GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Every time Reynaldo Lopez was asked over the past six weeks whether he'd prefer to be a starter or a reliever, the White Sox prospect put forth a grin and presented the same answer.

"Starter," Lopez would reply, with no need for assistance from interpreter Billy Russo.

• Spring Training:Info | Tickets | Schedule | Gear

But when the follow-up to Lopez centered on pitching in relief in the Majors almost immediately, he happily changed his response.

Lopez, the No. 4 prospect per MLBPipeline.com, Lucas Giolito (No. 2) and Carson Fulmer (No. 5) are expected to begin the season as part of the Triple-A Charlotte rotation. Michael Kopech (No. 3) will start for either Double-A Birmingham or Class A Winston-Salem.

It would be ideal if this quartet arrives to the Majors as starters, part of what promises to be a dominant rotation for many years to come. The fact of the matter is some top prospects eventually find themselves in relief, which also can be helpful to the future of a rebuilding team, but it's up to the White Sox and the pitchers to make such a decision.

"Certainly it's more beneficial to the organization to have a guy capable of throwing 200 innings of quality than 70 or 80," said White Sox general manager Rick Hahn in a recent conversation with MLB.com. "We want any pitcher we project out to be a front-end starter, we are going to give him the opportunity to develop as a front-end starter."

There's a chance these young hurlers could end up filling both roles, with the White Sox having great success in moving high-end hurlers through the bullpen into the rotation. Mark Buehrle worked 25 games in relief (of 28 appearances) in 2000 before becoming a rotation staple for 11 years.

Some believe Chris Sale could have been a virtually unhittable closer after he worked the 2010 and 2011 seasons strictly in relief. Now he carries that same virtually unhittable trait as a perennial American League Cy Young Award candidate plying his craft as a starter for the Red Sox.

Jon Garland and Carlos Rodon serve as other examples of pitchers getting early White Sox bullpen work before moving into the rotation. Fulmer struggled over his eight big league relief appearances last season, but the White Sox believe he benefitted from working with pitching coach Don Cooper.

"Any opportunity to contribute at the big league level is a good opportunity," said Giolito, who pitched two of his six games in relief for Washington during his '16 debut season. "I'm OK with whatever is asked."

A combination of Kopech, Zack Burdi and Nate Jones at the back end of the White Sox bullpen paints a fairly intimidating picture. If Kopech remains a starter with his overpowering stuff, that picture becomes even brighter.

"Theoretically, it could be both," Hahn said. "Part of bringing them along through the bullpen; still, your eye is on them being a starter. You might be trying to manage innings or manage their space between their outings or getting them acclimated to the big league level. You might ultimately decide to go through that route to the ultimate goal of the rotation.

"We view them all as still having the potential of being front-end starters," Hahn said. "We'll continue to exhaust that development path until such time it doesn't make sense."