Urbina to resume pitching ANAHEIM -- One of Ugueth Urbina's closest friends said he plans to resume pitching this weekend and will report to Spring Training in February, whether or not his mother's kidnapping is resolved. White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has kept in regular touch with Urbina in Venezuela and hopes to have him over for Christmas. He described the Tigers reliever's spirit as upbeat and his optimism intact that his mother will be returned safe and sound. He's optimistic enough that he'll resume his baseball career in the coming days, when he starts throwing for Caracas of the Venezuelan League. "He's doing real well," Guillen said Friday afternoon at baseball's Winter Meetings. "He's going to be in Spring Training regardless of what happens. He's going to be ready to move on." Maura Villareal has now been held for nearly four months with little contact from the kidnappers. Urbina left the Tigers on Sept. 1 to return home once he heard she had been taken. He has had little contact with the team since, but has communicated regularly with his agents as well as Guillen. Guillen said Urbina has been hesitant to pay any ransom because he worries that other Venezuelan players' families could be at risk for copycat crimes if he does. He's hoping for another resolution, and Guillen said police were believed to be close to finding her recently before she was moved to another undisclosed location. "Right now, we don't really know what the deal is," Guillen said. The situation has put everyone involved in an awkward situation. Urbina wants to play but obviously has deeper concerns beyond baseball. The Tigers are equally concerned for their closer but also have to plan out their ballclub, something they did last month when they signed Troy Percival to a two-year, $12 million contract. The Tigers clearly have an interest in trading Urbina, but his mother's situation puts his value in flux. If he returns to the Tigers next spring, it would have to be as a setup man. While Urbina would rather close, Guillen said, he'd do setup, pointing out that he did it for Florida in 2003 before overtaking Braden Looper for ninth-inning opportunities. "He's wanting to help Alan Trammell either way," Guillen said. "If [setup work] is going to be his role, he's going to take it." With a combined $10 million invested in Percival and Urbina for next year, the Tigers aren't planning to invest much more. President/general manager Dave Dombrowski said Friday the team won't bid on free-agent relievers until and unless they trade Urbina. --

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