The Angels announced that infielder Tim Anderson has been released. He had been designated for assignment two days ago. He’ll be a free agent once he clears release waivers, unless he has already.
This was the expected outcome when Anderson was designated for assignment earlier this week. He was unlikely to be claimed based on his performance this year and in other recent seasons. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, so the Angels have skipped over that formality.
He’ll now be free to sign with any club, though he’ll surely be limited to minor league offers. Anderson just produced a tepid .205/.258/.241 line over 90 plate appearances with the Angels. That continued a yearslong slump for him. Dating back to the start of the 2023 season, he has stepped to the plate 855 times with a .232/.269/.270 line. That leads to a 49 wRC+, indicating he’s been 51% worse than league average at the plate.
Based on that performance, he’s unlikely to get a major league opportunity in the immediate future. There’s no harm in a minor league deal, however, and Anderson has previous major league success. From 2019 to 2022, he slashed .318/.347/.473 for a 123 wRC+ with the White Sox. He also stole 53 bases while playing solid shortstop defense.
But early in 2023, he landed on the injured list due to a left knee sprain and hasn’t been the same since. The White Sox declined a $14MM club option for 2024, going for the $1MM buyout instead. Anderson landed a $5MM deal with the Marlins going into last year but was released in July. He signed a minor league deal with the Halos for this year and cracked the Opening Day roster but wasn’t able to produce. His 32nd birthday is next month. He’ll now see what kind of opportunities await him on the open market.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Hui, Imagn Images
Atlanta ?
He’s the type of player that feeds off of winning teams. Chi Sox (the last few years, Marlins and Angels weren’t it). I hope he gets another shot.
His skills have eroded. It has nothing to do with the quality of his teams. Where do people come up with these crazy notions?
I was a backer preseason, Im beginning to agree with Hank. I do think he could get it going in the right situation but that can be a difficult thing. AAA is a good place to give it one last hurrah.
Leg injuries sapped him of his game. His speed is down, he’s not generating power in his swing, his range is reduced.
I’m not sure he’s a selective enough hitter to reinvent himself as a different type of player but I’d be interested if he went somewhere else and tried.
He’s the type of player that feeds off of winning teams.
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He has a 29/3 K/W. Nobody in the history of the world ever swings a bat without the intention of doing some damage. If I go to a batting cage, I want to hit the ball as hard as possible.
He got injured halfway through 2022 and his power just left him. This completely changed the way pitchers approached him and how fielders positioned against him.
I don’t think his failures have anything to do with “feeding off winning”
He’s done.
Generally happens to all the young guys who are so babip dependent. But everyone loved him when he was high average without all walks to sustain his success
Chicago Dogs.
Maybe the Schaumburg Boomers
you drafted him? why?
Down goes Anderson.
I blame Jose Ramirez
Are you sure it was the knee strain that stopped his performance and not the concussion he sustained by the nice punch?
Welcome to the KBO, Tim!
The NPB and KBO should be his next stops.
Nah. He doesn’t fit the profile for KBO or NPB. They want four A players. I’d suspect Mervis will get a shot in KBO. Not TA. He’s Long Island Ducks material.
You must be the worst fantasy baseball manager of all-time.
First clue: Missing epic sideburns.
Jackie Robinson, huh?
Kingery is great
He’s already out-performed Anderson.
Who wouldn’t pay to watch Jake Paul and Tim Anderson duke it out at second base?
Anderson would set to throw to first then stop before he threw, like Tyson…
That was the issue with Bautista as well. These guys were showing off the dance moves while their opponent was throwing haymakers.
Comparing Bautista career to Andersons is silly
Go get him Yankees. There’s your 2b. Move jazz to 3rd.
I don’t know how many fans truly realize how good of a hitter this guy was for a while with the Sox. Four straight seasons hitting over .300 and in two them he slugged more than .500. But aometime during that 4th season he lost his power. And from there everything went to hell for TA. He has been a troubled young man, that I do know for a fact.
@remember. Taylor replaced tim because of his position flexibility. Give it a month and he will be joining Anderson.
He won a batting title and was a face of the game for a while. People know.
K/W caught up to him. It was about 6:1 over those 3 seasons. Every pitcher in BB will gradually expand the strike zone. It’s like Story on the RS. There is no reason to throw a strike to guy until you get down in the count.
He had some good results, but the underlying expected numbers were often mediocre. Turns out, Anderson was a bit lucky and all it took was a lost step or two and he didn’t have anything going for him anymore.
So in roughly 1500 ABs, he went from best hitter in the league, to can’t hit water if he fell out of a boat. “The Yips” are a serious thing…
Water isn’t wet; it’s a liquid that makes things it touches become wet
Hard to shake off that w. Sox loosing mindset and culture. Don’t stop now boys.
But if everything water touches becomes wet, and water molecules are touching other water molecules, isn’t water wet?
Seems like the legs are what went for him. Can’t drive the ball to even hit it hard enough for what used to be singles. Had a nice few year stretch.
Goodbye everybody…
I’ve got to go…
Maybe he can get a position with Chock Full o’ Nuts?
I really don’t see Anderson even getting a MiLB offer at this point. MLBTR continues to push the idea Anderson has recent success, but he hasn’t been playable in years.
100% correct
Ever since he called Josh Donaldson a racist, it’s been downhill. Always disliked this jerk. Happy his career plummeted