GM Williams on the White Sox: 'We're a lot better than people think'

The White Sox have looked bad so far in Arizona, but general manager Ken Williams said Wednesday that his team is "a lot better than some people think."

PHOENIX -- Tuesday, I talked to a scout who has followed the White Sox this spring and said they might lose 100 games this year.

Wednesday, White Sox general manager Ken Williams responded.

"I think we're going to be a lot better than some people think -- a lot better," Williams said.

The White Sox haven't looked good in Arizona. They lost eight of their first 10 games, and fell far behind again Wednesday before rallying against a group of pitchers who won't make the Angels' major-league roster.

Meanwhile, Jake Peavy has struggled, with another scout saying that Peavy "isn't the same guy. Even his body language shows it."

Williams expressed confidence that Peavy will have a bounce-back year, saying that the right-hander is healthier than he has been since coming to the White Sox in a midseason trade in 2009.

"He's got something to prove," Williams said.

Williams also said he believes several White Sox hitters -- notably Adam Dunn, Alex Rios and Gordon Beckham -- will show improvement.

"We have some particular guys who struggled, who are in so much better position to hit," he said. "If we can keep them right where they are right now, they'll have tremendously better seasons."

Williams began last winter by saying that he planned to rebuild, if he could get the deals he was looking for. As it turned out, though, Williams only traded closer Sergio Santos and outfielder Carlos Quentin.

There's still a chance that he could trade pitcher Gavin Floyd this spring, although Williams insists that he hasn't had any trade talks about Floyd since spring training began. Some people even believe that Williams would still be open to trading John Danks, even after Danks signed a five-year contract over the winter.

Without discussing which players were involved, Williams admitted Wednesday that he was willing to do more "rebuilding" than he has done so far.

"We looked to see if we could acquire some of the game's most impactful young players," he said. "Our target list was our target list. We set the price high, and we stuck with it."

Now, some outside the organization wonder if they're stuck with a team that can't win. The early spring games haven't done much to change that thought.

Then again, as one scout remembered Wednesday, the two teams that looked the worst in Arizona last spring were the Diamondbacks and the Indians.

The Diamondbacks went on to win the National League West. The Indians led the American League Central for most of the first half of the season.