen take their swings at questions

Instead of bringing the heat, which fans often have done at past question-and-answer sessions with general manager Kenny Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen during SoxFest, the inquiries were much more chilled out Saturday at the Palmer House.

Here is a sampling:

ŸHow about using Alex Rios at the No. 2 hitter this season?

Guillen: “My second hitter’s going to be Gordon Beckham. I don’t want to take the bat away from Rios because he’s an RBI guy. I think the second hitter will be Gordon or (Alexei) Ramirez or (Omar) Vizquel, when he’s in the lineup.”

ŸWhy doesn’t starting pitcher John Danks have a multiyear contract?

Williams: “We tried to do that last year and didn’t get too far with it. I think they’re content to take it one year at a time. We’ll see.”

ŸWho is going to be the cleanup hitter?

Guillen: “I have so many guys, but PK (Paul Konerko) and Adam Dunn, it’s between those two guys. We have a very, very strong middle of the lineup. When I make the lineup, so far it’s Adam third and PK fourth. We’ll see how that works.”

ŸWhy do the White Sox always seem to get off to slow starts?

Guillen: “Because we started so slow the last couple of years, we changed plans. The last couple years, we rested the starting lineup at the end of spring training.

“This year, a week before we break camp, the regular guys are going to play 8-9 innings. All the regulars are going to get 4-5 at-bats a game the last week of camp. Hopefully that works.”

ŸWho is going to be the fourth outfielder since Andruw Jones signed with the New York Yankees?

Williams: “(Alejandro) De Aza’s a lot better than you think. Andruw Jones signed a one-year contract with the Yankees for $2 million. I spent more money this off-season than I ever thought, and we’re tapped out.

“I can’t go back to Jerry (Reinsdorf) anymore because we’ve just overextended ourselves beyond belief.”

ŸHow can Sox players be better in April and May, when the weather is cold?

Guillen: “Mentally, you have to be very strong. When you play in Chicago, if you don’t prepare yourself to handle that, it’s going to be very tough.

“Alexei, he’s from Cuba and Miami and then he goes to Arizona. He saw snow for the first time in his life today.”

ŸCan Ramirez produce when it’s cold enough to snow?

Williams: “Somebody wrote me and said in the last week of spring training fill his pockets with ice.”

ŸWho is going to close between Chris Sale and Matt Thornton?

Guillen: “After a game in Cleveland, (the Indians’ Shin-Soo) Choo asked me, ‘Why do you always bring in Thornton when I hit?’ Then there was a game when I brought in Sale to face him. After the game, Choo said, ‘Why don’t you bring Thornton in?’”