Expect trade action in ALCentral

The all-star break is here, but the rumor mill is going to keep on churning until the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline.

The AL Central is one of the tighter races in baseball, with the second-place White Sox and third-place Minnesota Twins well within striking distance of the Detroit Tigers.

The Twins are among a number of teams rumored to be interested in Freddy Sanchez, the Pittsburgh Pirates' all-star second baseman.

Alexi Casilla has been a huge disappointment for Minnesota this season, but the Twins were able to move Nick Punto from shortstop to second. Brendan Harris took over as the starting shortstop in mid-May and has played well.

Detroit has been quiet on the trade front so far, mainly due to its $115 million payroll.

The Tigers might settle for getting injured outfielder/DH Carlos Guillen back later this month.

Guillen has been sidelined since May 5 with right shoulder inflammation.

As for the White Sox, they added middle reliever Tony Pena in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks last Tuesday.

The Sox had to part with promising minor-league prospect Brandon Allen to get Pena. Last week, general manager Kenny Williams said the goal is to continue mixing in higher-ceiling young players like Chris Getz and Gordon Beckham to a veteran core.

"As aggressive as we are and have been, it has been with an action plan that has allowed us to extend our window of competitiveness," Williams said. "What that means is that you have to make some hard decisions sometimes and put young guys into the equation on a regular basis so that they can learn from the rest of the veteran core. They have to learn how to win from somewhere.

"If you try to put an entire team of young players out there at the same time, you are asking for what could be an extended stretch of losing and trying to climb back up to prominence. We don't want to take that fall so what we have tried to do is selectively put in young players, even when it's not the most popular, that will produce and don't have to carry the load. They can be a supporting actor, so to speak.

"With that said, we are still looking to win. We'll continue to be aggressive and add to the club. It won't be at the risk at what we see is our competitiveness over the next few years."

Quentin update: Carlos Quentin was 1-for-4 with Class AAA Charlotte on Sunday.

Batting third and playing left field, Quentin hit a 2-run double in the eighth inning.

Out since May 26 with plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Quentin is batting .333 (7-for-21) with no home runs and 5 RBI in 7 rehab games with the Knights.

Quentin could be activated off the disabled list Friday when the White Sox open the second half of the season with a home game against the Baltimore Orioles.