Reading Room: Ozzie adds input to Cooper drama

Don Cooper has been an employee of the White Sox since 1988, and over the last 23 years, he developed into one of baseball's finest pitching coaches on the strength of his ability to teach old dogs new tricks.

Given his decades-old association with the club and the performance of his pitchers, it's not unusual for the White Sox to prioritize his return over the rest of the coaching staff.

Of course Joe Cowley -- using the words of Ozzie Guillen -- chooses to interpret Cooper's extension in a different light.

"Cooper needs to look in the mirror,’’ Guillen told the Sun-Times. "He didn’t back-stab me. I know who he is. He back-stabbed his fellow coaches, the guys he worked with for years. You got family? That’s fine. Everyone does. We all knew Coop was Kenny’s b----.

"Look, Coop is not a good coach; he’s a great coach. But Coop is Coop. He doesn’t worry about anyone; he worries about himself. I stuck up for my coaches like a m-----------.

And at the end, Guillen drops this gem:

"Since last year, this was about integrity, it was about loyalty, it was about do they want me here. Let me say it my way: The Sox were saying, ‘Yes, we want to f--- you, but we don’t want to marry you.’ ’’

Was that before or after Guillen f---ed the White Sox with his managing?

While Guillen made his voice heard through the Sun-Times, Kenny Williams chose to respond through the funny pages. See what I'm talking about below the jump.

(h/t to Kurt at Baseball Think Factory)

Christian Marrero Reading Room

• Jim Thome could join Mark Parent on White Sox’ coaching staff - Chicago Sun-Times

STRETCH! Daryl Van Schouwen pulls out the Jump to Conclusions Mat after hearing that Jerry Reinsdorf wanted to move up his dinner date with the Gentleman Masher, though it's a neat thought.

In fact, it led me to a couple others:

1. This wouldn't be much different from Mark McGwire serving as the St. Louis Cardinals' hitting coach. That decision raised plenty of eyebrows, but the Cardinals seem happy with it.
2. This would be the second time Thome took the job Frank Thomas wanted. It would take a lot of Big Hurt Beer to ease that big hurt.
   

• Brewers owner Attanasio appears right at home in Milwaukee - SI.com

Also filing under "wait and see," Jon Heyman says the White Sox are expected to try to bring back Mark Buehrle on a two-year deal. That's not nearly as far-fetched as Jim Thome: Hitting Coach, but it seems like the process will be a seven-week ordeal still.

Plus, the White Sox might have to increase their offer to three years in order to catch his attention. I mean, if they leave it at two, then how can Buehrle resist that sexy, sexy offer to bolt to the Boston bullpen?

• Biggest moments of White Sox' 2011 season - White Sox Observer

James looks at the five biggest plays on each side of the ledger, as determined by WPA.

• A Post-2011 AL Central All Star Team - Beyond the Box Score

Satchel Price names his divisional All-Star team, and it's bad news in tennis shoes when no White Sox are in the starting lineup.

(Also, Satchel notes that fWAR gives Gavin Floyd a better year than Mark Buehrle.)

• White Sox Carlos Quentin strives to find balance - whitesox.com
  

RIPPED FROM 2009'S HEADLINES!

• Scout: Sox's drafts more productive than perceived - chicagotribune.com
• Not Everybody Hates The White Sox Drafts - South Side Asylum

One scout says the White Sox haven't had a real drafting problem, and that is probably true enough. It just happens to be low tide at the pier right now, due to a recent spate of graduations.

I think the Sox scouting department does OK with what it has. The problem is that it doesn't have a lot due to circumstances beyond its control. No team spends less on the draft than the White Sox, because they simply don't prioritize it, whether by failing to collect high-round draft picks or losing they ones they have. Sometimes they'll shed a first-day pick by signing a Type A free agent, and other times they'll trade David Holmberg. Throw in the lack of an international system, and you'll have a farm system that can't help but hit rough patches. This is one of them.

Also, consult Larry's AFL FanPost for discussion on MLB.com's organizational all-stars.

And finally....

I laughed.