The White Sox have agreed to a minor league pact with former Phillies third baseman/outfielder Cody Asche, reports Baseball America’s Matt Eddy (on Twitter).
The 26-year-old Asche, non-tendered by the Phils last month, was long rated as one of Phildelphia’s top organizational prospects. However, his bat never came around during a two-year audition at the hot corner in the Majors, and the arrival of Maikel Franco on the scene pushed Asche from third base into left field. His offense didn’t improve following the position switch, however, and Asche’s big league time in Philadelphia ultimately culminated in a .240/.298/.385 batting line with 31 homers in 1287 plate appearances. Defensively, he’s received poor grades from both DRS and UZR regardless of his positioning on the diamond.
However, Asche has yet to see his 27th birthday, and he did post career-high marks in walk rate (8.7 percent) and hard contact (33.4 percent) this past season. He won’t be guaranteed anything with the now-rebuilding White Sox, but he gives the team a potential depth option at third base or in the outfield in the event that Todd Frazier or Melky Cabrera is ultimately traded. Asche has three-plus years of service time, so if a change of scenery and new coaching input can help him to more closely approximate his career .297/.359/.491 Triple-A line (644 plate appearances) at the Major League level, then the Sox can control him for another three years via arbitration.
Not a bad flyer for the white sox at all.
White Sox also claim Willy Garcia off waivers.
He is a great kid and hopefully he becomes a good player for Chicago. I wish him the best.
As a Sox fan, I hope so too!
always liked him, maybe this will help him out.
Not bad. Probably outperforms Matt Davidson
Adding a 3B/OF in Asche makes me wonder if Melky or Frazier are going to be shipped soon.
Nice move. Not expecting much of anything from him, but this is a smart move to make for a team that isn’t planning on winning anytime soon. They can afford to let him try to figure it out at the major league level.
Cody Asche doesn’t get rave reviews in the OF
What about 3B?
I wish him well , kid needed a change of scenery !
What is he going to do without Ryan Howard in the lineup protecting him?
It’d be nice if the Sox hit on one of the players they are bringing in while they rebuild. Asche getting anywhere near that AAA slash line would be a win. Not a bad idea to run as many former prospects out there as possible to see what might happen.