White Sox ace breaks foot; out three weeks

Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale is out for at least three weeks after breaking a bone in his right foot in what the team described as an accident at home.

Sale injured himself unloading the back of his truck, general manager Rick Hahn explained.

Sale, though, told quite a different tale. Asked what happened, the three-time All-Star launched into a longer story, deadpanning the whole way, about some intruder breaking into his house at night.

“So I hit him with a roundhouse, tied him up” and put him by the curb, Sale told reporters.

Asked if he was concerned about his foot, Sale went on with a straight face: “Well, yeah, by looking at the other guy’s head when I kicked him, it didn’t look good.”

“Initially I was a little worried, but after the X-rays and all that stuff, it worked out,” he said. “I don’t see this trickling into the regular season at all.”

The 25-year-old lefty was 12-4 with 208 strikeouts and a 2.17 ERA last season, finishing third in the A.L. Cy Young Award voting.

“I mean, essentially it’s a sprained ankle. I’ll be fine,” Sale said. “They aren’t going to have to cut it off. I’ll be walking on it in a few days. I’m not going to get down on myself.”

At the same time, Sale said he’s not going to rush back.

Future spring games in Cuba possible

Cuba could be a spring training destination once more.

Major League Baseball is considering playing future spring exhibition games on the island nation and baseball hotbed, which used to host American teams before Fidel Castro came to power.

Baseball players’ association president Tony Clark said there have been “ongoing” discussions about playing in Cuba, which recently renewed diplomatic ties with the United States.The Baltimore Orioles played a spring exhibition in Havana against the Cuban national team in 1999, ending a 40-year gap since the last visit by a major league team.

Major league teams regularly held spring training camps in Cuba in the 1940s and ‘50s. The Cincinnati Reds had a Triple-A affiliate on the island, the Havana Sugar Kings.

Clearing the bases

Alex Rodriguez might be in the New York Yankees’ lineup for Tuesday’s spring training opener against the Philadelphia Phillies. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said a decision will come Monday. With the re-signing of Chase Headley to start at third base, Rodriguez is competing for at-bats as the designated hitter. … Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Ronald Belisario has fractured his non-throwing shoulder in a swimming pool accident and is not expected to be ready for the start of the season. The team said that Belisario will be sidelined indefinitely. Belisario injured his left shoulder getting out of a pool in Venezuela last month.