Conor Gillaspie designated for assignment, Matt Albers activated from the DL

This morning, the White Sox have activated Matt Albers from the DL.  To make room for him on the 25-man roster, they have designated Conor Gillaspie for assignment.

While the White Sox said they weren't going to make any moves this weekend, yesterday's extra inning game might have forced some moves for today's game.

Albers pitched in four games this season before going on the DL.  He was injured in the brawl with the Royals on April 23 and suffered a compression fracture in his right pinky finger.  He's been rehabbing in Charlotte since late June with a move to Birmingham last week during the AAA All Star break.  Overall, he's pitched in eight games on rehab, and, aside from one really bad outing, he's done well, walking one and striking out nine over 11⅔ innings. That one bad outing lasted less than an inning where he gave up five runs on a walk and four hits including two homers.

Gillaspie has not had a good season. Fueled by hugs, Conor hit an adequate .282/.336/.416 last season. This season, bothered by plantar fasciitis, his batting has dropped to .237/.276/.364.  His fielding has also taken a turn for the worse with -8 defensive runs saved in only 50 starts at third.

The bigger question now is why wasn't this move made before today.  Besides the possibility that the Sox were trying to trade Gillaspie or Emilio Bonifacio, there's not an obvious reason.  Albers last pitched on July 15.  Meanwhile, Gillaspie hasn't played since the break while Bonifacio made a late pinch hitting appearance in the first game on Friday.  Neither has seen the field since Tyler Saladino's promotion.

With today's moves, the 40-man roster is now down to 38.