In introducing starting pitcher Javier Vazquez to the White Sox, general manager Ken Williams quickly assessed his off-season retooling that has seen eight players go from their 2005 World Series title team.
“I didn’t think that, if we brought back the same exact team, we were going to win,” Williams said Tuesday night during a conference call.
As expected, the Sox didn’t tender contracts to outfielder Timo Perez and infielder Willie Harris by Tuesday’s 11 p.m. deadline.
Also not offered contracts were pitchers Felix Diaz and Jon Adkins. All four become free agents.
With Perez and Harris gone, and with plans to carry a 12-man pitching staff, the Sox’s bench will have a new look.
Infielder Rob Mackowiak is able to play the outfield, so the Sox could opt for only one extra outfielder.
Switch-hitter Joe Borchard is out of options but went 3-for-4 in a pinch-hitting role last year. Borchard, 27, is out of minor-league options and must make the team out of spring training or be placed on waivers.
Borchard, however, might have caught a break because Jerry Owens, one of the organization’s top outfield prospects, didn’t please Sox officials when he left his Venezuelan League team to return home.
Owens was batting .356 in 180 at-bats and had 11 stolen bases for La Guaira, but Sox officials wanted to take a longer look at him as a potential backup outfielder on the Opening Day roster.
Sox third-base coach Joey Cora is La Guaira’s manager, and Sox manager Ozzie Guillen is a Venezuelan resident in the off-season whom Owens impressed with his play in November.
Williams revealed that the Sox were likely to enter spring training with six starting pitchers.
That would include Jon Garland, who is arbitration-eligible but is being shopped for pitching prospects, and Jose Contreras, who recently rejected an extension.
If Garland isn’t dealt, 22-year-old Brandon McCarthy could be sent to the bullpen if he doesn’t beat out one of the five starters.
“I’m not afraid one bit to put Brandon in the rotation, but ideally you’d like to have an opportunity to work a guy into a whole major-league season,” Williams said.
McCarthy, however, could be given a better opportunity in March because Mark Buehrle (United States), Freddy Garcia (Venezuela) and Vazquez (Puerto Rico) will miss much of spring training because of their participation in the first World Baseball Classic.
Vazquez, 29, whose acquisition from Arizona for pitchers Orlando Hernandez and Luis Vizcaino and outfield prospect Chris Young finally was approved Tuesday, said he has started throwing and will begin pitching off a mound next week.
“It’s going to accelerate what I usually do,” Vazquez said. “But that’s the only thing.”
Vazquez and Williams concurred that Vazquez should revert to his 2001-03 form that he displayed with the Montreal Expos, when he posted an ERA under 4.00 and pitched at least 223 innings.
“Last year I was inconsistent, but I made a lot of strides,” said Vazquez, who was 11-15 with a 4.42 ERA but allowed three earned runs or fewer in 21 of his 33 starts.
“Hopefully, this next year will be a better year for me.”
Williams pointed to the Sox’s track record of acquiring or sticking with players who rebound from bad years such as Scott Podsednik, Juan Uribe, Contreras and Garland.
“This goes back to pure scouting and looking beyond the obvious,” Williams said.
Vazquez also will be reunited with Guillen, who was one of his coaches in Montreal in 2001.
– As expected, the Sox hired Alan Regier as their minor-league field coordinator.
Regier has worked in scouting and minor-league departments for the Cubs, Atlanta and Milwaukee.
Regier recently served as a professional scout for the Red Sox.
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mgonzales@tribune.com
