White Sox Add Eloy Jimenez, Others To 40-Man Roster In Advance Of Rule 5 Draft
(CBS) The White Sox made a series of roster moves Monday with the Rule 5 Draft in mind.
The White Sox have purchased the contracts of Triple-A infielder Casey Gillaspie, Double-A outfielder Eloy Jimenez, Double-A outfielder Luis Alexander Basabe, Class-A left-hander Ian Clarkin and Class-A outfielder Micker Adolfo. By adding these players to the 40-man roster, each is protected in the Rule 5 Draft, which will take place at the Winter Meetings in December.
Players who sign a contract with a team at 18 or younger and then play five seasons of professional baseball are eligible for other teams to grab in the Rule 5 Draft if they're not protected by being placed on the 40-man roster. In additional moves, the White Sox outrighted right-hander Chris Beck and right-hander Tyler Danish to Triple-A Charlotte.
Jimenez, 20, is the most high-profile of the White Sox prospects to be added to the 40-man roster. He's rated as a top-five prospect in baseball, and he hit .312 with 19 homers, 65 RBIs and a .568 slugging percentage in 89 games at Triple-A in 2017, when he was the headliner acquired by the White Sox in the Jose Quintana trade with the Cubs in July. He'll report to the White Sox's big league camp in February. While he's not expected at this time to make the Opening Day roster, general manager Rick Hahn has admitted premier talent has a way of forcing teams to move their timelines up.
Gillaspie, 24, hit .223 with 15 homers and 62 RBis in 125 games at Triple-A last season. The White Sox acquired him from the Rays in exchange for lefty reliever Dan Jennings in July.
Basabe, 21, hit .221 with five homers, 36 RBIs, 17 stolen bases and 52 runs in 107 games at Class-A Winston-Salem. He came to Chicago as part of the Chris Sale trade with Boston last December.
Clarkin, 22, was 4-5 with a 2.60 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 86 2/3 innings at the Class-A level. He was acquired from the Yankees in a trade that sent David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle and Todd Frazier to New York in July.
Adolfo, 21, hit .264 with 16 homers, 68 RBIs and 60 runs in 112 games at Class-A Kannapolis.
Beck, 27, had a 6.40 ERA in 64 2/3 innings with the White Sox in 2017. Danish, 23, made one big league appearance for the White Sox in 2017 and otherwise spent the rest of the season at Triple-A Charlotte, where he was 4-14 with a 5.47 ERA.
The White Sox's 40-man roster now stands at 39 players.
