ESPN

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The White Sox’s Don Cooper has moved on from an offseason report that claimed the pitching coach informed the front office every time former manager Ozzie Guillen made a move.

”In my world and in my heart I’m trying to have love for everyone,” Cooper said. “I try to love even those who curse me, but I am comfortable in my own skin as a person and as a coach. Words can hurt, and I was hurt by what was said. People are responsible for what they say, but in my mind it was over the day after I spoke about it. When I know words aren’t true they hurt a lot less, but in the case that was reported there was no truth to it. I know I can look in the mirror and feel good about that.”

After Cooper said Guillen told White Sox general manager Kenny Williams to "let them sweat," in reference to re-signing the coaching staff, Guillen fired back. The former Sox manager and current Miami Marlins skipper told the Chicago Sun-Times that Cooper “backstabbed” his fellow coaches.

”I think if everybody was honest they would say a change was needed, and I believe this change is best for all of us,” Cooper said. “That is if everyone is honest about it.”

Cooper has more important things to worry about now, namely four rookie pitchers -- Hector Santiago, Dylan Axelrod, Zach Stewart and Nestor Molina -- in the bullpen.

Cooper has three veterans back in setup men Matt Thornton, Jesse Crain and Will Ohman, the only relievers with major league experience.

“We will have four young guys at least in the pen to start the season,” Cooper said. “Every year presents a challenge and this may be our greatest one since I have been here.”

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Competition for the open three bullpen spots will officially begin this weekend, when the Chicago White Sox play some intrasquad games before opening their Cactus League schedule on Monday against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The fast-talking, straight-to-the-point Don Cooper, who has been with the team since 1988 and has served as pitching coach since 2002, is looking forward to seeing who’s ready to start the season in the bullpen.

“Listen, for the first time in a long time we’ve got three spots open and that’s going to be an interesting thing for the coaches and everybody else to watch and see how that goes,” Cooper said. “It’s also going to be interesting to see these new younger guys who probably won’t be on the team -- some of them -- but to see how they handle major league camp and to have an idea to plot out a course for them so maybe some time later in the year, as well as next year, they’re in Chicago helping us win.”

With so many youngsters to choose from, Cooper said the first nine days of spring training has been about working on each pitcher’s mechanics and pitch command. Come the weekend, the evaluation begins.

“Right now, there’s nobody ahead of anybody else,” Cooper said, “there’s nobody behind anybody else.”

(Read full post)

CHICAGO -- As the only returning member of the Chicago White Sox's core coaching staff, Don Cooper’s job is both simple and complex at the same time.

Unlike the rest of the staff, which includes hitting coach Jeff Manto, bench coach Mark Parent and manager Robin Ventura, pitching coach Cooper knows his charges well and knows what to expect from each one.

But that also puts Cooper on the spot.

Ventura has mentioned multiple times this offseason that he will lean hard on Cooper when it comes to all things pitching. The latest such Ventura reference to the subject came in a Saturday morning seminar at SoxFest with the coaching staff.

Aside from finding a legitimate closer, Cooper’s biggest task this spring could be to set Chris Sale on a course toward being a solid major-league starter. Sale will move into the rotation this season after a year and a half in the bullpen.

Having never pitched upward of 200 innings -- or even started a major-league game for that matter -- Cooper will need to assist Sale in the transition to his new role.

“Listen, we're not going to handcuff this kid,” Cooper said Saturday. “… We're going to give this kid just enough work experience, let him go. And as the season’s going, and I don't mean in the first half, as the season goes, we'll continue to assess where he's at.”

Without a lot of starting depth beyond their top five, Sale won’t be afforded much of a learning curve. He will have to produce right away for a club that needs just about everybody to return to their career norms or deliver to their potential if the Sox want to have success.

“It's uncertain because he hasn't done the role,” Cooper said. “But he has pitched as a starter his whole career. There's going to be uncertainty in any guy’s first year starting in the big leagues because it's a huge challenge.”

In a pitching seminar Saturday morning Sale addressed the subject of his transition from college pitcher to major-league reliever in a matter of months. He said the jump was startling but he handled it well for the most part.

Then despite some brief stumbles, Sale had an impressive first full season in the major leagues.

Next year will come with yet another adjustment, and the quicker that adjustment happens the better off the White Sox will be both in the short and long term.

“What's the worst thing that could happen to Chris Sale? He gets hurt.” Cooper said. “So we're going to do everything in our power not to let that happen. We have control over that to a large degree. How do we have control? Watching the workloads, watching how many sidelines he has. I'll keep an eye on that.

“We'll make sure to track throwing in between starts, innings and pitches in a game, how many innings he has as the season goes. It’s going to be a continuing assessment. The No. 1 goal for all of our players is stay healthy. If they do stay healthy, then they’re going to go out there and do the things we envision them doing.”

Ozzie Guillen has fired back at his former pitching coach for the White Sox, calling Don Cooper a great coach but saying he stabbed his fellow Chicago coaches in the back when he negotiated a recent contract extension.

Read the entire story.

CHICAGO -- Don Cooper got the call to be manager of the Chicago White Sox for the next two days, but it wasn’t the biggest news he received Tuesday.

A day after Ozzie Guillen was released from his contract to manage the Sox, Cooper agreed to a four-year contract to remain the club’s pitching coach, while first-base coach Harold Baines agreed to a multi-year deal.

No new deals were announced for hitting coach Greg Walker or third-base coach Jeff Cox, who are not expected to return next season.

Cooper, who is finishing his ninth season with the White Sox, has guided the team’s pitchers to a .526 winning percentage over that time (799-720), with a 4.27 ERA. White Sox starters lead the major leagues with 792 quality starts since 2003.

“I feel good,” Cooper said. “I’ve been here for 25 years. I’ve been a blessed guy who has the opportunity for that to continue. I know nowhere else and I think it makes it official -- I’m gonna be here for a while. I’m a lucky guy.”

The 55-year-old Cooper had been the club’s minor-league pitching coordinator since 1997 before he moved to White Sox pitching coach.

On Tuesday, though, he was in dual roles, operating as the pitching coach and the manager in the wake of Guillen’s departure Monday night. It’s a role that he doesn’t necessarily rule out as one that he might want somewhere down the road.

“My passion is pitching,” Cooper said. “That’s all I’ve gone through for the White Sox for 25 years, that’s what it’s all about. I think I could do it. I think I could manage. If I had the right people around me, I think I could do it.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily Xs and Os. I think it’s more managing people, creating an atmosphere, things like that. I do believe I could do it, but again, my passion is pitching and right now I’m the Chicago White Sox pitching coach, who for the next two days, due to a rough day yesterday for everybody with Ozzie going, I’ll do it.”

General manager Kenny Williams said there are a number of things that make the White Sox pitching staff click and Cooper is at the head of the list.

“Well, the pitching has been as consistent over the last decade from the best teams in baseball and that’s a testament to our scouting department, to our player development department, to Don Cooper, directly in his direction,” Williams said. “It’s something that’s well deserved and I’m happy, thrilled to know that he’s going to be on board here for the next four years.”

CHICAGO -- Pitching coach Don Cooper will take over for departed Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen for the final two games of the season, not bench coach Joey Cora.

Guillen will accept a four-year deal with the Florida Marlins, sources told Levine.

Read the entire story.

CLEVELAND – With Saturday’s game against the Indians postponed because of rain, Edwin Jackson’s start will be moved to Sunday.

After that, anything goes. With Sox pitching coach Don Cooper said he will submit a schedule Sunday as to how the other starters line up behind Jackson.

Phil Humber was expected to pitch Sunday, with Mark Buehrle, Jake Peavy and John Danks starting against the Tigers in that order during the following series. That order could potentially change.

“Right now we’ll play it by ear because heck, it could rain tomorrow,” Cooper said. “Sometime tomorrow we’ll figure out what changes if any after that.”

Cooper was asked that with a six-man rotation does it complicate things to add in Saturday’s unexpected off day?

“Listen, we’ll do what we have to do,” Cooper said. “We haven’t skipped a beat in any way so far. I don’t know what the record is or all the other numbers, but I think it’s been good and we’ll just have to deal with it for another day. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”

Manager Ozzie Guillen said he expects the game to be rescheduled as a day-night doubleheader when the White Sox return to Cleveland Sept. 20-22. The Indians are already making up a prior postponed game against the Mariners on Sept. 19, the same day the White Sox are off.

CHICAGO -- Chicago White Sox pitcher Jake Peavy is set to make his minor league start with Double-A Birmingham on Friday.

Read the entire story.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Just because Matt Thornton signed a two-year, $12 million extension on Sunday that could grow to $18 million if the White Sox activate his option year, it doesn’t mean the closer battle has been decided.

Thornton is the favorite to eventually land the role full time, but guys like Chris Sale, Sergio Santos and Jesse Crain remain in the mix.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,” pitching coach Don Cooper said when asked if a decision at closer had been made. “We’re still trying to work on what we need to get right with each guy. I don’t believe that’s going to be talked about at least until our next meeting and I don’t even know when that’s scheduled.

“Our bullpen looks like its strength is the flexibility. We feel like anybody can go out there and close a game on a given day who’s throwing the best on any given day. I also believe they will show us who’s throwing the best. They answer our questions.”

On a personal level, Cooper was glad to see Thornton rewarded with his new contact.

“It’s nice to see guys being successful and making money, and it’s well deserved,” Cooper said. “This is not a gift, obviously, it’s deserved, through his work, and effort, and all that stuff. That’s what I like about it. Certainly [it’s for] his performance on the field, what he’s done, how he works. I backtrack it to that, how he’s prepared. Every single day he’s here early, and it’s nice to see hard work rewarded.”

The White Sox finally give Chris Sale a definite role Thursday.

That’s right, the young left-hander, who has been waiting all offseason to find out if he is going to start or come out of the bullpen during the upcoming season finally got some direction.

He was plopped down in a cubicle at U.S. Cellular Field, handed a phone and a list of phone numbers and asked to recruit former season ticket holders to renew their seats for the 2011 season.

As for whether or not he will be a starter or reliever (or both) when the season opens April 1 remains to be seen, but the team’s first-round draft pick from a year ago is taking it all in stride.

“To be totally honest, to me it doesnt really matter,” Sale said about his undefined role. “I just want to pitch. I’ve played baseball entire life so it doesn’t matter whether it's starting, middle, long or closing.

“When I left Chicago, [pitching coach Don Cooper] said come back ready to go as a starter. If they need me as a starter I am ready to go, and if they need me in the ’pen I am a little ahead of schedule.”

The decision seems to hinge on whether or not Jake Peavy will be ready to return to action by Opening Day after undergoing surgery over the summer for a detached muscle under his right shoulder.

If the decision belonged to Cooper though, the pitching coach would make Sale a reliever and not waiver from that all season. Cooper said a dual role would be too much for the 21-year-old Sale to handle at this point of his young career.

“Last year was unbelievable for me because I got experience pitching in big leagues against these guys,” Sale said. “That will be a help if I go back to bullpen because with [Matt] Thornton and Sergio [Santos] there, they can help me out. I did it last year so I kind of know the basics. It's just doing it a whole year. Instead of 23 appearances [starting] it will be 60 appearances.”

He might not have been around very long, but Sale knows the routine already. So even if he has been a starting pitcher all of his life, he isn’t about to make any requests now.

“It's up to them,” Sale said. “Coop said, ‘You are eventually going to be a starter whether it's this year or next or whenever. Long term we want you to be a starter.’ I'm trying not to make too much of it. Whatever they want me to do, I will give it 100 percent and give everything I have.”

Manager Ozzie Guillen was asked if thinks that Sale could be his closer for the upcoming season.

“The funny thing, you look around and Matt Thornton is the guy with experience,” Guillen said. “You look around and the guy was there before. You look at Sale and we don’t know, we got to wait to see if Peavy is ready and see if we use Sale or somebody else. I got to wait for that.

“But pitching, Cooper knows about that and [GM] Kenny [Williams] has an idea and I feel comfortable either way. But I think having Sale in the bullpen is a plus, but that depends on Peavy and who’s going to cover [in the rotation] early in the season.”

Every once in a while somebody offers a biased opinion that when you sit back and think about it for a bit, it might not be bragging or simply a spasm of wishful thinking.

On that note, we present you White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper, who never has been one to doubt his charges … at least not in public anyway.

Talking about his bullpen over the weekend, Cooper sounded like a proud father who went from wishing well for his kids to convincing himself that they would have success to telling anybody who would listen that they would one day stand up and make everybody take notice.

The addition of left-hander Will Ohman, while not earth-shattering (his $4 million contract over two years tells us that), was enough, though, for Cooper to make a bold statement.

“I don’t believe other teams can say they have a better group of lefties [in the bullpen] than we do,” Cooper said. “Somebody might have a group that’s as good, but I don’t know about better.”

That statement, though, assumes that Chris Sale is a part of that group along with Ohman and Matt Thornton, who was an All-Star last season. The White Sox might still need Sale to start some games, especially early in the season, a decision that won’t necessarily get Cooper’s stamp of approval.

“It’s unfair and too much to ask from a young guy until he gets situated,” was Cooper’s quote on the subject when asked if Sale could handle dual starting and relieving roles in the upcoming season.

Anyway, Cooper has laid it out on the line. He likes what he has from the left side and isn’t afraid to say it. But it isn’t really up to Cooper to decide such things.

The Twins’ Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau will probably be the ones to decide that.

With just over a month to go before pitchers and catchers report to spring training, White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper still does not like the idea of Chris Sale tackling both starting and relieving roles during the 2011 season.

Read the ful story.

We're finally done with the daily breakdown of each position, including the bench and the bullpen, we now move on to the White Sox’s decision-makers, starting with those in the dugout.

Managers and coaches

Looking back to 2010: During spring training, manager Ozzie Guillen was so confident in his squad that he said the team would be fine as long as he didn’t get in the way. Well, the failure to make the playoffs wasn't all manager influenced. While there was extreme concern over the team’s slow start, there was no panic, allowing the team to turn around its fortunes. Sustaining second-half succeess for the White Sox proved unattainable. Looking back, though, had the White Sox been about a week or two later with their revival, the team might have shed talent and payroll at the trade deadline. The club could have done without the season-long feud between Guillen and general manager Kenny Williams. The biggest criticism, though, comes with how the coaches (and Williams for that matter) handled the Jake Peavy situation. The workhorse starter insisted on pitchining through shoulder issues, even after fluid buildup was found, and just before the All-Star break he was done with a detached latissmus dorsi. Bowing to the player’s wishes of working through such obvious warning signs was an expensive learning lesson that figures to not be repeated again. After a slow offensive start, the heat was on hitting coach Greg Walker one more time and staying true to his form, he believed in the plan, stayed with the approach and helped the hitters emerge from their funk. Pitching coach Don Cooper added another notch to his belt as Edwin Jackson came to the White Sox in the midst of a disappointing season and posted a 3.24 ERA in 11 starts down the stretch, success that came mainly from making a simple adjustment.

Looking ahead to 2011: Guillen and Williams finally put aside their differences during the last week of the season and the reconciliation sounded sincere. You can’t help but think, though, that if they have more issues, especially early in the year, it could mean serious trouble. Guillen is in the final year of his contract, but a team option remains for 2012. Not only that, but that option gets triggered automatically if the White Sox win the division. Walker has contemplated starting a new chapter in his life, but the consensus is that his return still seems very likely. Cooper has a lot to work with next year, especially if Peavy is healthy, as all of the starters return. The bullpen will pretty much have to be rebuilt, though. Bench coach Joey Cora, after hearing nothing from teams searching for a new manager early in the offseason, has interviewed with the Brewers and has talked to the Blue Jays about their vacancy. The logical fit, though, was the Mariners’ opening (he played in Seattle during Ken Griffey Jr.’s heyday), but he wasn’t even considered a candidate. Cora isn’t considered the top candidate for either the Brewers or Blue Jays job, though, so it is likely that he returns as well. Getting the team on the same page early in the season, to avoid the slow start of 2010, figures to be the theme of spring training.

Key stat: On the final day of the 2010 season the White Sox’s victory over the Indians gave Guillen his 600th career win in seven seasons. Guillen’s five seasons with a winning record as White Sox manager trails only Al Lopez, who had nine. Guillen’s five are tied with Jimmy Dykes.

Quote: “I don’t have any doubt we can put this thing back in place. We’re grown men. I think our friendship got better the last couple of weeks. I think that helped. I think all that stuff outside helped to see what kind of people we are and we really care about each other. I think it was good. Even if people think it was bad I think it was good to see what kind of person we are, we are professional and we are good human beings. We talked and everything was good. I think the best thing about this situation between the organization, myself and Kenny and Jerry [Reinsdorf] is that the fans know exactly what we want.” –Guillen, on repairing his relationship with Williams and how everybody continues to have the same strategy for success in the future.

Sunday: Upper management

Chicago White Sox right-hander Edwin Jackson credited pitching coach Don Cooper on Thursday for making a minor adjustment that produced big results in Jackson's debut with his new team.

Read the entire story.

CHICAGO -- A master at reviving his subjects, pitching coach Don Cooper will get another chance next week when Edwin Jackson and his 5.16 ERA makes his debut with the White Sox.

Cooper has a growing track record of getting pitchers who were down on their luck or had been struggling to find their way and then turning them around under his tutelage. There were also some he couldn’t resurrect no matter how hard he tried.

The list of those that improved under Cooper:

• Jose Contreras went from no confidence to No. 1 starter on a World Series champ.

• Esteban Loaiza went from erratic to the second leading vote getter for the 2003 Cy Young Award.

• Matt Thornton was obtained for Joe Borchard and became an All-Star.

• Gavin Floyd went from 6.96 ERA in NL to a 1.06 ERA over his last 10 starts.

• Dustin Hermanson became the Sox’s last closer before Bobby Jenks

• Cliff Politte was a key member out of the bullpen for the 2005 champs.

• Damaso Marte went from Pirates castoff to No. 1 lefty reliever in 2005.

• John Danks struggled in 2007; looks brilliant in 2010.

• Neal Cotts went from little regarded lefty to pitching in every game of 2005 Series.

• Jon Garland won 18 in back-to-back years after putting it together under Coop.

The list of those Cooper just couldn’t get right:

• Scott Schoeneweis never could develop that changeup no matter how hard Coop tried.

• Mike MacDougal had the stuff, he just couldn’t regain his former closer form.

• Billy Koch came to replace Keith Foulke and couldn’t get his ERA under 5.00.

• David Aardsma blew a save chance early in 2007 and was never the same again.