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The White Sox announced eight more moves this morning.
- LHP Charlie Leesman was optioned to Charlotte
- Outfielders Jared Mitchell and Trayce Thompson were optioned to Birmingham
- Pitchers Deunte Heath, Omar Poveda, Scott Snodgress, Catcher Miguel Gonzalez, and Outfielder Keenyn Walker where reassigned to the minor-league camp.
Charlie Leesman is the biggest cut so far. At the end of last season, he was in the running for a bullpen job. With the addition of Scott Downs and Donnie Veal out of options, stashing Leesman back at Charlotte seemed like the most likely scenario for the start of the spring. He did try to make a competition out of it with a 1.69 ERA with 5Ks over 5⅓ innings. Moving him now, though, will allow Leesman to get innings built up to be a starting pitcher for Charlotte this year. As of right now, I'd say it's likely he'll be back sometime this season.
Miguel Gonzalez is also losing out to the numbers games at catcher. With Hector Gimenez and Adrian Nieto in the fold, there wasn't room for Gonzalez to get much playing time with the major league team this spring even with his short stint in Chicago last September. He'll likely end up back in Birmingham this season if the Sox figure out a way to keep Nieto.
Scott Snodgress has certainly fallen on hard times. Last spring, it seemed like we would see him by September. This spring included a look at his 88 MPH fastball, a 9.00 ERA, and an early exit to the minor league camp.
Mitchell, Thompson, and Walker all had disappointing seasons last year. The outfield logjam created by adding Adam Eaton has been further complicated by Jordan Danks pushing for a major league job with a .986 OPS so far this spring. Jared Mitchell's OPS of .664 was the best of the bunch.
Finally, Heath and Poveda seemed unlikely to stick around long this spring. Their respective ERAs of 7.36 and 15.00 sealed their fates.
With these moves, there's still not much clarification on the final roster spots yet, but, with Leesman gone, Donnie Veal is probably breathing a little easier.