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.