from whitesox.comWhite Sox land Gillaspie in trade with Giants
Right-hander Soptic sent to San Francisco; Anderson designated for assignment
By Scott Merkin / MLB.com | 2/22/2013 1:35 P.M. ETGLENDALE, Ariz. -- The White Sox added a left-handed hitter and a third baseman on Friday morning in acquiring Conor Gillaspie from the Giants in exchange for Minor League right-hander Jeff Soptic.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Gillaspie, who is out of options, the White Sox designated infielder Lars Anderson for assignment.
"He conceivably fits in nicely on the roster, which we'll obviously decide more about toward the end of next month," said White Sox general manager Rick Hahn of Gillaspie. "But we see him having a solid hit tool, above-average awareness of the strike zone, solid defensively. He gives us a little versatility in his ability to play third base as well as first. He gives [manager] Robin [Ventura] some options potentially."
Gillaspie, 25, spent the majority of the 2012 season with Triple-A Fresno, hitting .281 with 14 home runs and 49 RBIs in 108 games. The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder appeared in six games with the Giants last season, going 3-for-20 with two RBIs.
Selected by the Giants with a sandwich pick (37th overall) in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of Wichita State University, Gillaspie made his Major League debut on Sept. 6 that year. He became the first member of the 2008 Draft class to reach the Major Leagues and was the quickest player in Giants history to do so, surpassing pitcher Jeff Robinson's mark of 306 days.
MLB.com, which ranked Gillaspie 13th in its list of the Giants' Top 20 prospects, had the following to say of his ability.
"He's a decent hitter, quick through the strike zone, who has a pretty good approach at the plate," read the analysis of Gillaspie, who is a career .287 hitter with 37 homers, 259 RBIs and a .358 on-base percentage in 514 games over five Minor League seasons. He also has 44 big league at-bats in 29 games played over the 2008, 2011 and 2012 seasons.
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