Central Notes: Kiermaier, Twins, Anderson, Morel, Kantrovitz, Bloom

The Twins are interested in Kevin Kiermaier to address their need in center field, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.  Since Byron Buxton’s health and ability to play center field is still in doubt, the Twins are again looking for some help up the middle, as Michael A. Taylor (acquired last winter in a trade with the Royals) is now a free agent.  Kiermaier would come at a higher price tag in free agency, yet the veteran offers equally stellar glovework, albeit with a pretty significant injury history in his own right.

With the Blue Jays managing Kiermaier’s playing time in order to keep him healthy, Kiermaier managed to almost entirely avoid the injured list in 2023, while hitting .265/.322/.419 over 408 plate appearances and winning another Gold Glove for his work in center field.  If Buxton is able to play in the field at all, the Twins could conceivably platoon Buxton and Kiermaier in center field to keep both players fresh.  Signing Kiermaier would add yet another name to a somewhat crowded list of Minnesota position players, yet Nightengale feels the Twins will aim to trade from this surplus to land pitching help

More from both the AL and NL Central…

• Also from Nightengale, the White Sox “desperately tried” to find a trade partner for Tim Anderson, but ended up just declining Anderson’s $14MM club option.  A trade would’ve allowed the Sox to at least recoup something in return for their veteran shortstop rather than letting him go for nothing, yet any number of factors might’ve prevented a deal.  We don’t know what Chicago was looking for in return, of course, or whether Anderson’s salary was a sticking point for either a new team to absorb, or if a suitor wanted the White Sox to eat some money to facilitate a deal.  Now a free agent, Anderson figures to draw plenty of attention as a bounce-back candidate, probably on a one-year pillow contract worth less than $14MM, considering Anderson’s poor 2023 season.
• Christopher Morel is expected to draw a lot of trade attention this winter, as The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney write that rival teams scouted Morel thinking the Cubs would be more open to moving the utilityman in the offseason than at the trade deadline.  Morel is something of a “master of none” type of utility player, as he can play multiple positions but isn’t real defensive plus at any spot, except possibly second base.  But, this versatility and his above-average hitting…