The Chicago White Sox have acquired switch-hitting first baseman Casey Gillaspie ("guh-LESPY) from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for left-handed pitcher Dan Jennings.
Gillaspie, 24, is rated by MLB.com as the No. 10 prospect in the Tampa Bay organization. He is batting .227 (80-353) with 15 doubles, nine home runs, 44 RBI and 45 runs scored in 95 games this season with Class AAA Durham. Gillaspie will be placed on the Class AAA Charlotte disabled list with a fractured right great toe suffered on Tuesday at Buffalo when he fouled a ball off the foot. He is expected to miss 1-2 weeks.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound Gillaspie, who throws left-handed, was named International League Player of the Week for June 19-25 after going 12-25 (.480) with five doubles, 10 RBI and nine runs scored in seven games. He entered the season ranked by Baseball America as the No. 74 prospect in the baseball.
"Casey is a recent first-round pick who has shown a quality approach at the plate with some power throughout his minor-league career," said Rick Hahn, White Sox senior vice president/general manager. "He gives us yet another highly touted hitter who has stood out at every level in the Rays system and increases our organizational depth as we continue to add prospects to the system."
Gillaspie is a career .259 (354-1,369) hitter with 51 home runs, 198 RBI, 190 runs scored and a .349 on-base percentage in 377 games over four minor-league seasons in the Tampa Bay system. He was named the Rays Minor League Player of the Year in 2016 after combining to hit .284/.388/.479 (134-472) with 34 doubles, 18 homers, 64 RBI and 78 runs scored in 132 games with Class AA Montgomery and Durham. Gillaspie was a Southern League All-Star in 2016, a Midwest League All-Star in 2015 and a New York-Penn League All-Star in 2014.
Gillaspie originally was drafted by the Rays in the first round (20th overall) of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of Wichita State. His older brother, Conor, plays for the San Francisco Giants and also spent three seasons (2013-15) with the White Sox.
Jennings, 30, is tied for second in the American League lead with 48 appearances this season, going 3-1 with a 3.45 ERA (17 ER/44.1 IP), 38 strikeouts and seven holds. He went 9-7 with a 3.12 ERA (56 ER/161.1 IP) and 130 strikeouts in 165 games over three seasons with the Sox after being acquired from Miami on December 10, 2014 in exchange for pitcher Andre Rienzo.