If you missed the news earlier today, A.J. said that he is "the most likely guy the Sox can move via trade."  He sites his proximity to 10 and 5 (ten years in the league, five with one team) no trade clause, Konerko's full no trade clause, and the up and coming Donny Lucy and Tyler Flowers behind him.

Frankly, A.J. is right in this situation.  He is a year from a full no trade clause, and Tyler Flowers probably is the future behind the plate.  Therefore he is pretty much expendable.  But there's also another big reason for why the Sox may want to move him that he didn't reference.  HE'S HITTING .182.

I wrote an article earlier this month about Bobby Jenks and his recent announcement that he gave up alcohol.  I pondered whether it would affect his mentality, and if it could affect his success on the mound.  Well today we get the report that comes out saying that he's "behind schedule" because he had a long offseason including losing 20 plus pounds having another child and "not being able to find anyone to catch him"

Pitching coach Don Cooper says he's not worried, and that this is something that Jenks has dealt with each of the past few years.  But I have a really hard time believing that.  In the past Jenks has been fat, out of shape, and not in the right baseball mindset when he comes to camp.  He uses the first few weeks to get himself back in baseball shape and then he gets right back on schedule with everyone else.  But this time is different.

This time he doesn't have the strength.  Which means he's not throwing as hard.  Which means he's not going to be as powerful as he was.  Imagine a Bobby Jenks without a fast ball.  A Bobby Jenks with a curveball that's not as drastic a change from his fast ball.  Not to mention a Bobby Jenks that may or may not be able to handle ups and downs of the closer role with his new found mindset.

I'm not so sure I'm comfortable with this.  I was a little concerned a week ago, but that seemed like a stretch.  Now I'm just scared.  We are still a long way away from meaningful baseball, but I don't like ever reading that a player as important as Jenks is "not ready."  I'd much rather hear about Quentin who's torching people in BP, or Peavy who's fitting in and getting back to 100% health.  I might be over blowing this, but I have a feeling this is going to be an ongoing problem.  But all I can do at this point is hope I'm wrong.

Mark Buehrle will pitch Opening Day for the Sox.

It didn't take long for Ozzie to tab Mark Buehrle as the Opening Day starter, as the announcement came on day one of Spring Training.  It was never really a question that Buehrle was going to get the nod, but with the mid-season acquisition of Jake Peavy last season some believed he could get the start.

For me it's obvious that Buehrle has to make this start.  It's not that he's necessarily the better pitcher, nor is it that he matches up better against the Indians than Peavy, but it's because Mark Buehrle is the White Sox.  Buehrle represents everything you want your organization to be, and what better way to show him off to the league than to give him the start in front of a national audience on Opening Day.

But what also makes this move intelligent is what it does for game two.  If Peavy gets the start on Opening Day, then game two of the season is somewhat meaningless to the casual fan.  Just another Buehrle vs. the Indians game, something we've seen almost 40 times.  But by giving the ball to Peavy on game two, suddenly there's a huge appeal to that game, and I bet the hype at that one will be pretty big when the time comes.  I for one am just as excited to be in the seats for game two as I am for game one for that very reason.

And finally, this sets up the rotation much better than doing it vice versa.  The rotation will stand at Buehrle, Peavy, Danks, Floyd, Garcia.  That's L/R/L/R/R.  Also the contrasting styles of Buehrle, Peavy, and Danks make the Sox an incredibly tough draw straight out of the gates.

Ozzie didn't wast time making this call, but really, there wasn't any reason to.

Jerry Reinsdorf has not mixed his words about what he thinks of the Cubs Tax.  The White Sox chairman says, "we're opposed," of the tax, which would be imposed upon each of the Cactus League teams to help subsidize a new facility for the Cubs.  It makes perfect sense for the White Sox, and the other 13 Cactus League teams to have these feelings.  They don't want to raise their own ticket prices to keep another team in the league.

The Cubs counter argument is valid, yet fundamentally flawed.  It is indeed true that the Cubs outdraw every team in the Cactus League year in and year out.  And it's also true that the other 13 teams benefit from the Cubs being in the league.  But in my eyes, and apparently the eyes of everyone else not inside the Cubs organization, where the Cubs play their Spring Training games is not our problem, so we're not paying to keep them here.

Throughout this entire afternoon the White Sox and the Tigers have gotten into a well reported  bidding war over former Yankee Johnny Damon.  As discussed on most major media websites and blogs, Johnny Damon to the Sox makes perfect sense.  He would help fill the void at DH, he would add a little more speed to the squad, and he would be the left handed bat the Sox have been craving.

But Johnny Damon to the Sox isn't going to happen.  Johnny Damon is, and for most of his career had been a Scott Boras client.  Boras is public enemy number one for White Sox general manager Kenny Williams.  However in this situation, Kenny is feeding right into what Boras wants.  Scott Boras wants to get Johnny Damon as much money as he possibly can.  The White Sox would like to have him, but don't want to break the bank.