AL CENTRAL
News and notes by John Perrotto
Chicago White Sox
Manager Robin Ventura’s contract expires at the end of the season, and he would like to return in 2017.
“You have to have somebody ask you to do it and all that,” Ventura said. “That’s stuff that happens after the season is over, if you get there.”
The White Sox entered the week with a 59-64 record, after going 36-54 in 90 games after a 23-10 start, and are on course for their fourth consecutive losing season. Their last winning record, 85-77 in 2012, came in Ventura’s first year.
Owner Jerry Reinsdorf has proved to be loyal to his employees in the past and Ventura is a favorite, dating to his days as the White Sox’s third baseman from 1989 to 1998. Right- hander Anthony Ranaudo is getting a chance to start while right-hander Miguel
Gonzalez is on the disabled list because of a strained right groin muscle. Ranaudo spent most of the season at Class AAA Charlotte (N.C.) after being acquired from the Texas Rangers in a May 12 trade. Second baseman Brett Lawrie (left hamstring) left his rehab game with Class AA Birmingham (Ala.) after four innings Aug. 20. It was unclear when he will be able to return.
Cleveland Indians
The Indians are optimistic that left fielder Michael Brantley will be healthy at the start of spring training after having a second surgery on his right shoulder in 10 months.
Brantley is expected to be fully recovered by January from the Aug. 15 surgery, in which surgeons cut the biceps tendon and anchored it to a different part of his shoulder. Last November, he had surgery to repair a torn labrum.
Brantley was limited to 11 games this season.
“For a guy who hasn’t played, he’s pretty tired,” manager Terry
Francona said. “He’s given a lot to try to come back. He’s going to have to do that again. The good news is, if anybody’s willing, he’s the guy.” Right- hander Danny Sala-
zar had a rough return from the disabled list Aug. 18 when he was lifted after one inning of his start against the White Sox. Salazar, who had been out since Aug. 1 because of a sore shoulder, allowed three runs and threw 34 pitches. But he said he felt no pain, and he was on course to pitch Tuesday night against the Oakland Athletics.
John Sherman, an entrepreneur from Kansas City, Mo., was approved as a minority partner at last week’s owners’ meet- ings. Owner Paul Dolan had conducted a yearlong search to find an investor to alleviate some of his financial burden.
Detroit Tigers
Veteran Erick Aybar will fill in at shortstop while Jose Iglesias recovers from a strained left hamstring.
The Tigers acquired Aybar, 32, from the Atlanta Braves in a trade on Aug. 16 for utility player Mike Aviles and a minor leaguer. Aybar had been expected to split playing time with Dixon Machado, but Machado was optioned back to Class AAA Toledo (Ohio) on Sunday after going 1-for-9 in four games.
Aybar hit .242 with two home runs and a .607 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 97 games with the Braves this season.
“He can play short,” general manager Al Avila said. “He can play third. He can play second. Really, if we needed him to, in a pinch, if we had to — and I hope we don’t — we could throw him in the outfield. But right now he gives us an experienced, veteran-type player that we feel will give us a little better offense.”
Third baseman Nick Castellanos (broken right hand) won’t return in early September, as originally hoped. The bone, broken Aug. 6, has been slow to heal, and Castellanos was not yet able to swing a bat at the start of the week. Center fielder Cameron Maybin was activated from the DL on Sunday after being out since Aug. 4 because of a sprained left thumb.
Kansas City Royals
While left-hander Danny Duffy won his 10th consecutive decision Sunday and improved to 11-1 by beating the Twins, right-hander Ian Kennedy also is working on an impressive streak.
Kennedy has allowed no more than one run while pitching at least six innings in each of his last five starts, including eight scoreless innings Aug. 20 in a win against the Twins. That matches the longest streak in franchise history, set by Larry Gura in 1981.
“Duffy hasn’t done that yet?” Kennedy cracked. “It seems like every time he’s out there, he’s doing that same thing.”
Kennedy has a 0.79 ERA over the five outings. Overall, he is 8-9 with a 3.58 ERA in 25 starts this season after signing a five-year, $70 million contract as a free agent in the offseason.
“Kennedy’s got a sneaky fastball,” Twins second baseman Brian Dozier said. Duffy and general manager
Dayton Moore both have expressed a desire to work on a contract extension for the 27year-old in the offseason. Duffy becomes eligible for free agency after the 2017 season.
Left- hander Mike Minor is expected to be shut down for the season after leaving a rehab start Aug. 19 with Class AAA Omaha (Papillion, Neb.) because of left shoulder stiffness. Minor had shoulder surgery last year and has not pitched in the major leagues since 2014.
Minnesota Twins
Left-hander Adalberto Me
jia’s major league debut Aug. 20 wound up being a short stay.
Mejia was promoted from Class AAA Rochester (N.Y.), allowed two runs in 21⁄ relief innings against 3 the Royals, then was optioned back to the Red Wings. The Twins needed bullpen help after using five relievers for a total of six innings the night before in a loss to Kansas City.
The Twins acquired highly regarded Mejia from the San Francisco Giants on July 28 in a trade for infielder Eduardo Nunez. Mejia, 23, went 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA in his first three starts for Rochester.
Right- hander Jose Berrios, considered one of the top pitching prospects in the game coming into the season, is having a rough rookie season. He is 2-3 with a 9.28 ERA in eight starts.
The Twins have tried seemingly everything in an effort to get Berrios going, including having Bert Blyleven, the color commentator on their television broadcasts, watch one of his between-starts throwing sessions. Blyleven won 287 games in 22 seasons during his Hall of Fame career.
Right- handed reliever Pat Light was recalled from Rochester on Sunday. The 25-year-old made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox on April 26, and the Twins acquired him by trading left-handed reliever Fernando Abad to Boston on Aug. 1.