Cole Gillespie

Already 27, Gillespie has just 110 big league at-bats under his belt and the D-Backs don't seem to have big plans for him in 2012. In the best-case scenario, he'll serve as a reserve in the outfield, but Gerardo Parra appears to be ahead of him for the fourth outfielder spot entering spring training, following the D-Backs' signing of Jason Kubel. Gillespie may find himself spending another summer touring the cities of the Pacific Coast League.

Gillespie was the victim of a logjam for playing time in the Arizona outfield and ultimately was the team's last reserve outfielder while playing second fiddle to Gerardo Parra as the D-Backs' fourth outfielder. At 26, Gillespie isn't young, and while he may not receive a chance to play every day at the big league level, he has nothing left to prove at Triple-A and makes for an intriguing endgame option in NL-only leagues given his ability to draw walks and provide a useful combination of power and speed. At the very least, Gillespie's ability to handle left-handed pitchers makes him a good platoon option should the team elect to give Parra the starting job in left field.

Acquired in the trade that sent Felipe Lopez to Milwaukee, Gillespie made the leap from High-A to Triple-A in the Brewers' organization before finishing the season with the D-Backs' Pacific Coast League affiliate in Reno. Gillespie will face an uphill battle for playing time with the D-Backs this season, so he'll likely open the year at Triple-A Reno unless there's a trade or an injury or two that pave the way for him to carve out a reserve spot on the Arizona bench during spring training. The bottom line here is that Gillespie doesn't do anything exceedingly well, but he doesn't have any significant flaws in his skill set either. There is some pop in his bat, speed in his legs and he doesn't have nasty platoon splits, so he should eventually get a chance at least as a fourth outfielder, but it may not be with the D-Backs.

Gillespie quietly hit .281/.386/.472 for Double-A Huntsville in 2008. He'd make for a much better prospect if he could play center field since he may not have enough power to be a starting corner outfielder in the majors. His ability to get on base and his baseball instincts are very high so there's still a good chance that he'll find a niche in the majors at some point during his career.