The White Sox have designated first baseman/outfielder Jerry Sands for assignment, per a club announcement. The DFA of Sands clears a spot on the 25-man roster for James Shields to be officially added. Beyond that, the Sox have also optioned outfielder Jason Coats to Triple-A Charlotte and reinstated Melky Cabrera from the family emergency leave list.
Sands, 28, has batted .236/.276/.291 through 58 plate appearances with the ChiSox this season and has struggled versus left-handed pitching despite a strong track record when holding the platoon advantage. The right-handed slugger owns a lifetime .285/.335/.477 line against southpaws but has just a .522 OPS this season, albeit in a limited sample of 20 plate appearances. With the exception of the 2013 season, Sands has spent time in the Majors each year dating back to 2011. He’s a career .238/.306/.367 hitter in 464 trips to the plate at the Major League level and has been a thorn in the side of Triple-A pitchers, against whom he’s mashed at a .268/.357/.492 clip over the life of 439 games.
Sands is no stranger to DFA limbo, as this is the fourth time he’s been designated for assignment since the beginning of the 2015 season. (Cleveland designated him on three occasions before he was ultimately claimed off waivers by the Sox.) Chicago will have 10 days to trade, outright or release Sands, though even if he clears outright waivers, he’d have the option of rejecting the assignment in favor of free agency, as is the right of any player that has been previously outrighted.
I can picture Sands heading to the Yankees, Indians or Royals.
I really hope he goes to the Indians or Royals
If the term “Quad-A” or “AAAA” hitter was in the dictionary, it might read: “See also: Jerry Sands”
He’s a passable platoon option in short spurts, and he tears up minor league pitching. He’s just not good enough to stick win a team long-term, but just interesting enough for teams to pick him up when another gives up on him.
It took over two months to figure out Sands can’t hit. The sox wait too long to decide they’ve got failed players. Garcia and a couple of relief pitchers should be gone also and please don’t forget Rollins, who was one of the best SS in either league 5 years ago. Williams and Hahn do NOT know how to build a team or who to put in staff positions that can succeed. The last four years are a joke! There’s Cleveland Browns in football and now the Chicago white sox in baseball . Thanks guys.
I mean you can’t immediately get rid of a guy if he struggles for a short period of time, you just never know if he might put it all together. Not many players are going to want to go to a team that constantly gets rid of a guys after a month of struggling. Also its easy as fans to say get rid of Players X, Y, and Z because they’re struggling and we only care about numbers, but sometimes salary and team chemistry/leadership play a big part in why certain guys stick longer than they should.
So now Shuck and Avi Garcia are platooning at DH and 4th OF. Offense needed badly. 4-8 vs lefty starters this year so it doesn’t necessarily need to be a left-handed hitter either. Or if it is, he better be able to hit lefties.
Well, at least the roster looks better today than it did the last 3 games in Detroit. I’ll swap James Shields and Melky Cabrera any time for Jerry Sands and Jason Coats.
Trayce Thompson should send a bouquet of flowers to Williams and Hahn of the w sox for trading him to the Dodgers.