By Mark Gonzales, Tribune reporter

9:27 a.m. CST, December 8, 2011

DALLAS — Minnesota selected Chicago White Sox pitcher Terry Doyle in the major league phase of Thursday’s Rule 5 draft for $50,000.

Doyle, 26, made a strong impression in the Arizona Fall League, where he was 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA for the Mesa Solar Sox.

Doyle was scouted in the AFL by Vern Followell, the Twins’ professional scouting director.

Doyle was the second player chosen in the Rule 5 draft. If Doyle doesn’t stay with the Twins for the entire season, he can be offered to the Sox for $25,000.

“Terry Doyle is a nice pitcher,” said Dan Fabian, the Sox’s director of baseball operations. “He did a nice job in the Fall League. He definitely opened some eyes in the industry. And it was just a decision made, looking at our long term, that we had players we felt we needed to get on the 40-man (roster) before Terry Doyle.

“It’s (the) Rule 5 (draft). He still has to get through spring training and still maybe an opportunity to get him back down the road.”

Jordan Danks and Brandon Short were not selected.

The Sox did not make a pick in the major league and Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft.

“All you can do is protect as you see fits best on your 40-man roster,” Fabian said. “And with (general manager) Kenny Williams and (player development director) Buddy Bell and (assistant GM) Rick Hahn, they just felt that was our best situation of the players we decided to add, and Terry Doyle was in Triple-A. And you take that risk that someone may take him, and that happened with the Twins today.”

 

Scott Merkin is a reporter for MLB.com. Read his blog, Merk’s Works, and follow him on Twitter @scottmerkin. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

(Reuters) – Former Chicago White Sox All-Star third baseman Robin Ventura was named manager of the Major League Baseball club, the team said on Thursday.

Ventura, who was already working as a director of player development for the White Sox, replaces the colourful Ozzie Guillen, who parted ways with the club last month and joined the Florida Marlins.

“When I rejoined the White Sox this June, I said this was my baseball home and that part of me never left the White Sox organisation,” Ventura said in statement.

“My family and I are thrilled to be returning to Chicago. Managing a Major League Baseball team is a tremendous honor. It’s also an opportunity and a challenge.”

Ventura was originally drafted by the White Sox in 1998, and played more than 10 years with the organisation. He also played for the New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers during his 16-year career.

In 2,079 career games, Ventura had a .267 batting average with 294 home runs and 1,182 RBIs.

“I wanted someone who met very specific criteria centered around his leadership abilities,” said White Sox general manager Ken Williams. “Robin Ventura was that man. His baseball knowledge and expertise, his professionalism, his familiarity with the White Sox and Chicago and his outstanding character make him absolutely the right person to lead our clubhouse and this organization into the seasons ahead.”

© Copyright (c) Reuters

MINNEAPOLIS – Jake Peavy struck out a season-high nine and Alex Rios homered to help the Chicago White Sox to a 3-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

Peavy (7-7) allowed four hits and walked two in 6 1-3 innings against a Twins team that had three players who were called up from Double-A in the last two days.

Alejandro De Aza had two hits, including a triple, and an RBI, and Sergio Santos picked up his 29th save for the White Sox, who have won three in a row and eight of 12.

Liam Hendriks (0-1) allowed three runs and four hits over seven innings in his major league debut. Chris Parmelee had two hits in his first game as a pro, but the Twins lost for the 14th time in 17 games.

Paul Konerko, who hasn’t hit a homer in his last 60 at-bats, got a much-needed day off, but the White Sox still managed to scratch together enough offense for Peavy. Brent Morel added an RBI single as the Sox beat the Twins for the eighth time in the last nine games in the series.

The White Sox are in the middle of a stretch of 28 straight games against the AL Central, but they only have three games left against division-leading Detroit. The Tigers beat the Indians 10-1 on Tuesday night, keeping the White Sox eight games back.

“We’re still in the pennant race,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “I know it’s going to be hard. … One thing about it, we’re not going to quit.”

There was a time when the Twins owned the White Sox, going 29-7 against them in a stretch that included six straight victories to open 2011. But the wheels have come off for a Twins team that expected to contend for a third straight division title.

Calling up Hendriks, Parmelee and center fielder Joe Benson from Double-A New Britain gave the Twins three players in the starting lineup making their major league debuts for the first time in franchise history, according to research by the Elias Sports Bureau.

Benson misplayed a fly ball from De Aza in the fifth inning, diving for it and letting it get past him for a triple. Morel followed with a single to give the White Sox a 3-0 lead.

That was plenty for Peavy, who stranded runners on third base in the second and fourth innings but never really ran into trouble all night long. Joe Mauer went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts, hearing plenty of boos when Matt Thornton got him swinging in the eighth.

The Twins were shut out for the 12th time this season, tied a season high with 14 strikeouts and have managed just two runs in their last four games. They trail the Tigers by 22 games in the Central and were officially eliminated from the playoff race on Tuesday night.

NOTES: The Twins said Justin Morneau will go through early batting practice on Wednesday to test his concussion symptoms. Even though he is not on the DL, he will have to get approval from Major League Baseball before being cleared to return to the field. When he does, Morneau will only DH and not play 1B. … The last team to debut at least three players in the starting lineup on the same day was the San Diego Padres, when they had four in 1986. … The last time three Twins made their big league debuts in the same game was April 7, 1999, against Toronto, when Joe Mays, Dan Perkins and Mike Lincoln all came out of the bullpen. … Guillen said he considered giving Konerko one of the games of Monday’s doubleheader off, but wanted to get him a full day’s rest. Konerko will be back in the lineup on Wednesday night. … White Sox OF Juan Pierre went 0 for 4 and remains two hits shy of 2,000 for his career. … RHP Carl Pavano (7-11, 4.60) takes the mound in the series finale on Wednesday night against White Sox LHP John Danks (6-10, 4.01). Danks is just 2-7 on the road this season, the fourth-lowest winning percentage in the majors. But he’s 6-2 with a 2.85 ERA over his last 12 starts after starting the season 0-8 with a 5.25 ERA. Pavano is 2-1 with a 1.50 ERA in three starts against the Sox this year. He’s given up an AL-high 221 hits this season and has allowed nine or more in eight of his last nine starts.

Miguel Cabrera homered and drove in four runs, and Detroit finished off its sweep in emphatic fashion, routing the White Sox 18-2 on Sunday night.

“At the end of the game, you are almost laughing because we couldn’t do anything to stop them,” said Guillen, Chicago’s manager. “Just have to move on.”

Max Scherzer (14-8) allowed five hits over seven scoreless innings, and Alex Avila scored a career-high four hits for Detroit, which leads the AL Central by 6½ games heading into a three-game series at second-place Cleveland. Chicago is 8½ back.

Mark Buehrle (11-7) allowed seven earned runs in 3 1-3 innings.

The Tigers trailed 8-1 in the fifth Saturday before rallying to win 9-8. They scored 26 consecutive runs and led 18-0 Sunday when the White Sox finally scored two in the ninth.

“We needed to come here and make a statement. We had to win two of three, if not sweep them, and that’s the furthest thing from what actually happened,” Buehrle said. “We’re not mathematically eliminated, but a smart man isn’t going to like our chances right now. We’re not going to give up, but we’re in big trouble.”

It was the second-biggest blowout in the major leagues this season, according to STATS, LLC. Cleveland beat Kansas City 19-1 on May 16.

Cabrera’s two-run homer into the bushes behind the center-field wall highlighted a seven-run sixth inning.

Although Justin Verlander is making a bid for the Cy Young Award, the depth of Detroit’s rotation has been an issue. Scherzer allowed seven runs in three innings against Kansas City on Monday, but he was much sharper against Chicago, striking out the side in the third and facing the minimum 12 hitters through the first four innings.

Not that Detroit needed a dominant pitching performance.

Austin Jackson led off with a double in the bottom of the first and eventually scored on Victor Martinez’s single. The Tigers scored three runs in the third. Martinez and Avila hit RBI singles, and when Jhonny Peralta hit a grounder to short for a potential inning-ending double play, second baseman Gordon Beckham’s throw to first skipped away for an error, allowing Martinez to score.

The White Sox compounded their poor pitching by making three errors on the night.

Delmon Young made it 5-0 with an RBI single in the fourth, and Cabrera’s double to left-center brought home two more runs and ended Buehrle’s night. It was his shortest outing since June 6, 2010, when he pitched three innings against the Indians.

Reliever Addison Reed, making his major league debut, allowed RBI singles by Avila and Peralta later in the fourth to make it 9-0.

Guillen said before the game he wants to be in Chicago next year. He’s signed through 2012 with the White Sox.

“All my desire, everything, is to be in Chicago,” he said. “I don’t know why people think I want to leave.”

No matter what happens, he’ll probably want to forget this game.

With the score out of hand, both teams began substituting liberally, although Guillen — trying to preserve pitchers for a Monday doubleheader at Minnesota — left right-hander Shane Lindsay out on the mound for the entire sixth inning. Lindsay, whose mother managed to travel from Australia on short notice to see her son’s major league debut Friday night, allowed seven runs and eight hits in his only inning of work Sunday.

Peralta hit a two-run double, Brandon Inge added an RBI single, pinch-hitter Andy Dirks hit a two-run single, and Cabrera made it 16-0 with a towering, 425-foot homer, his 26th of the year.

“I didn’t want to leave the kid out there — no one wants to see that — but we couldn’t do anything with a doubleheader tomorrow,” Guillen said. “That was hard for me to see and hard for everyone.”

Dirks added a two-run homer in the eighth.

“It’s almost a little surreal at times when you’re scoring that many runs,” Dirks said. “At the same time, it’s just one game. It doesn’t matter if you win by two or you win by 20.”

NOTES: Guillen said before the game OF Carlos Quentin (sprained left shoulder) may not return any time soon. … Guillen went about halfway to second base in the second inning after Alex Rios was called out stealing, apparently ready to argue the call. Then he seemed to change his mind and went back to the dugout. … Both teams face quick turnarounds for day games Monday. Detroit is at Cleveland, and Chicago plays its doubleheader at Minnesota. The White Sox will send Philip Humber (8-8) and Zach Stewart (1-2) to the mound against Minnesota’s Anthony Swarzak (3-5) and Scott Diamond (1-2).

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

DETROIT (AP) — Ozzie Guillen and the Chicago White Sox arrived in Detroit hoping to start a last-ditch rally for the AL Central title.

Instead, their playoff hopes are in shambles after three ugly losses to the Tigers.

Miguel Cabrera homered and drove in four runs, and Detroit finished off its sweep in emphatic fashion, routing the White Sox 18-2 on Sunday night.

“At the end of the game, you are almost laughing because we couldn’t do anything to stop them,” said Guillen, Chicago’s manager. “Just have to move on.”

Max Scherzer (14-8) allowed five hits over seven scoreless innings, and Alex Avila scored a career-high four hits for Detroit, which leads the AL Central by 6½ games heading into a three-game series at second-place Cleveland. Chicago is 8½ back.

Mark Buehrle (11-7) allowed seven earned runs in 3 1-3 innings.

The Tigers trailed 8-1 in the fifth Saturday before rallying to win 9-8. They scored 26 consecutive runs and led 18-0 Sunday when the White Sox finally scored two in the ninth.

“We needed to come here and make a statement. We had to win two of three, if not sweep them, and that’s the furthest thing from what actually happened,” Buehrle said. “We’re not mathematically eliminated, but a smart man isn’t going to like our chances right now. We’re not going to give up, but we’re in big trouble.”

It was the second-biggest blowout in the major leagues this season, according to STATS, LLC. Cleveland beat Kansas City 19-1 on May 16.

Cabrera’s two-run homer into the bushes behind the center-field wall highlighted a seven-run sixth inning.

Although Justin Verlander is making a bid for the Cy Young Award, the depth of Detroit’s rotation has been an issue. Scherzer allowed seven runs in three innings against Kansas City on Monday, but he was much sharper against Chicago, striking out the side in the third and facing the minimum 12 hitters through the first four innings.

Not that Detroit needed a dominant pitching performance.

Austin Jackson led off with a double in the bottom of the first and eventually scored on Victor Martinez’s single. The Tigers scored three runs in the third. Martinez and Avila hit RBI singles, and when Jhonny Peralta hit a grounder to short for a potential inning-ending double play, second baseman Gordon Beckham’s throw to first skipped away for an error, allowing Martinez to score.

The White Sox compounded their poor pitching by making three errors on the night.

Delmon Young made it 5-0 with an RBI single in the fourth, and Cabrera’s double to left-center brought home two more runs and ended Buehrle’s night. It was his shortest outing since June 6, 2010, when he pitched three innings against the Indians.

Reliever Addison Reed, making his major league debut, allowed RBI singles by Avila and Peralta later in the fourth to make it 9-0.

Guillen said before the game he wants to be in Chicago next year. He’s signed through 2012 with the White Sox.

“All my desire, everything, is to be in Chicago,” he said. “I don’t know why people think I want to leave.”

No matter what happens, he’ll probably want to forget this game.

With the score out of hand, both teams began substituting liberally, although Guillen — trying to preserve pitchers for a Monday doubleheader at Minnesota — left right-hander Shane Lindsay out on the mound for the entire sixth inning. Lindsay, whose mother managed to travel from Australia on short notice to see her son’s major league debut Friday night, allowed seven runs and eight hits in his only inning of work Sunday.

Peralta hit a two-run double, Brandon Inge added an RBI single, pinch-hitter Andy Dirks hit a two-run single, and Cabrera made it 16-0 with a towering, 425-foot homer, his 26th of the year.

“I didn’t want to leave the kid out there — no one wants to see that — but we couldn’t do anything with a doubleheader tomorrow,” Guillen said. “That was hard for me to see and hard for everyone.”

Dirks added a two-run homer in the eighth.

“It’s almost a little surreal at times when you’re scoring that many runs,” Dirks said. “At the same time, it’s just one game. It doesn’t matter if you win by two or you win by 20.”

NOTES: Guillen said before the game OF Carlos Quentin (sprained left shoulder) may not return any time soon. … Guillen went about halfway to second base in the second inning after Alex Rios was called out stealing, apparently ready to argue the call. Then he seemed to change his mind and went back to the dugout. … Both teams face quick turnarounds for day games Monday. Detroit is at Cleveland, and Chicago plays its doubleheader at Minnesota. The White Sox will send Philip Humber (8-8) and Zach Stewart (1-2) to the mound against Minnesota’s Anthony Swarzak (3-5) and Scott Diamond (1-2).

Toronto Blue Jays’ Jose Bautista walked twice and went 3 for 4 with his major league-leading 20th homer on Saturday. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese)

Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said John Danks’ spot in the rotation is safe, but the left-hander knows he has to start winning. If he doesn’t, Danks could be the first White Sox pitcher in 69 years to lose his first eight decisions.

Danks takes the ball Sunday when Chicago goes for a rare win visiting the Toronto Blue Jays.

After leading the White Sox (24-30) with 15 wins last season, Danks (0-7, 4.34 ERA) is still looking for his first victory of 2011 following Monday’s 4-0 loss at Texas. The left-hander tossed his third career complete game, allowing nine hits.

Danks’ run support average is 2.98, and Chicago has scored just four runs for him in his five road starts.

“I’ll just keep plugging along,” Danks, the first White Sox pitcher to open 0-7 since 1996, told the White Sox’s official website. “… I know I have a job to do and tomorrow I’ll start getting ready for my start in Toronto.”

The White Sox have dropped 16 of 20 visiting the Blue Jays (26-26) following Saturday’s 9-8, 14-inning loss that ended on Corey Patterson’s career high-tying fifth hit, a solo home run.

Chicago will try to avoid its first three-game skid since May 3-6, but Danks has not fared well in Toronto, going 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA in four starts. Getting Jose Bautista out could help the left-hander from joining Eddie Smith, who started 0-10 in 1942, as the last two White Sox pitchers to lose their first eight decisions.

Among the league leaders in batting average (.353), walks (45), on-base percentage (.502) and slugging percentage (.801), Bautista walked twice and went 3 for 4 with his major league-leading 20th homer Saturday. The right fielder set a Blue Jays record by reaching that plateau in 44 games — nine fewer than previous record holder George Bell in 1987.

Bautista’s continued production could benefit scheduled starter Ricky Romero (4-4, 2.91), who is 2-0 with a 0.79 ERA in last three outings. Trying to win his third consecutive start, the left-hander did not earn a decision in a 5-4 road loss against the New York Yankees on Tuesday when he yielded one run in seven innings.

While Romero has surrendered two or fewer runs in eight of 10 starts, he’s also been tagged for eight homers in his last eight outings.

Former Blue Jay Alex Rios is 4 for 6 off the left-hander, including a two-run homer in a 4-2 loss at Toronto on April 13, 2010. That was the only hit allowed by Romero, who struck out a career-high 12 over eight innings in his first career start against the White Sox.

Adam Dunn might not be looking forward to facing Romero. The White Sox designated hitter is 0 for 36 with 15 strikeouts against left-handers.

Toronto’s Juan Rivera, batting .385 with two homers and seven RBIs during a season-high 10-game hitting streak, is 6 for 22 with four strikeouts against Danks.

Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar, 2 for 3 off the left-hander, will try to hit safely in his season-best 10th straight game.

Second baseman Gordon Beckham could return to the White Sox’s lineup Sunday after getting hit with the ball just below his left eye on a relay throw from Rios in Friday’s 4-2 loss. But with no hits and three strikeouts in six at-bats against Romero, Beckham might benefit from another day off.

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