Dan Jennings Traded to Rays; White Sox Receive Prospect Casey Gillaspie

The Tampa Bay Rays announced on Thursday that they acquired reliever Dan Jennings from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for first base prospect Casey Gillaspie. 

Jennings, 30, has been excellent this year, going 3-1 with a 3.45 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. According to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com, "His 48 appearances lead American League lefties and are tied for second among all AL relievers behind Cleveland's Bryan Shaw."

He added: "Jennings has limited lefty hitters to a .169 average and one extra-base hit in 71 at-bats this year. His 58.5 percent ground-ball rate ranks sixth in the American League."

The Rays may not be done upgrading their pitching staff. According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the team is "still targeting bigger fish" for the bullpen but felt Jennings was an upgrade amongst their left-handed pitchers.

The White Sox, meanwhile, continued their fire sale, having already dealt relievers David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle and Anthony Swarzak. The rebuild is clearly underway in Chicago.

In Gillaspie, 24, the White Sox landed a potentially solid piece going forward. He is hitting .227 with nine home runs, 44 RBI and 45 runs scored in 95 games for Triple-A Durham this year. Last season, he blasted 18 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A ball.

"Casey is a recent first-round pick who has shown a quality approach at the plate with some power throughout his minor-league career," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said, per Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune. "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."

He now slots in as the No. 14 prospect in Chicago's farm system, according to MLB.com.