(WSCR) When the White Sox take the field to start the 2012 season, there’s no doubt the pitching staff will have a much different look than it did last seasons.

Gone are longtime ace Mark Buehrle and closer Sergio Santos — two moves that surprised pitching coach Don Cooper.

“I’m always surprised,” Cooper said. “It can happen, you know it can happen. I don’t sit at home and wait for things to happen. I check the papers, like I did as a kid, looking at the box scores, at the transactions. Hey, this happens. This is baseball. Was I surprised that Buehrle left? Yeah, I was. Things happen. People come, people go. I’ve been doing this for awhile now. That’s one less you learn real quick.”

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Buehrle’s spot will be replaced with Chris Sale, but the White Sox are still searching for Santo’s replacement.

“Matt (Thornton) certainly is capable,” Cooper said. “I think you got Addison Reed as a kid that is going to work into it. You can’t name is him (yet.) Jesse Crain is a guy that’s more than capable. We’ll figure it out. Nobody last year was thinking it was going to be Santos. Things get worked out. I’m a believe that they’ll show you who needs to be in there at that time.”