{"id":130974,"date":"2025-12-15T09:41:58","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T09:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=130974"},"modified":"2025-12-15T09:41:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T09:41:58","slug":"%f0%9f%9a%a8-inside-roster-move-the-white-sox-quietly-added-oliver-dunn-and-tim-elko-on-minor-league-deals-but-insiders-believe-this-low-profile-signing-could-hint-at-a-bigger-developmental-plan-tak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=130974","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udea8 INSIDE ROSTER MOVE: The White Sox quietly added Oliver Dunn and Tim Elko on minor league deals, but insiders believe this low profile signing could hint at a bigger developmental plan taking shape in Chicago. What the front office sees in these moves may reveal more about the team\u2019s direction than the contracts themselves suggest."},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<header>By Mark Polishuk | <time datetime=\"2025-12-14T15:44:01-06:00\">December 14, 2025<\/time> at <time datetime=\"2025-12-14T15:44:01-06:00\">3:44pm CDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/header>\n<div>\n<p>The White Sox have signed infielders <strong>Oliver Dunn<\/strong> and <strong>Tim Elko<\/strong> to minor league contracts (SoxMachine\u2019s James Fegan was among the beat writers to report the news.)\u00a0 Dunn\u2019s deal contains an invitation to Chicago\u2019s big league Spring Training camp, though Elko will presumably miss camp due to his ongoing recovery from ACL surgery in October.<\/p>\n<p>Elko was a 10th-round pick for the White Sox in the 2022 draft, and he\u2019ll continue his career with the organization after being non-tendered in November.\u00a0 That move cleared a space on Chicago\u2019s 40-man roster, and it is fair to guess that the two sides probably had a handshake deal to bring Elko back in relatively short order.\u00a0 Elko\u2019s surgery came with an eight-month recovery timeline, so he won\u2019t be a factor for a potential return to the 26-man roster until at least July.<\/p>\n<p>The torn right ACL was a sour end to Elko\u2019s first big league season, as he made his debut in May.\u00a0 Elko hit only .134\/.194\/.328 in 72 plate appearances over 23 games, while also spending four weeks on the injured list due to a right knee sprain that now seems like a precursor to his ACL problems.\u00a0 The White Sox are expected to do something to address their first base position, but if they more or less stand pat, it could give Elko some more opportunity to see what he can do against MLB competition when he\u2019s healthy.<\/p>\n<p>Dunn\u2019s MLB resume consists of 55 games with the Brewers over the last two seasons, and only a .206\/.261\/.290 slash line to show for 145 PA.\u00a0 A large portion of Dunn\u2019s 2024 rookie was spent on the injured list due to a back injury, but while Dunn was still in the mix for regular infield duty with Milwaukee going into this season, his lack of offensive made him an afterthought.\u00a0 The Brewers designated Dunn for assignment and outrighted him off their 40-man roster in September, and Dunn elected minor league free agency at season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n<p>The 28-year-old Dunn has mostly played at second and third base during his pro career, but he has a handful of appearances as a left fielder, shortstop, and a couple of cameos at first base.\u00a0 The White Sox will see what Dunn can do in competing for a bench job this spring, and he could be retained as minor league depth even if he doesn\u2019t break camp.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p>View Comments (11)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A familiar face returns to the Sox after a brief absence, plus a former Brewers infielder joins the mix. Read all about it at MLB Trade Rumors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":130976,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[4847,4848],"class_list":["post-130974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-oliver-dunn","tag-tim-elko"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udea8 INSIDE ROSTER MOVE: The White Sox quietly added Oliver Dunn and Tim Elko on minor league deals, but insiders believe this low profile signing could hint at a bigger developmental plan taking shape in Chicago. What the front office sees in these moves may reveal more about the team\u2019s direction than the contracts themselves suggest. - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=130974\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udea8 INSIDE ROSTER MOVE: The White Sox quietly added Oliver Dunn and Tim Elko on minor league deals, but insiders believe this low profile signing could hint at a bigger developmental plan taking shape in Chicago. 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