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Harris expected to rejoin club Monday in St. Petersburg
By Scott Merkin / MLB.com

Jon Garland will be arbitration-eligible after the 2005 season. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)
White Sox Headlines

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CHICAGO -- Jon Garland doesn't even try to figure out the cause for his immense success over the first five starts. The American League Pitcher of the Month for April simply wants to continue giving his team a chance for success.
Garland has the same "out of sight, out of mind" approach in regards to his future with the White Sox. The 25-year-old right-hander will be eligible for arbitration after the 2005 campaign, meaning the White Sox will have control over him once again.

The team avoided arbitration with Garland during the past offseason by agreeing to a one-year, $3.4 million deal. But even with the team having a recent history of taking care of its top young players with long-term contracts, it's not an issue currently working on Garland's psyche.

"If they want to talk about it, they can call my agent and talk about it," Garland told MLB.com on the possibility of signing a multi-year deal. "The way I'm going, the way the team is playing, I don't want to worry about it or think about it. We will wait until the season ends."

During Spring Training, the White Sox made it clear that the possibility of a new contract for first baseman Paul Konerko would not be decided until after the season and that negotiations would not be talked about in the media. The same plan probably will be followed with Garland, who has been pitching as well as any hurler in the Major Leagues through five weeks.

Mark Buehrle, Tuesday night's starter, currently is signed through 2006, with a club option for 2007. Shortstop Juan Uribe was inked to a multi-year deal through 2007, with a club option for 2008, while center fielder Aaron Rowand is signed through 2006, with mutual options for 2007. Reliever Damaso Marte also will be with the team through 2006, with club options for 2007 and 2008.

Although Garland's talent, youth and 5-0 record with a 1.38 ERA make him another likely candidate to join that group, he figures to have to sustain that success throughout the course of 2005.

"I want to keep going out and try to do as well as I've been doing," Garland said. "People are trying to tell me, 'Well, figure out what you're doing and stay with it.' I don't want to figure it out. I just want to do well for my team."

Familiar face: When Jamie Burke was taken off the 40-man roster during the offseason to make room for A.J. Pierzynski, the journeyman catcher/infielder knew it would be a tough road to break camp out of Spring Training with the White Sox. When Burke was passed over for fellow non-roster invite Chris Widger, he wasn't sure if a return to the South Side ever would be in the cards.

But there was Burke on Tuesday, arriving in the White Sox clubhouse two hours prior to game time, after his contract was purchased from Triple-A Charlotte and he was added to the 40-man roster. With Ross Gload on the disabled list and infielder Willie Harris placed on the Major League Bereavement List prior to the series opener with Kansas City, the White Sox needed Burke more as a corner infield presence than as a catcher.

Burke, 33, hit .284 with three home runs and nine RBIs for the Knights. He played 19 of his 23 games at third base.

"When I went down, they said I would play third every day," Burke said. "It's good I can play that spot and I feel comfortable there. It's good that I also had a chance to catch. The only difference with catching is when you go back to third, your legs are a little more tired."

Major League Baseball rules state that Harris must remain on the bereavement list for a minimum of three days. Manager Ozzie Guillen talked to Harris on Tuesday morning and didn't expect him back with the team until the Tampa Bay series to start next week.

Back in action: After missing four games with a sore right groin, Uribe returned to shortstop Tuesday with a single to left and a run scored in the third. Pablo Ozuna still is day-to-day with a sore left wrist after getting hit by a pitch.

Guillen wants Ozuna close to 100 percent, as Uribe announced he was Tuesday.

"He told me he's ready to go," Guillen said of Uribe. "I'm going to trust my players when they talk to me about how healthy they are."

A Minor call to arms: The strained muscle in Gio Gonzalez's right side is nothing of major concern, according to Dave Wilder, the White Sox's director of player development. Gonzalez, 19, was shut down more as a precautionary measure, with a focus on the left-hander being healthy to last the entire South Atlantic League season, as opposed to simply continuing his torrid start.

The sandwich pick between the first and second rounds of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft has a 2-1 record with a 1.23 ERA over four starts, leading the league with 37 strikeouts in 22 innings. Gonzalez will not come back to action until the Intimidators return home to the warmth of North Carolina at the beginning of next week.

Brandon McCarthy joins Gonzalez as a league leader in strikeouts, with the right-hander's total of 40 for Triple-A Charlotte topping the International League. Burke, who played primarily at third for the Knights but caught three games last week, gave high marks to McCarthy's effort and pointed out that his 4.25 ERA is a bit deceiving.

"You have to understand where we are playing," said Burke of the small parks in the International League. "He has given up a couple of home runs that obviously you wouldn't get out of any other parks.

"He's doing a great job. He's McCarthy. If they need someone, he's ready to come up and help."

Robert Person, the veteran right-hander who ruptured his Achilles prior to coming to White Sox Spring Training in 2004 as a non-roster invite, also impressed Burke. Despite Person getting hit hard in his only start for Charlotte, Burke said that Person has a live arm and his offspeed pitches and splitter looked great. Person will have three or four more starts at Charlotte to prove that he has the stuff to possibly help the White Sox at the Major League level.

Down on the farm: Jerry Owens had three hits, raising his average to .453 over the last 12 games, during Double-A Birmingham's 4-3 loss to West Tennessee. Chris Young picked up his 13th RBI. Layne Berry had three hits and Francisco Hernandez added two hits and two RBIs during Kannapolis' 6-5 loss at Hagerstown. Leo Daigle hit his third home run in Class A Winston-Salem's 7-2 setback at Frederick.

On deck: Freddy Garcia dominated the Royals during a start in Kansas City on April 22, allowing two runs on four hits over seven innings. Garcia, who will be opposed by Runelvys Hernandez on Wednesday, ranks fifth in the American League with a .210 opponents' average and ninth with his 2.83 ERA.