The wish for a "drama-free" year lasted all of nine days for Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.

Guillen responded Saturday to comments by former closer Bobby Jenks, saying he feels bad for the new Boston Red Sox reliever.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Jenks, a former Prairie American Legion standout, was critical of the White Sox front office.

"A lot of the stuff with Ozzie and the front office gets old," Jenks said. "It has been a problem for a long time. It was a problem before last year. It's going to be nice for me to see how things are done here."

Initially attempting to hold back and take the high road, Guillen ended up talking about the situation for over seven minutes.

"First of all, he can't make any comments about last year because he was never in the clubhouse. He spent more time in his house than he was in the clubhouse," Guillen jabbed. "The only thing I can say is I feel bad for him because I think the way we treated this kid, just the White Sox, myself, our front office people ... we helped him a lot, on the field and off the field."

But Guillen was just getting started.

"It's very sad because he should look at himself in the mirror and all the things he said in the paper to realize what he said. Like I said in January, if there was one player I ever managed, I do more stuff for him than anybody else on the field and off the field."

Guillen was more concerned about what the reaction would be from his Twitter-happy son, Oney.

"I just talked to Oney to make sure he lets that thing go. But if Oney said everything he knows about Bobby Jenks, it wouldn't be a pretty thing," he said. "I respect his wife, I respect his kid. I'm not even mad. I wish I was mad about it because I will rip his throat (out)."

New job for Torre: Joe Torre said when he retired from managing last fall that he still wanted to do "something significant."

He found a job that he says "fills the bill - no question about it."

Commissioner Bud Selig hired Torre as MLB's executive vice president for baseball operations. Selig made the long-anticipated announcement before the dedication of the new spring facility for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies in Scottsdale, Ariz.

In what Selig called "a very critical appointment," the 70-year-old Torre will oversee major league operations, on-field discipline, umpiring and other areas. He also said Torre would be one of baseball's representatives to general managers and field managers.

Torre won four World Series titles with the New York Yankees during a 29-year career as a manager. He retired after last season following three years with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played parts of 18 seasons in the majors, with nine All-Star appearances. He was the National League's MVP in 1971, when he led the league with a .363 average for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Union leader hopeful: Baseball union leader Michael Weiner says he's optimistic that a new collective bargaining agreement can be reached with Major League Baseball.

Weiner and other union officials met with New York Yankees players before a spring training game. The discussions centered on upcoming negotiations to replace the current deal that expires in December.

Weiner expects a few negotiating sessions before the end of spring training. He added that talks will start in earnest after the start of the regular season.