Feb. 20: The White Sox have announced the signing and confirmed the one-year, $3MM terms of the deal.
Feb. 19: The White Sox have signed infielder Elvis Andrus to a one-year contract, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link). The contract will become official when Andrus passes a physical, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale adds that Andrus will earn a $3MM salary. Andrus is represented by the Boras Corporation.
Andrus returns to the south side of Chicago after hitting .271/.309/.464 over 191 plate appearances with the White Sox last season. Released by the A’s in August, the Sox quickly inked Andrus as a shortstop replacement for Tim Anderson, who ended up missing the rest of the season due to a torn hand ligament. While only over a small sample size, Andrus’ performance with the Sox marked his best offensive surge in years, as the veteran had struggled at the plate during the end of his tenure with the Rangers and for much of his two seasons in Oakland.
With Anderson now back and healthy, the White Sox will use Andrus as their regular second baseman. This is the first position change of Andrus’ 14-year MLB career, as he has exclusively played shortstop (with a handful of DH games) over his 1947 Major League games. Andrus has made exactly one professional appearance as a second baseman, and it happened way back in his first pro season of 2005 with the Braves’ rookie ball affiliate.
Lack of experience notwithstanding, there probably isn’t much doubt that Andrus can handle the new position, given that he was still posting quality defensive numbers (as per the UZR/150 and Outs Above Average metrics) as a shortstop as recently as 2022. It is certainly possible that Andrus’ glovework will be even better at an ostensibly easier position, which gives the White Sox a defensive boost heading into a season with new anti-shift rules coming into play.
The signing addresses a problem position for the Sox that has lingered all offseason. Chicago signed Hanser Alberto, Erik Gonzalez, and Nate Mondou to minor league contracts, yet neither represented any real upgrade to a second base position that generated only 0.3 bWAR for the White Sox over the entire 2022 season. With Andrus now in the fold, longtime utilityman Leury Garcia can now used in his usual multi-position role, and more inexperienced options like Romy Gonzalez and Lenyn Sosa can now compete for bench jobs or get more seasoning in the minor leagues.
The $3MM outlay for Andrus bumps Chicago’s payroll to roughly $189.1MM, as per Roster Resource. This is a little less than the approximately $193MM the White Sox spent last season, though GM Rick Hahn indicated back in November that the club was planning to have around the same payroll as it did in 2022. Some reports suggested that the Sox would even try to cut payroll down to around $180MM, though that plan may have been abandoned in light of rising free agent costs and a relative lack of league-wide action on the trade market. If the Sox were in contention at midseason, owner Jerry Reinsdorf could possibly okay another payroll bump for a trade deadline addition, even if it’s probably safe to assume that a real spending splurge isn’t coming.
The Angels and Red Sox were the only teams publicly known to have interest in Andrus this winter, with Boston emerging in the wake of Trevor Story’s internal-brace surgery on his right elbow. There was obviously a lot of action on the shortstop market this offseason, but once the big names of Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, and Dansby Swanson all signed their contracts, remaining teams with shortstop needs seemed more willing to test out internal options rather than pursue a veteran like Andrus. Becoming a second baseman might reflect the reality of the market for Andrus, or he might’ve just preferred an everyday role at a new position (and in a familiar environment) rather than remain a shortstop on a new team, but in more of a part-time capacity.
Elvis is still in the building.
Suspicious minds will question this signing but it’s now or never.
I’m certain it wasn’t Heartbreak Hotel for a lot of White Sox fans calling for this.
Had he gone to the Royals, he would’ve had to wear blue suede shoes.
He got returned to sender
On a cold and gray Chicago morn, another lame-y contract born in the ghetto…
Don’t Cry Daddy. Elvis is coming back.
It’s JAILHOUSE ROCK because the Sox stole this TEDDY BEAR. Boston should have picked him up but Elvis said I DID IT MY WAY. Bloom supporters cry, DON’T BE CRUEL, but SUSPICIOUS MINDS will ridicule Chaim once again and offer to send him packing to GRACELAND.
All right thats about enough of the puns. How about a little less conversation, a little more action.
What’s the matter — all this aggravation ain’t satisfactioning you?
Stop with the trash narrative the Sox should of picked him up we have enough 35 year old scrubs on the team
On a cold and gray Chicago morning, another crappy signing is borne in the ghetto.
Lots of cold grey mornings here in chicago, lots….
At least he’s not playing on old and closed Harper High School’s home field.
Don’t be cruel.
Here’s a tissue. Never happy
Personally I feel better about second base now. Hopefully it works out. Certainly better than what we had. Thanks Mr Hahn
What took so long?!
Very happy to have him back, although he shouldn’t have been let go to begin with. Andrus said at the end of last season that he wanted to stay with the Sox and that he was willing to switch to 2b. And the part about Reinsdorf bumping up payroll in mid season if the Sox are in contention is utterly laughable since he obviously could care less about the Sox.
He wasn’t “let go.” He was a free agent.
“What took so long?!”
Wise men say only fools rush in.
It took a long time for the Sox to wait out his ask of 3.5 mil.
When you have no second baseman or decent backup shortstop for the often-injured Tim Anderson you can’t just be spending big money on a player.
Can’t believe the Braves didn’t bring him back at that price.
The team was carried by him and Cueto in the 2md half. Not bringing either back would’ve been a mistake but at least did something right
He and Cueto both had fluky seasons that aren’t likely to be repeated. Teams know this and that’s why Andrus only got 3 million. Why the Marlins wanted Cueto, I have no idea. Just to block one of their talented young pitchers like Garrett or Cabrera, I guess. Although the old-school fans will think it’s for his “leadership” and mentoring. Whatever.
They may hope Cueto frees them up to trade more pitching for offense. I don’t think they are finished. They need a lot more offense to compete in that division.
Never bet against Cueto
I’m old but I’m pretty sure hiring an additional coach is a lot cheaper than using an active player as a coach.
Ok mope. See where that will get you. Maybe you could purchase the team and pay all that big money
Andrus was hitting in one of the toughest ballparks in one of the worst batting orders in the league. Seeing his stats jump up after the trade wasn’t too surprising, he looked washed up in 2021 but in 2022 he was having a lot of good AB’s for the A’s. Happy for him because he always looked like he was joking around and being positive.
You could see this one coming for a while now.
Nice job White Sox. Chaim Bloom you missed out on a solid stopgap.
Chaim is really an idiot for not signing him for 3 mil but instead signing a guy who can’t hit
$3m for a year of andrus, but, at least boston got the ‘bargain’ of Chung for 850k.
I’d say at least one of the two had a shot at being flipped at the deadline, but, that also breaks in the white Sox favor.
Yeah it doesn’t make sense that they couldn’t drop 3 million of Elvis and would prefer a terrible Yu Chang
Unless Elvis was smart enough to have seen how bloom treats players and wanted no part of it….
“they couldn’t drop 3 million”
You somehow know Elvis wouldve taken 3mil from the Red Sox? Red Sox usually have to pay a premium. Cost of living, crowded city, probably not going to compete, obnoxious fans — usually drive the price up. But, if you say so.
Your too ignorant to be a Sox fan
Why would he go to Boston to be a part-time SS? The Sox already covered their problem at SS with Kikè and Modesi. Then when Story comes back where would Andrus play? He saw full-time play in Chicago and took it.
You have a good point but don’t the Red Sox need a 2nd baseman too? I am not a Red Sox fan but I feel for the fans. Forgive me if they got another second baseman but are they planning to use Christian Arroyo as a starter. Also Chicago is probably more crowded than Boston. You are right about them probably not being contenders but the White Sox aren’t exactly locks for a playoff spot either. Every team has obnoxious fans but they have some damn good ones as well. Some people love living in New England. It’s not my cup of tea but a lot of people love it. Is the cost of living higher in Boston than Chicago? I would have thought otherwise.
Nice signing. I was surprised by how long he lasted. The asking price must have been too high until now.
I think he was waiting to see if he could get a shortstop deal somewhere…
I wish St, Louis had signed him for that price. I’d like to have seen a better insurance policy at short than DeJong.
His market must’ve crumbled if he only got 3mil
And not being the starting shortstop somewhere.
A 34 year old with a career OPS+ of 87 who is the MLB active error leader who will have to play a different position….. yeah, great signing.
Don’t judge players on how many errors the pay make. Andrus is still a plus defender.
Besides, Devers will catch Elvis for that title in no time
He’s over rated. Glad the Angels didn’t sign him. He takes his eye off the ball and makes too many errors.
Overrated? He makes about the same as Rengifo, was +3 in statcast outs above average, Rengifo was -8, and defense is going to be a lot more important,
David Fletcher makes twice what Andrus makes and I’d be thrilled if Fletcher was as good as Andrus was last year.
Boros couldn’t do better than this for his client?
Evidently not. Andrus had several straight bad offensive years while guaranteed 15mil+….then in contract year revved the engine. The BB ref page paints a picture. That looks terrible to any GM who can question effort. 1yr low deal at 34 seems about right.
Go watch the cubbies if you don’t like it.
Memo to MLBTR readers: Franklin would like you to get off his lawn.
It is a great signing when you just improved your team significantly for only $3 mil.
Should of signed Cueto but he hurt their feelings!
Who cares about this the Daytona 500 is on
Maybe you should trying watching it instead of reading a site called MLB Trade Rumors and expecting a NASCAR story.
Some people get a thrill watching a hundred high velocity rolling billboards make left turns for 3 or 4 hours straight.
Don’t worry man, this will be the White Sox’ year, just like 2020, and 2021, and 2022!
I guess that was joke, because if it was serious, it was a joke.
The real joke is the fact that you pay to use this free website
The real joke is you coming on a thread about the White Sox and you troll them. What a loser.
As far as financially supporting something that gives me value, I’m happy to do it. It’s less that the cost of a good pizza. I can easily afford it.
No, I pay to support this free website. If enough people don’t pay, it might go away, and that would be sad.
I pay and I’m happy to so. $2.99 a month .,, come on dude, you’re the joke
Watch your Daytona. Sox have enough poor sports
I was surprised that the White Sox resign him. There was talk about a Ian Happ and Nick Madrigal going to White Sox for Michael kopech and 2 other minor league.
No, there was no such talk except among fools.
I think your right.i think your right
Hahahaha
After seeing Wacha get 4 years, must be a bummer to have Boras only get this for Andrus.
Thank god, a competent 2B, even though he’s not an everyday player. I’ll take it. Now find a RF who can field and hit 30 HRs and we’re in business.
He is an everyday player, but he is not a 2B. He might be OK at it, but it is a huge gamble for a team that looks like they want to compete for the division.
That’s definitely true what else is out there?
Not much, but I would think Rougned Odor would at least be comparable with the bat and a lot fewer questions with the defense.
Plus there is the trade market. There have been several starting quality 2B mentioned in trade rumors this offseason.
You have to remember, this is the White Sox. 3m to them is like a 300m deal. Andrus is a much better choice at 2b than Romy Gonzalez, who belongs in AAA, Lenyn Sosa, who should be sent back to AA where LaRussa found him, super utility man Leury Garcia and a bunch of minor leaguers and dfa’s they signed this off season.
Roughned Odor? Over Andrus? Alright, I can’t take you seriously. You are officially a meatball.
WTH are you talking about?
He was a shortstop before. He played well filling in for the Sox last year, and he’s moving to a much easier position to play.
You call me a meatball and you think I can’t be taken seriously? Whatever Chef Boyardee.
Odor with a -0.4 WAR and a .632 OPS would comparable to Andrus who put up 3.0 WAR and a .707 OPS? I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you didn’t look at the numbers before making that comment; because if not….
ChiSox…. He is the active MLB leader in errors, and a significantly subpar career hitter.
He bad.
Also, another fun fact:
Devers is already number 19 in active errors leaders, the player in the top 40 with the least amount of years service time, and, the next closest player in service with a mere additional 6 errors has an entire additional 1yr 4days mlb service (Tim Anderson.)
You do know how you become the active leader in errors? By having a long career. And is he really subpar when compared to the rest of the White Sox lineup?
You must think Brooks Robinson and Ozzie Smith were pretty bad at defense then. They have the 15th and 20th most errors since intergration. Luis Aparicio is also really bad. He has the 3rd mosts since intergration.
Amen
Finally made some attempt at addressing one of the biggest holes in the roster. Would rather have had a trade, but team is thin, especially with Hendriks out. Could have done worse.
At the end of last season I was expecting him to sign for 4-5M. Surprised he went for so little.
He was holding out for the Angels.
Thank you! I have literally begged for this the whole offseason.
Good signing for the White Sox. Andrus at 2B is still probably better than the other options currently on the roster. Would rather have seen the Red Sox sign him instead of trading for Mondesi but it obviously wasn’t meant to be
A lot of excitement for signing a guy who was released mid-season last year. A small amount of success doesn’t mean it is repeatable.
The White Sox’s second base situation was so dismal that this warrants some celebration on their part. Even the late Texas-era Elvis would be an enormous upgrade over Leury Garcia and friends
This really makes me question if Iglesias has something in his basic mlb medicals that we don’t know… he was solid at 2b in boston, arguably better than Elvis out of position would be. Then again, who knows.
At how much $$$$ for Iglesias?
Andrus and Iglesias are very similar players in terms of skillset and makeup and Andrus played much better last year. I think it’s as simple as that
I see a few post saying solid signing and a couple other with jokes regarding his name. If that is “a lot of excitement” to you, you must not get out very often…
K hope he FOOLS you
Andrus was released a few days before the A’s would have had to pay him $15m a year. It had nothing to do with his playing ability.
No shifts = second baseman range is more important.
Could be a sneaky good move.
Defense this year is very important. I sure hope the Angels know what they are doing, but base on history…. I’m no so sure.
Took them long enough.
Braves must really have confidence in Arcia/Grissom, which is a pleasant surprise. I’m sure they were in contact with Andrus but if that was how little he signed for, they must not have been open to giving Elvis the playing time he wanted. Glad they are open to seeing how Grissom responds and have confidence in the team around him (all assumptions based on their off-season, of course)
Unsure why that took so long. Exactly where everyone figured he would end up.
My homie Romy getting Cesar’s thumbs down. It was just the other day that the finest GM in merica (yeah) was waxing poetic about me boy.
God that was something obvious that should of happened a long time ago. I’m amazed somebody else didn’t sign him before now. Finally something to get a little excited about anyway. Fills a need.
Perfect. Now sign Jose Iglesias if he’s still available, a great defensive catcher and the Sox will have one of the best defenses in baseball.
And then, their offense will be terrible.
I’m shocked that Andrus lasted this long and signed for so little. I wonder what GMs know that we don’t?
Probably wanted 3 years or 2 years at least. Held out but had to settle anyway.
he’s a placeholder they’re familiar with. so theres that i guess.
not a good offseason for the white sox. they’ll be fine if everyone stays healthy and plays closer to their ceiling than their floor, which is a tall task.
Glad the Sox signed him back. Now, enuf of the Elvis song comments please… so lame. They are not funny or original.
We’re caught in a trap and we can’t walk out
As the man said, stop it!
Did they learn nothing from watching Andrelton Simmons try to play second base. And he was a much better defender than Andrus. You cannot just automatically play second because you a great shortstop. It is a completely different position. You are facing the batter in a different direction. People have dominant eyes the same as hands. I know this from personal experience. I played MUCH better on the left side of the diamond than on the right because my left eye is dominant. It may not seem like a huge difference, but believe me it is.
It doesn’t affect everyone the same way, but why take the chance? Just sign a second baseman instead. Rougned Odor would have been a better signing in my opinion.
Easy to play arm chair general manager for alot of you here
Well of course. Most of us will never get the opportunity to be a real GM, so it’s the only option. And don’t think you are above the rest of us. You are here too doing the same thing.
Odor is, at best, adequate defensively, and poor offensively. On the plus side, he’s left handed.
But my point was that he is a known quantity. You know he is adequate at 2B. Andrus is a complete unknown at the position. And the upside for being correct in the guess is not really better than just going with Odor
A known quantity that put up -0.4 WAR last year. Sure you know what you are getting, but what you are getting is really bad.
Are you Omar Vizquel??? Hahahaha
Hiflew is Nomar Garciaparra
Plenty of SS have moved to 2B later in their careers successfully. Odds are he will be just fine there. Semein did it for the Jays and did very well.
Anderson to 2B?
He is a low cost option. You may see a late inning defensive replacement. If his offense isn’t up to par, I’m sure he will be replaced entirely.
Everyone does eventually
Love the Elvis Presley song selections. Up here in Canada, the first “Elvis” that comes to mind is Stojko. Sad.
About time!
I mean, yeah about time they did this.
Love the move!! This is the defensive piece we needed. Winning the AL Central is now done. Stay healthy ….. Go get this ring! Most of the pieces are in place. Stay healthy!
The Sox were 25 behind the Astros last year. You are delusional if you think this move will have any impact on this team winning anything. Maybe a game or two, which will leave them in 3rd place.
The only Sox player with a chance at a ring this year is Jose Abreu.
First, Abreu is no longer a White Sox player, but I do hope he gets a ring this season because he deserves it. I agree that the Sox will finish behind both the Guards and the Twins even if everyone plays well. One injury – and, as long as there’s a first base to trip over it’s basically a lock – they will find themselves trying to hold off KC for fourth place.
Andrus had a very good 3.1 WAR in 2022. I’m sure he was hoping for a multi year contract and a lot more dollars but he was pretty mediocre for a few years before that. Maybe it’s the old contract year syndrome and teams aren’t buying it the way they used to.
Outside of his 40 game stretch with the white Sox last year he’s been pretty bad for a while.
Strange, that after a 3 win season he’d get 3m. Even in 2021 with a 103 OPS+ he was worth 0.6 WAR, or at least 3m the way teams tend to spend. I expected just the one year, but twice what he got. At the least some sort of vesting option that rewarded him for 2024 if he largely repeated 2022.
So glad the Red Sox didn’t sign him.
I’d have preferred him to Chung. There’s a chance he would at least bring some deadline return of some type of use, for not a lot more money.
Maybe so, but I feel both are depth signings and Andrus deserves to play more.
Honestly though, I look at KiKi and Mondesi first before Chung.
Kiki needs to be in the OF, and, mondesi has.never once stayed healthy.
Verdugo is a negative defensive player in RF. Duval is really just a 4th OF who strikes out a ton, nearly 1/3 of his PAs, and can’t help cover for Verdugo who is weak in rf.
When the plan is to move Kiki to ss, to bide time for a guy in story who shouldn’t be a ss anymore anyways, you’ve got problems.
I don’t think we have problems. Kike was going to be a shortstop and infielder before he went to the outfield and he played a lot of infield in 2021 if I remember. It wasn’t a problem. I remember switching him to the outfield that year.
I do agree our outfield looks light but you’re forgetting Masataka and whether you like Verdugo or not, he’s not moving. Verdugo had a down year and we have to hope he has a decent year. I’m hoping Duran also steps up- he was decent in the Minors and still hasn’t been given a real chance at the Majpr League level, but he’s still in our depth chart.
There’s still a lot to figure out with this team and they will use spring training to do so. But I will say, I think it’s great we are versatile and can move guys around rather than have guys who can play in just one place. Bloom had been effective with versatility and that was one reason we went far in 2021, which everyone overlooks.
Now if none if these work out, then we will have some issues but it’s February and we still have time to figure it out.
We don’t need further congestion by signing Andrus.
I’d rather have Elvis for 1yr/3mil than IKF for one year at 6.5mil. Just sayin’.
But if you cannot get rid of IKF, would you rather have both for 9.5 mil? If you don’t want IKF at 1/6.5, perhaps no other team does either. And since you are stuck with him anyway, might as well just go with it.
If Andrus can replicate his 2022 season, then he’s a great bargain. He’s 34 though and has a career profile that suggests the 116 OPS+ he had as a Sox won’t be seen again. Probably more a 1.5 win player at this stage of his career, not the 3 win player he was last season. IKF probably more likely to replicate a three win season if he played regularly for the Dox. Still, Elvis is a solid addition, just don’t expect what he did as a White Sox last year. Obviously, other teams weren’t either.
Hit the ball harder, LD’s were up, BABIP didn’t suggest a fluke… I’m a little surprised he wasn’t in the 5m-7m range.
Okay then, who is left on the Free Agent vine? I got Profar, Naquin, and Voit. Sounds like a subpar ambulance chasing group of attorneys from Skokie, Illinois.
Well if they’re from Skokie they’re two things. They’re rich and they ain’t cheap.
Very glad the Angels passed on this guy.
Don’t they have enough infielders already?
This solidifies the lineup. Great move, although the depth on the bench is still weak.
Desperate move by a desperate team. Why so many comments on this guy and team that will never ever ever ever go anywhere but die in their god awful south Chicago ghetto stadium
Quite trolling other teams fans comment area looking for a fight! Your team spent 262M for this season and the White Sox spent 189M. Who is kidding who?
This is a great signing by the White Sox. The White Sox’s line up just needs to stay helathy this season (Moncada, Robert, Jimenez and Grandal) need to play at least 100 games together.
I sure hope Grandal and Moncada start 162 games, lol. And the icing on the cake, would be if I’d get to watch Eloy on the OF for half the season. Eloy is fun to watch.
Why do you come on here trolling all of the time without having a legit argument? One thing the White Sox dealt with the last two seasons were injuries. Odds are Eloy with split time as an outfielder and DH (Grandal and Eloy will have a lot of time as DH).
If Eloy plays OF, he won’t last 1/2 a season before injuring himself and/or someone else. Yet he will probably be their opening day RF because they will keep Colas at AAA for service time manipulation.
Would be another tragicomedy if Eloy gets hurt before Colas arrives. The dude should never be in the OF, and they won’t face that fact.
Gavin Sheets will be in RF if Colas starts at AAA with Victor Reyes seeing time as well
I think what we all should be talking about is not this cracker box team but that the Padres will be in the 2023 World Series. I know it, and all of you pansies on here know it too.
Another huge disappointment the Padres will be only more expensive this year. Lol
What allowed the Padres to become big spenders was the Chargers moving to LA. Only sports franchise in town drove up the attendance and ratings on TV and radio hence the funds to spend 272M on payroll this season! The Yankees and Dodgers are proof U can buy your way to a playoff spot! Doesn’t mean U will win it all but you get a seat at the table every year!
2021 payroll 174M, 2023 payroll 263M..
His offensive burst with the White Sox seems unsustainable, but they’re also better today than they were yesterday.
This Elvis is Costello. You all need to figure out who’s on first, people!!
The White Sox have much bigger and better news to exploit and garner favor with the SJW and woke mob… Some rookie ball pitcher is really a catcher.
You are a sad human
This is the kind of move that a team makes if they have no World Series aspirations whatsoever. Well done. Dumpster diving Rick.
Not bad, I bet his mates are happy to have him back. BUT it’d be nice to see the team acquire another SP and RP to make up for the losses of Clevinger and Hendricks
“Given that he was still posting quality defensive numbers…” **the 2015 Blue Jays have entered the chat..
Hes gonna get that 2,000 hits
Glad Elvis is back, if only because the other options are not good at all. Even if he is only marginally better, its still better. I just laugh at the story I just saw about Anderson running around saying the Sox should have a chip on their shoulder.. Who are they mad at exactly? I mean they ALL underachieved last season.. and that’s putting it nicely.. Loafed is another word that comes to mind…. They have no one to be mad at except themselves.
It just feels like its going to be another tough year as a Sox fan…
Now trade TA for 2 players one in the field Yanks Torres and a prospect.TA will want new deal and will want out if he doesn’t get it.
‘Wanting out’ will show him just how many teams do not want his attitude on their club.Maybe he needs that to realize is not all he, and the org for that matter, has hyped himself to be.