Just a few days after German and European vice champion Heidenheim Heidekoepfe lost head coach Mike Hartley and shortstop Chris Beck, the Baseball-Bundesliga club is adding another new infielder for the 2011 season besides bringing in Alex Lauterbach. They have signed former Minor Leaguer Matt Gaski to take over at short and at the top of the batting order for Beck.
The 24-year-old left-handed hitter Gaski is from Greensboro, North Carolina, attended the NCAA Division I Universities of Florida and North Carolina-Greensboro (UNCG) before being selected by the San Diego Padres in the 34th round of the 2008 amateur draft. He began his professional career in the same year with the Padres in the Arizona Summer League. In 2009 he moved on to the New York Mets, where he joined the affiliates in the NY-Penn League and the South Atlantic League.
In 65 career minor league games Gaski batted .276 (OBP .376/SLG .315) with one homerun, a triple, three doubles, 28 runs scored and 18 RBI. He is considered a strong defensive player with a good feel for the strike zone. He is the son of UNCG head coach Mike Gaski, who also is the president of USA Baseball and former coach of Team USA.