AL Central Notes: Renteria, Royals, Gibson

Though details of Rick Renteria’s contract were unreported when he was named manager of the White Sox, FanRag’s Jon Heyman now reports that Renteria received a three-year contract that runs from 2017-19. Renteria will earn $1.1MM in 2017, $1.2MM in 2018 and $1.3MM in 2019, according to Heyman’s report. The appointment of the 55-year-old Renteria, who had previously served as a bench coach with the White Sox and as the manager of the Cubs, came after an unsuccessful five-year run at the helm for former White Sox All-Star Robin Ventura. While it’s early in the season and the White Sox aren’t expected to contend following the offseason sale of Chris Sale and Adam Eaton, Renteria has the team off to a nice 11-9 start.

More from the AL Central…

• The Royals are off to a terrible 7-14 start and have scored far and away the fewest runs in baseball (54). However, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi reports that even in spite of the team’s poor play, the front office has shown no willingness to engage other clubs in trade talks. Similarly, FanRag’s Jon Heyman hears from a rival executive that the Royals are “very, very quiet so far” in terms of communication with other teams. That’s not surprising for virtually any club in late April, but as Morosi and Heyman point out, those conversations may very well be coming sooner rather than later. Kansas City is set to lose Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Eric Hosmer, Alcides Escobar and Jason Vargas to free agency at season’s end, and if the team isn’t contending, any of the bunch could be marketed in trades. Late-inning relievers Kelvin Herrera and Joakim Soria, both controlled through 2018, could also be candidates to move.
• Kyle Gibson is facing a pivotal juncture in his career with the Twins, writes La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Per Neal, Twins personnel have indicated that with Gibson off to a poor start in his followup effort to last year’s unsuccessful and injury-plagued year, tonight’s start could impact his standing in the club’s rotation. Gibson spoke to Neal and suggested that the importance of his next several outings is hardly lost on him. “They know what I have been, what I haven’t been and what I can be,” says Gibson. “…That doesn’t mean they won’t say, ‘Hey, go figure it out in Triple-A,’ or anything like that. I don’t think it makes me immune from that. But knowing the confidence they have in the pitcher that I can be is reassuring.” The former first-rounder has been hampered by shoulder and back injuries since a very good 2015 season (3.84 ERA, 6.7 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 53.4 percent ground-ball rate in 194 2/3 innings).