Blue Jays Option Lars Anderson to Buffalo Bisons

Feb 28, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Lars Anderson against the New York Yankees during a spring training game at George Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY SportsThe Toronto Blue Jays continued their spring (training) cleaning on Thursday afternoon, optioning first baseman Lars Anderson to minor league camp and assigning him to start the season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, according to a recent transaction release by the team.

Anderson is no stranger to Triple-A pitching, having spent the better parts of the last three seasons in Pawtucket and Columbus while a member of the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians organizations respectively. The left-handed hitter has also spent time on the 40-man rosters for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox this winter before being waived by both teams.

The 25-year-old had been claimed off waivers by Toronto on February 25th. In the wake of the David Cooper injury, Anderson was brought in to provide organizational depth at first base, and had indeed made a decent impression thus far in camp. Prior to his assignment, Anderson was hitting .357 with a 1.042 OPS in 17 plate appearances in camp.

Anderson is owns a career batting average of .272 and an OPS of .801 in the minor leagues. He will likely spend most of his season trying to improve on that mark in Buffalo as his lack of consistent contact and power make him at best a fall back option in the case of an injury.