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CHICAGO -- Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura said Friday the closer role will be performed by a committee of pitchers depending on the game’s situation.

Chris Sale was named the White Sox’s closer on May 4 after the team decided to move him out of the starting rotation and into the bullpen due to elbow tenderness. But the Sox announced Friday that Sale will return to a starting role.

“Whoever ends up in the ninth inning,” Ventura said when asked who is closer would be. “We’re back to that. … I think it’s more of you see what they’re lined up with and go from there.”

The White Sox have used four different pitchers in save situations this season. Sale, a lefty, was used Tuesday and blew the save in his lone opportunity. Left-hander Hector Santiago picked up four saves in six opportunities, but he has allowed five home runs and has a 5.73 ERA. Matt Thornton, a lefty, has converted one save in two opportunities. Right-hander Addison Reed, who hasn’t allowed a run this season, has two saves in two chances.

“I think that’s not an easy role,” Ventura said. “With the amount of young guys we have out there, it’s not a thing we don’t monitor. You always constantly monitor them.

“We have some guys doing very well in the bullpen in the situations they’re brought in. Addison has done well. You probably look at him if they got a bunch of righties coming up. You probably look for Matty (Thornton) if there’s a bunch of lefties coming up. If there’s a mix, you might have Hector.”

General manager Ken Williams likes the multiple possibilities the White Sox have for closer as well.

“There’s a difference between evolving without talent and evolving with talent and a number of possibilities for back end of the bullpen solutions,” Williams said. “There’s a huge difference. If these guys have shown one thing, it’s that they have a very high ceiling back there. That’s one reason to give us optimism.”

CHICAGO -- Chris Sale talked his way back into the Chicago White Sox rotation by standing up to general manger Kenny Williams much the same way Williams did 25 years ago when he was demoted by GM Larry Himes.

There is a fine line between defending your position and insubordination, as many of my superiors have reminded me through my media career. In this case Sale believed the decision to send him to the bullpen was based on overreacting to a slightly strained elbow, which an MRI revealed to be clean.

”At 4 o’clock today that was the deal (going to the bullpen),” Sale said. “I was really stuck on starting. That is my passion and something I wanted to finish out doing.”

Sale boldly told Williams that he would be letting the team down if he didn’t start. In a 45-minute meeting he was able to convince his boss and the White Sox medical staff that he was healthy enough to go back into the rotation with a couple of noted restrictions. For now Sale will be limited on how many pitches he throws and what kind of pitch selection he will feature.

“(The baseball staff ) have been doing this a very long time,” Sale said. “They are very good at what they do, so I am more than willing to buy into the program. I just need to be honest and let them know how I feel on a given day.”

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Greg Walker returned to Chicago Monday for the first time since he resigned as hitting coach of the Chicago White Sox with no regrets as to how his nine-year run ended on the South side.

A happier, more relaxed Walker, in town to face the Chicago Cubs in his new role as the Atlanta Braves hitting coach, admitted his last two seasons with the White Sox were tough on everyone. Last season during an early-August heated exchange in the Sox clubhouse, general manager Kenny Williams briefly fired Walker, before chairman Jerry Reinsdorf got involved and smoothed things over.

“I shook Kenny’s hand when I left at the end,” Walker said. “I wished him well . As long as he is working for Jerry I will be pulling for him to do a good job.”

Walker then left the subject of Williams, but it is clear there is no relationship left between the two men who worked closely for nine years.

“Jerry Reinsdorf has been very special in my life and I can’t begin to tell you all the great things he has done for me and my family,” Walker said. “I have a lot of great friends in that organization, but right now I have moved on.”

The White Sox’s lost seasons of 2010 and 2011 took their toll on the 53-year-old Georgia native, who was blamed for the sputtering offense and the lack of development of young players such as Gordon Beckham and Brent Morel.

“I am human and I didn’t enjoy some of the things that were said about me,” Walker said. “When you are in a big market like Chicago there will be some negatives, but the positives far outweighed the down times.”

Walker was asked to return as the Sox hitting coach by new manager Robin Ventura after he had quit the job last fall.

“I told him that it was time for me to move on,” Walker said. “I was not the same guy over there any longer, so as much as I would have loved to work with Robin, I said no and wished him the best.”

Walker didn’t care to go into the fractured details of what went wrong for himself and the rest of the Sox coaching staff, but admitted it is fun again to come to the ballpark without the politics that existed in his last two seasons in Chicago. Ozzie Guillen, who also had some contentious battles with Williams, also left the Sox after last season.

“The positives I will always cherish from my time working there, but it did not end up good,” Walker said. “The game is hard enough to play when everyone is pulling in the same direction and it got bad over there, and it is now well documented what happened.”

The Braves have averaged nine runs over their last four games and have scored 273 runs in 2012, the second highest total in the National League. Maybe having better hitters is the key to being a successful hitting coach.

“We have a great team and they are playing well,” Walker said. “I am enjoying coaching more than I have in a long time. It’s a lot of fun again.”

CHICAGO – After a few years of spending aggressively, the White Sox are back into a small-market philosophy that concentrates on scouting and player development in building toward the future.

For a large-market team, that type of message to the fan base may be a little unnerving -- particularly if a fan has invested in season tickets for any number of years. The departure in team structure from signing veteran players was not a reaction to just one underachieving season, but an educated overview of the new collective bargaining agreement itself.

Owner Jerry Reinsdorf said last year that if the baseball plan didn’t work with a $127 million payroll, the team would have to go another way. Winning only 78 games last year set that “other way" in motion.

The team started the season with a $105 million major league salary base. Depending on the early-season results, that number could be in the lower 90s by the trading deadline on July 31. The main reason the White Sox decided to go young is the new collective bargaining agreement that limits the money each team can spend on both the draft and in signing foreign prospects through a heavy-handed taxation system.

The White Sox have spent less than $10 million (combined) on the draft the past three seasons -- no major league team has spent less in that span. That way of doing business, both GM Kenny Williams and Reinsdorf have acknowledged, is about to change dramatically this June. The club is also scouting and signing Latin American players for the first time in four years.

There will be growing pains with the Sox’s new way of competing as the contacts for older players like Paul Konerko (after 2013 ), A.J. Pierzynski (after 2012 ) and Jake Peavy (the team can buy him out for $4 million after 2012) begin expire.

Williams will continue to attempt to make trades for players who are not yet approaching salary arbitration or free agency. In this type of environment, don’t expect any big-time free-agent signings.

“The offseason was boring,” Williams said on Opening Day. “It was a good exercise in patience and a much needed exercise in patience.”

“If we are in the mode of going young, we have to be right and be targeted to take care of the major league club and blend in some youth at the same time we are running the development .”

Accomplishing that feat will, of course, be a major challenge for the White Sox moving forward.

CHICAGO – Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams said Friday he has “compassion” for Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen, who is serving a five-game suspension after his comments about Fidel Castro angered Miami's Cuban-American community.

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Just when it seemed the Ken Williams-Ozzie Guillen feud was fizzling, the Miami Marlins manager rekindled the flames by saying he would never return to the Chicago White Sox as long as Williams remains with the team.

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In an outward showing of paternal instincts, Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams directed harsh words toward former New Orleans Saints' defensive coordinator Gregg Williams in a statement Thursday.

The GM’s ire is in response to the release of audio in which Gregg Williams directed his players to target Kyle Williams -- Kenny’s son and a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers -- during a playoff game this past January. At the time of the recording, Kyle Williams was recovering from a concussion.

“Personally, suspension or not, it's probably best I'm never in a room with Gregg Williams and wonder if such an order crosses the line of the aggressive, competitive spirit we all know and love about the sport; and leans closer to a criminal act and therefore a litigious matter,” Kenny Williams said in a statement.

Kyle Williams was one of several players Gregg Williams instructed his players to target, saying, "We need to find out in the first two series of the game, that little wide receiver, No. 10 (Kyle Williams), about his concussion. We need to f------ put a lick on him right now. He needs to decide. He needs to f------ decide."

The recordings are the latest controversy surrounding Gregg Williams, who is suspended indefinitely by the league for his role in the Saints’ bounty program.

As for Kyle Williams’ response, his father doesn’t expect one.

“As you have seen, Kyle Williams is a man’s man and has shown himself more than capable of answering on his own behalf. He has definite feelings on the subject but has chosen to remain committed to providing all his answers to any questions on the field next season. Knowing this young man’s intestinal fortitude, I doubt anyone will get him to waver from his position.

After a relatively quiet rookie season for the 49ers in 2010, Kyle Williams was a contributor for San Francisco on both special teams and in the passing game, catching 20 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns, this past season. He notoriously muffed one punt and fumbled in San Francisco’s NFC Championship Game loss to the New York Giants.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Tension between the front office and former manager Ozzie Guillen cost the Chicago White Sox games last season, according to captain Paul Konerko, who said the team was "just giving away games."

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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. -- The day he took over the Chicago White Sox's front office in October 2000, Kenny Williams wasn't bashful. That much hasn't changed.

Speaking with the assembled media Thursday for the first time since pitchers and catchers reported to Camelback Ranch to begin spring training, Williams recalled the first day he took the position. He stated then that his goal was to win multiple World Series titles during that tenure. It hasn’t happened. And as camp opens, the White Sox’s 2005 championship is in the rearview mirror.

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CHICAGO -- Chicago White Sox general manager Ken Williams is still feeling his son's pain.

Kyle Williams of the San Francisco 49ers muffed one punt and fumbled another in last Sunday's NFC Championship Game as the New York Giants earned a berth in the Super Bowl. His fumble in overtime set up Lawrence Tynes' winning field goal in New York's 20-17 victory.

"As a father, it was absolutely awful. Even if it weren't my kid, I'd still feel bad for what happened," Ken Williams said Friday night at the White Sox winter festival.

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CHICAGO – Typically a feisty place to be when expectations are low, the opening night of SoxFest was instead a rather tame affair Friday as one-liners were abundant and tough questions were few and far between.

General manager Kenny Williams heard a mix of cheers and boos when he was introduced before the partisan White Sox crowd at the opening ceremonies, suggesting that his opening-night seminar could get interesting.

After all, when the White Sox had lowered expectations before the 2004 and 2008 seasons, SoxFest interaction was tense. In 2004, one fan said he had basically given up on that season and asked what was in store for the following year. An angry Williams shot back at the fan.

With fans given an open microphone to ask questions of a panel that consisted of broadcaster Steve Stone, manager Robin Ventura and Williams, the only thing close to a challenge of the GM came when a fan asked about the night in September when Ozzie Guillen was released from his White Sox contract.

The fan wanted to know why Williams’ opening remark at the Guillen press conference was, “I have nothing profound to say.” The suggestion was that Williams was disrespecting Guillen’s eight seasons as manager. Instead, it appeared at the time that Williams declined to make an opening statement and wanted to go straight to questions from the media.

There was no mention of the club’s reduced payroll, the departure of Mark Buehrle or the lack of major additions to a club that fell out of contention swiftly at the start of the final month of the season.

In one of the evening’s lighter moments, all members of the panel were asked for their most memorable moment as a player. Ventura went with the 1993 White Sox division champions, while Stone mentioned starting the 1980 All-Star Game.

Williams talked about his first at-bat in the major leagues when his knees were shaking so much that he had to ask for time. He eventually grounded out to third base. “And it was all downhill from there,” Williams said, noting that his career was far less accomplished than Ventura’s or Stone’s.

It was a far cry from what Williams seemed to anticipate just before he took the stage for the seminar.

“It kind of comes with the territory,” Williams said of getting booed. “When the team plays well, the players and the coaching staff get the accolades. That’s great. It’s as it should be. When the team plays poorly, it’s the GM and owner’s fault. It is what it is. It’s part of the deal.”

Since the club ended up winning the World Series one year after the 2004 SoxFest blowup and advanced to the postseason in 2007, Williams was asked if the boos were a good omen.

“You never know,” Williams said. “Maybe the third time is a charm.”

Williams told a story about how he was cheered upon entering a Chicago steakhouse at this time last year for acquiring Adam Dunn and re-signing Paul Konerko. He claims he tried not to take it to heart because those cheers can turn to boos, which they have.

“People are passionate about their sports and they have a right to point a finger at who they want,” said Williams, who is not scheduled to participate on another panel the rest of the weekend . “I’ve got broad shoulders so I would rather, over the years, I’d rather they point the finger at me rather than somebody who isn’t as equipped as I am to carry the weight.”

CHICAGO -- The White Sox announced a preliminary schedule for the Jan 27-29 SoxFest at the Palmer House Hilton and the fireworks are expected to come early.

Confirmed for the opening night of the annual winter event is a seminar featuring general manager Kenny Williams and new manager Robin Ventura.

Williams’ opening night session has been known to feature a tense back-and-forth with fans, especially when expectations aren’t high for the upcoming season. That appears to be the case for the 2012 season as the White Sox shifted into a quasi rebuilding mode.

Also confirmed for the opening night is a seminar called “State of the Game” with commissioner Bud Selig and broadcaster Hawk Harrelson.

Ventura has seminars all three days, including those with his coaching staff on Saturday and Sunday. Members of the 2005 World Series club have seminars both Saturday and Sunday.

Current players scheduled to appear at SoxFest are Gordon Beckham, John Danks, A.J. Pierzynski, Paul Konerko Dayan Viciedo, Adam Dunn, Brent Morel, Alexei Ramirez, Chris Sale and Jake Peavy, among others.

Also scheduled to appear are members of the 2005 World Series champions including: Joe Crede, Neal Cotts, Frank Thomas, Pablo Ozuna and Cliff Politte.

For more SoxFest information, and a complete list of players who will be in attendance, visit whitesox.com/soxfest.

The second coming of Jose Contreras is on the way. Or at least that’s what Chicago White Sox general manager Kenny Williams suggested Saturday.

Explaining the trade that sent Carlos Quentin to the San Diego Padres and yielded minor-league pitchers Simon Castro and Pedro Hernandez, Williams seemed to put most of his expectations on Castro.

“Castro, as I was looking at him on tape, Castro reminds me of Jose Contreras when we got him and there were things he was doing [mechanically] that were counter-productive,” Williams said. “There are a lot of similarities and hopefully we can get the most out of him.”

Does that mean when you squint really hard you are reminded of Contreras? Or can this guy really lead a starting rotation to an 11-1 run during the postseason?

Williams sounded annoyed that he had to reiterate his comparison.

“There are some similarities we see in him that remind us of Jose and some of the issues he has had this past year that he didn’t have before,” Williams said of Castro’s disappointing 7-8 season with a 5.63 ERA at both Double-A and Triple-A. “Sometimes guys get out of whack. This guy is 6-foot-5, throws 90-95 [mph], a lower three-quarter angle and gets around balls but can drop a hard split and he can locate, when he’s right.”

To Williams’ credit, the Contreras comparison isn’t completely off the wall. Castro was the Padres’ minor-league pitcher of the year in 2009 and that success continued a year later. In 2010 he was a midseason and postseason Texas League All-Star and pitched in the Futures Game that season.

Last season, though, on a deep staff at Double-A for the Padres, he had mechanical issues. Despite it he still got six starts at Triple-A, but posted an ERA over 10.

“He will be the first to admit that he didn’t distinguish himself among some of his peers,” Williams said. “We have to get him back there. Just one year ago you wouldn’t have been able to get this kind of guy.”

Consider it yet another reclamation project for pitching coach Don Cooper, who was there to help Contreras turn it around.

Nobody really expects Castro to take over the rotation and lead the White Sox to the World Series next season, but he and Hernandez could see time in the big leagues in 2012.

“Castro twice was a top-100 prospect even though he scuffled at times [last season],” Padres GM Josh Byrnes said. “He was still low to mid-90s [mph fastball], slider, change up and a great kid.”

That makes two big-league GMs with high praise for Castro, although Byrnes was the one who just traded away the right-hander.

DALLAS – Exactly one year ago, as the winter meetings headed toward a close, the White Sox basked in the glow of re-signing Paul Konerko.

Flash forward one year and the White Sox are set to limp out of this year's meetings having lost one of the most memorable pitchers in franchise history in Mark Buehrle.

What a difference a year makes, indeed.

Along with Buehrle, the White Sox also lost Sergio Santos this week as the club’s young closer was dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays for a minor-league pitcher.

Seemingly out of steam Wednesday evening, Kenny Williams said he didn’t expect any more movement in the near future which, at the very least, would stop the bleeding.

“I’ve met with a lot of people but I don’t expect anything to happen,” in response to a rumor that he discussed John Danks and Gavin Floyd with the Boston Red Sox.

Williams thought he was coming to Dallas with some quality goods with which to barter. Instead he loses two high profile pitchers and gets back a young pitcher that not many people know much about, including Williams himself.

On Tuesday after Nestor Molina was acquired from the Blue Jays, Williams said the right-hander was pitching well in winter ball. Later it was discovered that Molina hadn’t thrown an inning this winter as the Blue Jays shut him down to prevent him from accumulating innings.

To say these winter meetings didn’t go the way the White Sox expected is an understatement. Williams was asked if there was less activity than expected.

“Yeah, but not just from us,” he said. “I had gone into these meetings thinking these would be more trade meetings than free-agent meetings. I think it’s turned out to be quite the opposite.”

The Florida Marlins have stolen the show, including one of the White Sox’s most popular players.

“I’m always disappointed that we don’t get more done,” Williams said. “Even when we do get something done it always seems like it’s not enough. It’s just the nature of the business.”

As he sees it now, Williams says he doesn’t expect to trade any more of his pitching. But that could change if somebody wows him with an offer for Danks or Floyd.

“The price is high,” Williams said. “They’re pretty good pitchers, pretty good players and I’m not so sure people want me to set the price low. I don’t know that that would be too smart.”

With just one day to go in these meetings a report surfaced that the most popular White Sox player being asked for by rival general managers was Brent Lillibridge. That couldn’t have been what the White Sox expected.

“I think I stood in front of you guys when the offseason began and said we would explore all opportunities but not attempt to do anything unless it could bring a potential impact player back – or players,” Williams said. “That hasn’t come about and we are where we are.

“It’s not the worst thing in the world to go into the season with pitching that you like and position players that you like and you just hope a few of them will rebound. If we can do a little bit of both, rebuilding of the minor-league system and compete at the major-league level, that’s not the worst thing in the world. We’ll try to evolve from there.”