Toronto Blue Jays Claim Brent Morel Off Waivers From Chicago White Sox

Jul 21, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox third baseman Brent Morel (22) fields a ground ball off the bat of Atlanta Braves right fielder Justin Upton (not pictured) in the seventh inning at US Cellular Field. Chicago won 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Just when you thought that the Toronto Blue Jays were going to sneak into the Christmas holidays and forget to give you a Christmas present, Santa Anthopoulos pulls one last gift out of his bag.

Sort of.

On Monday, the Blue Jays got back to the business of waiver claims, plucking third baseman Brent Morel off of waivers from the Chicago White Sox. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet broke the news via Twitter.

The 26-year-old Morel became the victim of roster space with the White Sox, after Chicago made moves to acquire both Matt Davidson and Connor Gillespie in recent weeks. A veteran of parts of four seasons, Morel owns a lifetime mark of .229 with 13 home runs and 54 RBI. He last saw significant action at the Major League level in 2010, when he hit a career high .245 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI in 126 games, making him worth 1.3 Wins Above Replacement according to Baseball-Reference.

Morel has never been able to capture the promise he showed at High-A in 2009, when he slashed .281/.335/.453 for Winston-Salem, and he has watched his power potential fall off ever since.

The right-handed bat will join a healthy stable of corner infielders battling for position at the minor league level this upcoming season. That group already included Buffalo’s incumbent third baseman Andy LaRoche and Jared Goedert.

With this signing, the Blue Jays 40-man roster officially sits at full, so expect Alex Anthopoulos to begin his 2013-2014 version of the shell game any time now.