AL Central Notes: White Sox, Twins, Burg, Guardians

The White Sox are focused on bolstering their rotation this winter, both with external additions and internal moves like moving Grant Taylor from the bullpen to a starting role. Even with Taylor leaving the relief mix, however, GM Chris Getz downplayed the idea of prioritizing the bullpen when speaking with the Chicago Sun-Times’ James Fegan and other reporters. Rather than invest heavily in relievers, the Sox could use any excess starters in bullpen roles, with perhaps a lower-cost veteran or two added later in the offseason for added depth. Since the White Sox are so deep in infield prospects, it has been suggested that the club could trade from this depth to address other needs. Getz didn’t rule this possibility out in the future, but it is “not something that I would say we’re entertaining right now.” It’s a fair stance to take, as the Sox might not want to move any younger talent until they have a better idea of which of these infielders they view as true building blocks. Despite Chicago’s unexpected AL Central title, the Sox aren’t going to pivot entirely away from their rebuilding plan, and the current infield grouping of Miguel Vargas, Colson Montgomery, Chase Meidroth, and Munetaka Murakami all contributed heavily to the playoff run. More from around the AL Central… The Twins have a significantly greater need in the bullpen than in the rotation, but could be taking somewhat of the same approach as the White Sox to the relief corps. Minnesota could look to add to its rotation (probably more of a mid-rotation type) and then use at least one of the leftover starters to fill a hole in the bullpen, The Athletic’s Dan Hayes writes, since the Twins have traditionally never been eager about spending much money on relief pitching. GM Jeremy Zoll acknowledged that his team would “need to be open-minded to” potential rotation adds, “knowing that it feels like an area of surplus but also want to be mindful of not eating into that too much since we know we’re going to need real depth to attack the season.” Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, and the returning Pablo Lopez line up as the projected top three in Minnesota’s rotation, with Dean Kremer, Zebby Matthews, Bailey Ober, Connor Prielipp, and Mick Abel all competing for the final two slots. The Guardians are hiring Alex Burg as their new quality control coach, Justice delos Santos of the Bay Area News Group reports. Burg has been on the Giants’ coaching staff for the last five seasons, working as a bullpen coach in 2022-23, the catching coach for the last three seasons, and he was also San Francisco’s Major League field coordinator this past year. In between the end of his nine-year minor league career and the start of his tenure with the Giants, Burg also spent three years on the Rangers’ staff. View Comments (1)