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MESA, Ariz. -- Zach Stewart and Dylan Axelrod, both vying for a bullpen slot on the Chicago White Sox's 25-man roster, threw three innings apiece in the team's 7-5 win over the Cubs on Sunday.

“We have some guys who are pitching well,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. ”It’s tough to look at it and try to tell what you need right now. Both of them pitched impressively today.”

Stewart allowed two runs while Axelrod didn't allow a hit and struck out three.

Right-hander Jesse Crain has missed four days with a strained oblique on his right side.

“He is going to throw lightly in the next couple of days,” Ventura said. “Then we will see how it goes. [Sox trainer] Herm [Schneider] isn’t worried about it, so neither will I.”

Ventura wasn’t bothered by the inclement weather on Sunday.

“Nice little change,” he said. “It’s good to get some jackets on. The guys kind of liked it.”

As expected, the Chicago White Sox's new manager had no real problems handling all the moves that a dugout veteran makes during a ballgame.

The only thing that bothered Robin Ventura in his first game as a manager was the 6-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I wish we won, but it’s good to get it going,” Ventura said. “You never like losing games, but it is spring training and we go from there.”

That cool demeanor, which was always prevalent when Ventura played, was evident to his players as well.

“There weren’t a lot of moves to make today,” Brent Lillibridge said. “For the most part, he was just like we expected him to be. Just let the game be played and he will make the moves he needs to make and put us in a position to win. It’s different seeing someone different over there that you’re not used to seeing, but it was pretty exciting.”

Ventura made his first trip to the mound in the sixth inning, taking Nestor Molina out after he gave up five runs. Ventura looked like a pro taking the ball and giving the rookie pitcher the usual slap on the behind.

“It’s just different taking the lineup card out, going out to the mound to take somebody out, it’s just odd when you go out there and do it,” Ventura said.

The White Sox players will miss the energy and chaos that previous manager Ozzie Guillen brought to the ballpark every day, however they will enjoy the quiet confidence that the new skipper shows in them and the way he leads his team.

In the case of Ventura, don’t mistake calmness for a lack of intensity. Remember, this is a man who was upset about losing a meaningless spring training game.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- A few notes from Chicago White Sox camp on Sunday at Camelback Ranch:

• When asked if he wants to be an everyday outfielder, Kosuke Fukudome was vague, saying through his interpreter that “I’m going to take it step by step, game by game and just contribute all I can.”

Manager Robin Ventura said Fukudome does a lot of things well but, “I don’t know exactly how that fits in right now... You get different situations where somebody needs a day, or a tough righty you put him in there. Fundamentally, a really good player.”

• Time and again, Ventura has said that players are getting a clean slate to start the season. But how long of a leash he’ll give players who need to perform better than last season remains to be seen.

Players who are on the comeback trail from injury, like former 2009 first-round draft pick Jared Mitchell, are also receiving the benefit of the doubt.

Mitchell, who won a College World Series title and BCS title with LSU in 2007, missed the entire 2010 season with a torn ACL. He hit .222 with 183 strikeouts in 477 at bats at Class A-Kannapolis last season.

“He’s a great talent,” Ventura said. “For me, you look at what he’s had done in the past couple of years and injuries have really slowed him down. I’m looking forward to him being healthy and seeing what he can do. You just look at him as an athlete. You see a lot of potential.”

• When it comes to this season’s expectations for Adam Dunn, Gordon Beckham and Alex Rios, Ventura said he won’t put numbers on them.

“Again, that’s a tough one, to already put numbers on somebody,” he said. “Again for me their approach, you can just tell when guys are playing to potential and when they’re kind of getting down because sometimes that can swallow you up. We’ll kind of assess it as it goes along but, again, we’re looking for them to do obviously more than they did last year.”

• Ventura likes what he’s seen from Addison Reed, the organization’s top-ranked prospect according to Baseball America, and thinks he has all the qualities of a closer.

“He’s confident, a live arm and kind of a weird angle, too, so he has a lot of deceptiveness as well as everything else you’d like to have,” Ventura said. “But I just like his attitude, his confidence going out there and being able to do a couple of different things.”

In terms of when Reed will be ready to step in the closer role, Ventura said: “I don’t know if that’s going to happen right now.”

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If you think Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams isn’t looking forward to another twelve years with the team, you may be mistaken. Entering his 13th season, Williams seems more motivated than ever.

“The day I was hired for the job I said I wanted to win at least two World Series titles,” Williams said. “That goal hasn’t been accomplished, so you keep plugging away and work hard to do just that.”

Tough times involving both personnel and personal trauma have taken a toll on the hard-driving Willams. His battles with former Sox manager Ozzie Guillen over the last eight years are a part of baseball folklore, and dealing with several family issues, including threats against his son Kyle Williams after the NFL’s NFC Championship game, has become yet another distraction.

But with a new manager, Robin Ventura, in place and a different way of building the ballclub give the 48-year-old California native more reason to stay on the job.

”This is a familiar situation that Robin is walking into because of the continuity of the organization,” Williams said. “We still have to be aware of new ideas to implement into our plans. So with the new group in place, a lot of us are in the listening mode trying to bring fresh ideas to the table and we have done just that with some of the coaches’ ideas.”

Fiscal control of the amateur draft and Latin American signings have Williams and the club looking to rebuild the team that way for the first time in 20 years.

“With the new [collective bargaining agreement], money across the board [to sign young players] will be even for all 30 clubs,” Williams said. “So good scouting and not just outspending other teams will be the key to obtaining the best young talent in the world. As the rules are constituted now, the game has helped point us in that area.”

How long Williams stays on the job is anyone’s guess. Late in the 2011 season he asked team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf if he wanted him to step aside from the job. Instead Reinsdorf gave him a vote of confidence and decided to let Guillen go to the Miami Marlins with one year left on his contract.

“I was not tired of the job but if there was any type of feeling of anything preventing the group from making any kind of move with me, I wanted to eliminate that right away,” Williams said. “I said, ‘If you want me here, great. If not, I am willing to move into another job or out altogether.’”

New challenges are what Williams looks forward to every day, and in addition to being driven to impact his team, he also desires to make a difference for his fellow man.

“I do have an interest in the Chicago public school system and helping the police and firefighters get better recognition and better compensation including better health care packages,” Williams said. “Yes, I do want to do other things, but I am a baseball man all the way. I like the atmosphere and the challenges of the game and the people in it. I look forward to the pursuit of another championship that will never go away.”

If Williams does bring another title to the south side, he has an idea of what he’d like to do next.

“I would love to be involved in an ownership level at some time, but this is not that time,” Williams said.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- It’s “Take 2” for Kosuke Fukudome in Chicago, as the former Cubs outfielder joined his new White Sox teammates at spring training on Sunday.

Fukudome said he’s looking forward to a new beginning in the same city he's called home for the better part of four years.

“The Sox gave me a chance to play and that’s all I was asking for,” Fukudome said through his interpreter. “I’m really looking forward to proving what I can do.”

Fukudome, who signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Sox on Feb. 14, gives the team depth in the outfield. He said he wants to contribute to the team as soon as possible after spending the second half of last season with the Cleveland Indians, where he hit .249 in 59 games.

Fukudome originally signed a four-year, $48 million contract with the Cubs in December 2007, spurning offers from the Texas Rangers (four years, $50 million) and the White Sox (four years, $51 million). Now he comes to the White Sox as a low-risk, high-reward player.

After addressing the media, Sox general manager Kenny Williams greeted Fukudome for the first time, saying, “You look good in that hat. We wanted you in that hat a long time ago.”

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Chicago White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham is finished trying to live up to other people’s expectations.

“I have re-dedicated myself to being me and just that,” Beckham said. “I don’t know any other way to put it. This offseason I got back to being me.”

The Georgia native is coming off his second straight disappointing season and, after a long conversation with his father, he’s prepared to implement a new approach to the 2012 season, including paying less attention to what is said in the media or by fans.

“That’s not important to me. It used to be, but it’s not anymore,” Beckham said. “I talked to my dad and asked what he sees, and he said what he saw was not me. It’s like I can act like the guy I have been acting like and roll over and die, or become the guy you were and let it loose.”

Beckham hit .230 with 10 home runs and 44 RBIs in 2011, a far cry from his rookie season, in which he hit 16 home runs in three and a half months.

“It’s hard to hear from your dad that he didn’t even recognize who you were,” Beckham said. “That’s hard, but that’s what I needed to hear. I knew I needed to change and I’ve changed.”

Beckham said that he does not need to alter his swing, just the way he works.

“It was more my approach and who I was being on the field, he said. “I have tweaked some stuff, but it is not my swing, it is more about the guy who is swinging the bat.”

Chicago White Sox reliever Matt Thornton would have been devastated if he had been traded in the offseason.

"It was crazy during the winter, hearing all the rumors," Thornton said Wednesday. "One came from Gavin Floyd's wife's cousin's friend tweeted something that I was being traded to Toronto. How random can it get? That was my favorite one that I heard."

The Sox longest tenured bullpen man is looking forward to his seventh season as an important cog at the back end of games. As to what role he will have is out of his hands. After blowing four saves early in the 2011 season Thornton was removed from the closer's role he inherited when Bobby Jenks left the team.

"Things were definitely not going my way," he said. "At that time I had some pretty poor luck behind me, but at the same time there are things I could have done different. A lot of times after I dug myself a hole I made mistakes after that."

It remains to be seen if he will get another chance as he will be in the running with Jesse Crain and rookie Addison Reed as the closer.

Thornton may have the best stuff for the job, but it's up to new manager Robin Ventura to make a choice.

CHICAGO – With spring training just over three weeks away, new White Sox manager Robin Ventura has started to solidify plans for the upcoming season.

Ventura is still looking toward Alejandro De Aza to take over the leadoff spot, but said Thursday that Gordon Beckham could be another candidate for that job.

“Really if Gordon could probably do it depending on how he feels about at and how he feels in spring training,” Ventura said. “As far as getting on base, he probably has more power than you think of for a leadoff guy but if you’re looking at options he’s one of those guys up there.”

Ventura said that for now, he wants Alexei Ramirez lower in the order and isn’t considering him as a leadoff candidate.

Ventura also confirmed what he has said on radio this week and is looking at Matt Thornton as the favorite for the closer role. The new manager is fully aware of Thornton’s struggles in the role early last season and will let spring training go a long way toward deciding if the left-hander ended up with the job again.

As for the rotation, Ventura is already set on a five-man staff with John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Jake Peavy, Chris Sale and Phil Humber.

Another of Ventura’s goals is to get Brent Lillibridge as much playing time as possible off the bench. He stopped short, though, of calling the super utility man an option as a backup shortstop.

For the first time, Ventura is also saying that Alex Rios could be an option for left field, allowing De Aza to take over in center. Rios has a history of taking bad routes to balls and the defense would seem to be better with De Aza in center and Rios on a corner.

Ventura is just anxious to apply all the ideas that have come to him this winter.

“Looking back to the process you get the job and the hooplah and then there’s nothing for a long time,” Ventura said when asked if he’s ready for spring training to begin. White Sox pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Glendale, Ariz., on Feb. 22.

“You can tinker and get ready and get schedules ready for spring training all you want. It will be nice to get on the field and see people do baseball things instead of looking at sheets of paper.”

CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox handed out 18 invites to major-league camp in spring training, including eight on minor-league contracts.

Right-hander Brian Bruney, who pitched with the White Sox last season for a short time was among those signed on minor-league contracts. Also included in that group is left-handers Leyson Septimo and Eric Stults, catchers Damaso Espino and Hector Gimenez, infielders Dallas McPherson and Ray Olmedo and outfielder Delwyn Young.

Among the players in the minor-league system that were invited to big-league camp, that list included: right-handers Brian Omogrosso and Jacob Petricka, catchers Michael Blanke and Josh Phegley, infielders Jim Gallagher and Tyler Kuhn and outfielders Jordan Danks, Jared Mitchell, Brandon Short and Trayce Thompson.

White Sox pitchers and catchers report to Glendale, Ariz. on Feb. 23. The cub’s first full-squad workout, with position players, takes place Feb. 28.

DALLAS -- The Chicago White Sox announced Monday the spring training schedule will kick off March 5 with a game in Glendale, Ariz., against the Los Angeles Dodgers and conclude April 4 with a game at Houston against the Astros.

The White Sox will play 16 home games at their shared ballpark, Camelback Ranch in Glendale, while playing 18 games at the facility total. The Dodgers will be the home team for two of the games.

Those 18 games at Camelback Ranch will have an average decrease in ticket prices of 13 percent compared to last year.

Highlights of the spring schedule are a home game against the Cubs on March 9 and a game against their cross-town rival in Mesa on March 18. They also play the American League champion Texas Rangers twice in the opening week of the schedule.

After the Arizona portion of the schedule concludes April 2 with a home game against the National League Central champion Brewers, the White Sox will play two games in Houston (April 3-4) before heading to Texas for Opening Day on April 6.

MILWAUKEE -- Without a solid alternative at second base beyond starter Gordon Beckham, Eduardo Escobar could get more opportunities to shine on the right side of the infield.

For now, Escobar is a shortstop, but his path to a big-league job with the White Sox is obviously blocked by Alexei Ramirez. The White Sox could end up giving Escobar more playing time this spring at second base in an effort to push Beckham and have more infield options.

When talking about White Sox players in the Venezuelan winter league and the dangers they face, general manager Kenny Williams was more than complimentary of Escobar, who is playing in his native country.

“He lives there, he is a tough kid, and he can navigate his way through,” Williams said. “He’s a tough kid from a tough family.”

(For the record, Williams said that if any White Sox players are worried for their safety in Venezuela in the wake of the kidnapping and ultimate rescue of Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos, they have been given the team’s blessing to return home.)

Escobar has played some second base and saw a little bit of action there after he was recalled in September. Of the five games he played in the field during the season’s final month, two of those games were at second.

Last season was the first sign the White Sox were considering Escobar as an option at second base. He played 30 games there at Triple-A Charlotte. He had never played more than 12 games at second in any of his previous five minor league seasons.

The White Sox aren’t trying to put negative pressure on Beckham to perform, but they need options moving forward and Escobar is one of the few middle infield possibilities they have.

Beckham batted just .230 last season, the lowest mark of his three big-league seasons. He had a .296 on-base percentage and a .337 slugging percentage, also career lows. To Beckham’s credit he made massive strides defensively at second base.

Left-handed reliever Chris Sale threw off a mound today as the White Sox took batting practice in preparation for their game against Single-A Winston Salem.

After dealing with limited mobility the past few days because of a stiff neck, Sale feels much better and pronounced himself available for Opening Day on Friday at Cleveland.

In 21 big-league games last season, Sale was impressive in posting a 1.93 ERA, even recording four saves. He was being considered for the closer's opening this spring before that job was eventually awarded to Matt Thornton.

Because of his limited playing time in 2010, Sale will still be considered a first-year player and is one of the favorites for the American League Rookie of the Year award, along with teammate Brent Morel.

Sale struggled early this spring but after a minor adjustment he started pitching better in the closing days of the Cactus League schedule. He left Arizona with a 5.06 ERA.

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- It was another familiar sight as the Chicago White Sox closed out Cactus League play on Tuesday with a 3-2 defeat to the Royals. The team exits Arizona with an 11-20 mark and has one more exhibition game scheduled, Wednesday against their Single-A affiliate in Winston-Salem, before starting the season Friday at Cleveland.

The good: Adam Dunn hit a home run in his second-to-last spring at-bat to give him three on the spring. It was his second home in five days as his power stroke looks to have arrived with the regular season approaching. Paul Konerko added another hit to leave him with a .310 batting average in Arizona.

The bad: The plan was to have the starters play together more often toward the end of spring training, but that move hasn’t seemed to get the offense going. The team’s run production has been stagnant and there isn’t much time left to get things on track before Friday. A slow start hampered the team’s effort last season, so everybody knows what is at stake.

Beyond the box score: Who would have thought that Lastings Milledge and Brent Morel would finish the spring with a nearly identical Cactus League batting average? After looking good offensively and basically carving out a roster spot by mid-March, Milledge finished Cactus League play with a .305 average. Morel has been the real deal on defense this spring, but his offense didn’t emerge until he got an unexpected two-game break. He didn’t have a hit in two at-bats Tuesday but still leaves Arizona with a .303 batting average.

Up next: The White Sox will attempt to play a game at Winston-Salem on Wednesday, but the forecast there is for rain. Because of that, Gavin Floyd will remain back in Arizona and pitch Wednesday against minor leaguers.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Wearing a heating patch on his lower back Tuesday, Alexei Ramirez said he feels much better and he shouldn’t have a problem playing at full strength on Opening Day on Friday.

Ramirez was scratched from the lineup Monday after he strained his back in an agility drill.

“Everything was actually going fine yesterday, but when I was doing agility training with the cones, going from one cone to the other, something went out of whack and that’s when I tweaked something,” Ramirez said through an interpreter.

Treatment and exercises have helped, Ramirez said. He was also set to fly on the team charter flight to Winston-Salem later Tuesday with a pillow to help support his back on the long flight.

He did admit that his back has been an issue this spring.

“I’ve never had this happen before, but the last couple of weeks I have had a little bit of soreness in my lower back; it’s been tight,” he said. “I feel that whatever tweaked it just kind of all came together at one time.”

Reliever Chris Sale also said he was feeling much better Tuesday after a sore neck forced him to miss Monday’s game. He threw a bullpen session Tuesday and estimated that his discomfort should subside by Wednesday. He said he had a sore neck one other time this offseason and the pain went away in a few days.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Manager Ozzie Guillen confirmed after Monday's game that Jake Peavy will throw a bullpen session on Tuesday similar to the one he had Sunday when he tossed around 30 pitches.

Gavin Floyd, who was scheduled to start in Wednesday's exhibition at Winston-Salem against the club's Single-A affiliate, will not make the trip. Because of the threat of rain in the Winston-Salem area, Floyd will remain in Arizona and pitch on a back field that day against White Sox minor leaguers.

The White Sox leave for Winston-Salem on Tuesday afternoon.

Guillen also confirmed that Chris Sale, who did not pitch Monday because of a stiff neck, does not have a serious issue and is listed as day to day.