According to Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000, the White Sox are currently scouting the Padres minor leagues heavily. He reports that the Sox main target is set-up man Scott Linebrink. I can't see the Padres parting with Linebrink while they're in the middle of division race, and their GM expressed the same thoughts.
"I've had almost every club in baseball calling about (Linebrink)," Towers said. "Almost no one has two guys (to set up and close). It's not that I don't value an everyday position player, but I think what's kept us in the hunt the last two or three years has been our bullpen, even when our offense wasn't clicking."
The Padres reportedly turned down a Linebrink for Kearns deal.
I have a hard time figuring out how the Sox and Padres would be a fit. You have to figure that they would ask for Josh Fields since they have the worst offensive output in baseball from their third basemen. The Sox wouldn't be scouting the minor leagues if the deal was simply Linebrink for Fields, so I wonder if there isn't a starter involved.