--1B Paul Konerko will be the player most affected by the acquisition of outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. But at least on Thursday, he was saying all the right things. "I'm pretty sure it will cut playing time, so I'll just do what's asked of me," Konerko said. "I don't know what, where or whenever, but I'll just do what's asked of me. That's it. Make the best of it.
"We've got a good team here, just help when I can help, that's all I can do." Asked if the trade was a slap in the face to him, Konerko said, "No, this is just the business I'm in. I've been on the good side of a lot of things with this business, I've been on the good side a lot of times, so you got to take the good with the bad."
Konerko isn't the only Sox hitter struggling this year, but the one who stood out the most. He is hitting .214 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs, and he is batting .209 since returning from the 15-day disabled list on July 8.
--OF Ken Griffey Jr. is playing in the final year of a nine-year, $116.5 million deal and has a $16.5 million club option for 2009 with a $4 million buyout. The Sox did get cash considerations from the Reds in the deal, but GM Ken Williams wasn't going to talk about Junior's future on the South Side just yet. "I'll deal with that at the end of the season," Williams said. "We're just trying to win the '08 championship. But it's in the back of our minds."
--RHP Jose Contreras' latest bullpen session had pitching coach Don Cooper raving about how good he looked. It also had manager Ozzie Guillen being his usual sarcastic self. "If Contreras throws the way Cooper says, he's not going to lose another game this year," Guillen joked. "See you later, Minnesota Twins. Guaranteed." Contreras (right elbow tendinitis) will make his one and only rehab assignment Sunday. He is then expected back in the starting rotation next week.
--LHP Clayton Richard is scheduled to get one more start over the weekend in Kansas City, but he has impressed the Sox enough that if RHP Jose Contreras comes back healthy next week, the rookie might have a future in the bullpen later this season. Richard throws strikes, and that's what the Sox require from their relievers.
--Manager Ozzie Guillen has been drawn to having 12 pitchers on his roster, but for now the plan is to try to stick with 11 pitchers the next month, then get more reinforcements with the September call-ups. GM Ken Williams, however, did let Guillen know that it will be his call if he wants to add a 12th pitcher before that.
BY THE NUMBERS: 68 -- Home runs for the White Sox outfield through July 27, which led the American League. The group also led the AL in slugging percentage (.506).
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I always feel good that we can do it. I'll keep doing that until someone can prove me mathematically wrong. And I don't get wrapped up in the trade deadline stuff, I really don't. Over the x-amount of years, there have been all kind of names, the whole hot-stove stuff, but that is kind of for the fans and drumming up excitement." -- Pitching coach Don Cooper on the idea that a frontline pitcher might not be coming over in a trade.
