NEW YORK -- You've got to love Ozzie Guillen.

Wednesday, he told reporters that he wouldn't start Jose Contreras again because, "I've got three kids, and I want to see my grandkids when they are born. I don't want to get a heart attack before my time."

Friday, Guillen named Contreras his starting pitcher for Saturday's game against the Yankees.

"I don't have any choices," said Guillen, after his team lost 5-2 to the Yankees to fall into third place in the American League Central for the first time this month.

The White Sox have lost four of the first five games on a trip to Boston, New York, Minnesota and Wrigley Field, to fall five games behind the first-place Tigers. They're in danger of falling out of the race before Jake Peavy even makes his Sox debut.

Peavy was at Yankee Stadium Friday afternoon, but he was scheduled to fly to Norfolk, Va., Friday night. Peavy will start for Triple-A Charlotte, in what should be his final minor-league rehab start.

"Obviously, that's what I'm hoping for," Peavy said. "I hope I can go five or six, maybe even seven, and throw 100 pitches or so. Hopefully after that I'll be ready to start here."

Peavy said the White Sox haven't decided when that first start would be. He would be on schedule to start a Thursday makeup game against the Cubs, but that game will be played under National League rules, and the White Sox might prefer not to have him test his ankle while running the bases. Peavy went on the disabled list with an ankle injury in early June, when he was pitching for the Padres.

The White Sox originally hoped that Jake Peavy would debut for them this week in Boston or New York.

Now it appears he won't make his White Sox debut until the team returns home next week. Peavy had to cut short a throwing session on Wednesday in Boston, and the White Sox announced this afternoon that he will make another minor-league rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Charlotte.

That would put Peavy on schedule to pitch in a Thursday makeup game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. It's not clear yet whether the White Sox will use Peavy in that game.

Peavy is coming back from an ankle injury suffered when he was pitching for the Padres in early June, but his latest problem is that he was hit on the right elbow by a line drive in a Monday night minor-league rehabilitation start.

The Sox, who have lost the first three games of a killer 11-game trip against the Red Sox, Yankees, Twins and Cubs, will likely have Peavy make at least one more minor-league start.

It's not always significant when a player goes on trade waivers.

It means nothing, for example, that the Tigers put 20-year-old Rick Porcello through the waiver process this week, and it means nothing that the Mets did the same with Johan Santana. Neither pitcher is getting traded, and if either one is claimed, the team will simply pull him back and nothing will happen.

But with 11 days to go before the deadline for setting postseason rosters, a few of the names on the wire this week could be of interest.

Among them:

-- Mets reliever Billy Wagner. It's highly unlikely that Wagner would get claimed, since he's coming off Tommy John surgery and has a contract that guarantees him almost $2 million for the rest of this year, plus another $1 million to buy out his 2010 option. But the Mets expect to activate Wagner from the disabled list Friday, and if he proves he's healthy, he could be a reasonable addition to a contender's bullpen. By the way, the Mets also put Luis Castillo, Elmer Dessens and Nelson Figueroa through the waiver process this week.

-- White Sox starter Freddy Garcia. Garcia gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings Tuesday, in his first big-league start of the year. Not good. But could he be an option for a National League team?

-- Royals starter Gil Meche. He has a huge contract ($12 million each of the next two years), and the Royals haven't been anxious to deal him. But he's beaten the Twins and White Sox this month (both with five-inning starts).

In other waiver news, Reds starters Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo have both cleared waivers, as has Orioles pitcher Mark Hendrickson. But Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and closer Heath Bell were both blocked.

A waiver primer: When a player clears waivers (meaning no team puts in a claim), he can be traded to any team. When a player is claimed, the team that put the player on waivers has two days to either let the claim go through, pull the player back (in which case he can't be traded this season) or work out a trade with the claiming team. If there are multiple claims, the claim is awarded to the team that is lower in the standings.

NEW YORK -- Ken Williams got the guy he wanted.

Again.

Less than two weeks after trading for Jake Peavy, the pitcher he had long coveted, the White Sox general manager has acquired Alex Rios, an outfielder he has long been interested in. Rios went to the White Sox Monday in a straight waiver claim, with the Blue Jays simply allowing Chicago to take his contract, without getting a player in return.

Rios is expected play center field for the White Sox, who are three games behind the Tigers in the American League Central. There's a chance he could move to right field in the future, since Jermaine Dye is in the final year of his contract and is unlikely to return in 2010.

In Rios and Peavy, the Sox have added more than $110 million in payroll obligations. Rios and Peavy alone are owed nearly $25 million next year, $28 million in 2011 and $29 million in 2012.

Rios is having just a so-so season with Toronto, hitting .264 with 14 home runs, 62 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. Some scouts view him as a potential 30-30 player (30 homers, 30 steals).

"I think he's a good player not having a good year," Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi said. "I'd be surprised if he's not playing on an All-Star team again someday."

So why did Ricciardi let the 28-year-old Rios go, without even getting a player back?

Simple. With the Blue Jays' reduced payroll, and with baseball's new economic realities, Rios' contract no longer made sense for Toronto. Rios signed a seven-year, $69.835 million contract in April 2008, and he's due nearly $60 million over the next five years. Meanwhile, the Jays have cut their payroll to the $80 million range, and already have one untradeable contract with Vernon Wells, whose salary goes up to $23 million in 2011.

"In a lot of ways, cash is king going forward," Ricciardi said. "This allows us to address some needs we have."

Ricciardi originally hoped to get a player in return for Rios, but the White Sox told him they wouldn't give anyone up unless Toronto paid some of Rios' contract. In the end, the Jays decided that more financial flexibility was better than anyone they could get from Chicago.

"We have other needs," he said. "We need a catcher, and we need a shortstop. Can we fill extra holes, as opposed to holding onto one player?"

When the White Sox claimed Rios last week, the Jays had three choices. They could pull Rios back off waivers, in which case he couldn't be traded for the rest of the season. They could work out a trade with Chicago. Or they could simply let the claim go through, with the White Sox assuming the entire contract.

Eventually, the Jays decided on the third option.

And with that, Ken Williams had his man.

NEW YORK -- Alex Rios was in the original Blue Jays tonight against the Yankees, but has been taken out after the team allowed his waiver claim to go through.

The Jays were facing a 1:30 EDT Tuesday deadline to trade Rios or let him be claimed him on waivers (sources said it was the White Sox), or to pull him back off waivers. The move gives the White Sox a player that general manager Ken Williams has long wanted, and gives the Blue Jays more payroll flexibility.

By dropping Rios, the Jays will get some return for him, and will also be able to spend the money he's due (nearly $60 million over the next five years) on addressing multiple other needs.

Rios, a 28-year-old outfielder, has hit .264 with 14 home runs and 62 RBI in 108 games this season. Scouts view him as potentially a 30-30 player (30 home runs, 30 steals), but also as a player who has underachieved the last two years.

Rios is capable of playing center field, and it's possible he would play there for the White Sox if they acquire him. Rios could then slot into right field next season, as Jermaine Dye is in the last year of his contract.

The early word on trade waivers is that quite a few players are getting claimed, even some with large salaries.

Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios, who is guaranteed nearly $60 million over the next five years, was claimed last week, two baseball sources confirmed to CBSSports.com. One source said that the claiming team is the White Sox. While the Blue Jays could simply let the claim go through and offload Rios' contract, it's believed that they keep Rios if the White Sox don't offer them enough in return. The teams had 48 hours to make a deal, a time period that is believed to run through Monday.

Also claimed, according to sources, was Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada. The claiming team isn't known, but also isn't important, because the Astros have already pulled Tejada back and now can't trade him. Tejada is making $13 million this year, on the final year of his contract.

The Rays aren't believed to be the team that blocked Tejada, but sources said that Tampa Bay has been active in claiming any low-salary players, effectively blocking them from being traded to the Yankees or Red Sox.

Teams put most of their players through waivers at some point in August. If the player goes through unclaimed, he is eligible to be traded to any team. If a player is claimed by one or more teams, that player can only be dealt in the 48 hours after the claim is awarded (to the claiming team that is lowest in the standings).

When a player is claimed, the team that put him through waivers has three choices: pull back the claim (at which point the player can no longer be traded), trade him to the team making the claim, or simply allow him to go to the claiming team without getting a player in return.

According to baseball rules, the waiver process is secret, and teams and officials are not allowed to comment or even confirm claims.

Most of the time, when it’s a record you’ve never heard of, it’s not a very important record.

Who remembered that Jim Barr once retired 42 consecutive batters? Who remembers that Bobby Jenks tied the record two summers ago?

Barr did it over two starts, 37 years ago, without ever throwing a no-hitter. Jenks did it over 14 relief appearances.

Really, it was one of baseball’s more obscure records. Really, it seemed more an oddity than a great accomplishment to be celebrated.

Today, it feels like it matters, because Mark Buehrle made it matter.

Today, Mark Buehrle owns a record that we might remember for a while, because of how he did it. His 45 straight outs included a perfect game last week against the Rays, and also a remarkable 5 2/3 perfect innings tonight against the Twins.

As Twins announcer Dick Bremer said, just seconds before Buehrle walked Alexi Casilla with two out in the sixth, “I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

I was thinking the exact same thing. If you were watching, I’ll bet you were, too.

“At least in the game with the Rays, they hit some line drives,” Bremer said.

No kidding.

This one was looking too easy. This time Buehrle didn’t need Dewayne Wise, because the Twins weren’t hitting any fly balls, let alone any fly balls headed over the fence.

This time, we were sending updates across the internet after every inning.

First inning, 31 consecutive batters. Second inning, 34. Third inning, 37.

Last Thursday’s game was one of those we’ll remember forever, but for most of us, we really didn’t start paying attention until the sixth or seventh inning.

Tonight, we were watching right from the start.

We couldn’t believe what we were seeing.

And you know what’s funny?

By the time the streak ended, by the time Mark Buehrle finally wasn’t perfect anymore, he had us so convinced that he was supposed to retire every batter he faced.

A walk? Alexi Casilla? You’ve got to be kidding.

And now a hit? It can’t be.

That’s fine. Mark Buehrle has his record.

Not only that, but he turned it into a record well worth having. Next time somebody asks which pitcher holds the record for most consecutive batters retired, we might even get the answer right.

Mark Buehrle.

Of course.

Here at CBSSports.com, we're never sure quite what to make of the All-Star final vote.

On the one hand, it's a blatant attempt to get people to go to another website, namely mlb.com . On the other, it's a cute way to limit the talk of All-Star snubs, because the fans get to pick one last player and right one wrong.

Mostly, we haven't paid it much attention, which is why we were so surprised to hear that one of the contenders this year is a guy named Brantorino.

Search as we can through baseball-reference.com , and we can't find a single guy by that name playing baseball right now. Can't find anyone on the baseball cube , either.

It turns out this is yet another marketing ploy, but one that intrigues us. It turns out that the Tigers and Phillies got together on this one, with the Tigers encouraging their fans to vote not only for their own third baseman, Brandon Inge, but also for the Phillies' center fielder, Shane Victorino.

Thus, Brantorino, which has the advantage of sounding a little like Gran Torino, the Clint Eastwood movie set in suburban Detroit.

Other than that? Well, there's really not much connection between the Phillies and the Tigers, or between Inge and Victorino, for that matter.

But the Phillies and Tigers were a little concerned when they saw the Rangers and Giants seeming to pair up to push Ian Kinsler and Pablo Sandoval (which only began as a "If you get your employees to vote Pablo, we'll get ours to vote Ian" deal), and by Angels and Dodgers coming up with a "Vote SoCal" campaign for Chone Figgins and James Loney.

Thus, Brantorino, which only came together Wednesday morning, but has already resulted in press releases asking businesses in Pennsylvania and Michigan to allow their employees enough computer time to vote for both Victorino and Inge.

It's not bad, although it's not the best final vote campaign we've ever heard of.

That honor still rests with the White Sox, who got A.J. Pierzynski to the 2006 All-Star Game by urging fans to "Punch A.J." Perfect, since Pierzynski is the player so many fans (and opponents and teammates) love to hate.