The Chicago White Sox have already made a number of minor league signings including Everth Cabrera, Geovany Soto and Cody Asche. Matt Eddy of Baseball America is now reporting that the White Sox have signed three more to minor league deals.
As well as reporting that the Cabrera and Soto deals are finalized, Eddy reports that the White Sox have signed Cory Luebke, Carson Blair and Jason Bourgeois.
#WhiteSox sign LHP Cory Luebke to minors deal, along with SS Everth Cabrera, C Geovany Soto, C Carson Blair. They re-signed Jason Bourgeois.
— Matt Eddy (@MattEddyBA) January 17, 2017
Luebke was ranked as the Padres sixth best prospect in 2011 by Baseball America. Luebke hasn’t lived up to expectations as he has dealt with numerous injuries throughout his career. He received Tommy John Surgery in 2012 before tearing his UCL in 2014. He did not play baseball from 2013-2015.
For his four year career, Luebke has appeared in 64 games and 197 innings. He holds a career 10-13 record with a 3.52 ERA and a 204/69 K/BB ratio. The White Sox are hoping that Luebke could return to his former top prospect status. While his injuries and age (31) make a bounce-back season unlikely, Luebke is a no-risk signing for the club. Chicago will see if he has any gas left in the tank in the minor leagues.
Blair is a career minor league, although he appeared in 11 major league games with the Athletics in 2015. He hit .139 with one home run and three RBI. In his 406 minor league games, Blair has hit .243 with 38 home runs and 187 RBIs.
Blair seems like nothing more than a depth signing for the White Sox. But with the team’s catching depth being as weak as it is, there’s a chance the 27 year old reaches the majors in 2016.
Bourgeois is a eight year veteran of the MLB. He played his rookie season with the White Sox. After Chicago traded for him last year, the team decided to re-sign him on a minor league contract for the 2017 season.
For his eight year career, Bourgeois has appeared in 317 games hitting .253 with six home runs, 44 RBIs and 54 stolen bases.
Like Blair, Bourgeois seems more of minor league depth than anything. But with so many moving pieces at the major league level, there’s a chance Bourgeois sees major league time at some point in 2017.
Cory Luebke is the “major” signing here, but all three should spend most of the year in the minor leagues. If nothing else these signings show that Rick Hahn is staying active in the free agent market, trying to improve the team as much as possible going forward.
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