It’s hard enough for these players to do their job under normal circumstances. I would think it would be totally distracting to do their job while trade rumors swirl.

I am talking about Gavin Floyd, who made his first official start Tuesday in Peoria. Floyd’s name has been bandied about since the end of last season. I don’t know where they got started, or who actually starts them, but Floyd can’t be too happy to hear his name pop up again.

He showed the Sox what they would be missing if they decided to send him to the Blue Jays. Oops, sorry, but the Sox trade train nearly always makes a stop in Toronto.

Floyd, rumors and all, pitched 4 good innings. He struck out 5 Padres, while pitching out of a few jams. It was a nice start for him. His stock went up after this outing.

It was nice to see Paul Konerko reach base. The Captain is off to a slow spring start, but today flashed his wheels by beating out an infield single. That may be one of the 2 infield singles Konerko will leg out this year.

I know people poo poo defense in search of offensive stats, but if you get a chance you have to check out Brent Morel. The Sox 3rd baseman is going to win multiple gold gloves before he’s done. I will go out on a limb and say that Morel, Gordon Beckham and Alexei Ramirez will form one of the best infield defenses in baseball in 2012.

Adam Dunn didn’t play today die to a sore neck. There is a joke in there somewhere. Anyhow, it was a good thing that he took the day off.

If there is one thing I have learned about baseball players is that everything has to be working perfectly, or other problems crop up. Dunn plays with a sore neck, changes his swing, and bam, we have a repeat of last year. He needs to be healthy for the Sox to contend, and missing a spring training game means a little more than nothing.

Had a long conversation with Sox pitching coach Don Cooper today. Coop is plethora of information, and a great talker. He’s knows so much about pitching and pitchers. If he ever went on a baseball speaking tour, word of mouth would get around so fast, tickets would be impossible to find.

Sox get their 2nd look at the Angels tomorrow at Camelback. Here’s betting that Albert Pujols will miss the bus to the game. Not fair!