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The Top Unsigned Shortstops

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Pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Spring Training in about three weeks but a slow offseason means there are still plenty of free agents out there. MLBTR already took a look at the center fielders and catchers still available and will now take a look at some notable shortstops.

  • Tim Anderson: It’s no secret that last year was a disaster for Anderson, a stunning drop-off from his previous performance. From 2019 to 2022, he hit .318/.347/.473 for a wRC+ of 123. Last year, his line was just .245/.286/.296. His wRC+ of 60 was the lowest of all qualified hitters in the league. His defense also seemed to take a step back. Despite that rough year, his prior track record and a weak free agent class should get him a chance somewhere. Optimists could perhaps point to an April knee injury as the culprit for 2023, with better health perhaps leading to better results. Anderson has expressed a willingness to move to other positions going forward, but the lack of better alternatives should work in his favor.
  • Amed Rosario: Like Anderson, Rosario also experienced a big drop-off in 2023, though not quite as precipitous. He hit .282/.315/.412 from 2019 to 2022, leading to a wRC+ of 101. The reviews on his glovework were mixed. Last year, he hit just .263/.305/.378 between the Guardians and Dodgers, leading to an 88 wRC+. The latter club, after acquiring him in a trade, had him spend more time at second base than at short. It’s unclear whether clubs around the league will consider him a proper shortstop or more of a second baseman that could play there in a pinch. The offense has been uneven but he’s always had good numbers with the platoon advantage, even in his poor 2023 campaign. The righty hitter slashed .282/.326/.442 against southpaws last year for a 112 wRC+.
  • Gio Urshela: Going back to his 2019 breakout with the Yankees, Urshela has hit .291/.335/.452 for a wRC+ of 115. He’s also considered a strong defender at third base but has only had brief glimpses at short. While he’s had over 4,600 innings at the hot corner, he’s tallied just 359 at the six hole. His numbers there haven’t been especially strong either. He’s also coming off a season that was ended by a pelvic fracture suffered in June. He may be the most reliable bat in this bunch but he’s probably not considered an everyday shortstop. Then again, the dearth of attractive options may tempt some club to give it a shot.
  • Elvis Andrus: The ceiling may not be too exciting with Andrus, but he has more reliability than the names ahead of him on this list. He played 112 games for the White Sox last year, missing a few weeks due to an oblique strain but otherwise staying healthy. He’s only had one full season in his career where he didn’t top that mark, getting to just 97 games in 2018. His .251/.304/.358 batting line translated to a wRC+ of just 81, not far below his career production, but he stole 12 bases and was still considered good in the field. His 1.1 fWAR on the year was easily the highest of anyone else in this post and he’s never been lower than that in a full season. Due to the aforementioned players dealing with rough years and injuries, none of these other guys even got to 0.5 fWAR.
  • Adalberto Mondesí: The flip side to Andrus, Mondesí is not reliable at all but comes with a more enticing ceiling. Health has been a constant issue with him, as his 2019 season was the only time he got into more than 75 games, suiting up for 102 contests that year. Most recently, he suffered a torn ACL in April of 2022 and hasn’t appeared in a game since. But he had a strong run with the Royals from 2018 to 2021 when he was able to take the field. He hit 35 home runs in 1,103 plate appearances, though a 4.3% walk rate kept his on-base percentage low. His .261/.293/.445 batting line translated to a wRC+ of 92 but he paired that with strong defense and 114 stolen bases in 271 games. He produced 7.4 fWAR in that time, not even two full seasons’ worth of contests. The health issues will give clubs plenty of pause but he’s still just 28 years old and is almost two years removed from his ACL surgery at this point.

Honorable mentions: Brandon Crawford, Nick Ahmed, Yu Chang

Free Agent Faceoff: Tim Anderson/Amed Rosario

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Teams have been spoiled by the star-studded free agent classes of recent offseasons, particularly when it comes to shortstops. The past two winters have seen the likes of Corey Seager, Carlos Correa (twice), Marcus Semien, Dansby Swanson, Trea Turner, and Xander Bogaerts hit the open market, giving teams in search of help at the position a plethora of All Stars to choose from. Teams in need of help at shortstop this winter have found themselves with slim pickings, however.

Just three players with recent experience at shortstop cracked MLBTR’s Top 50 MLB free agents list this offseason, and the highest rated among them (Gio Urshela) played just nine games at the position in 2023 before suffering a groin injury that leaves questions about his ability to handle the position defensively entering his age-32 campaign. That leaves just two players at the top of the offseason’s thin shortstop market, and both come with major question marks: longtime White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson, and former Mets, Guardians, and Dodgers infielder Amed Rosario. Both players had profiled as everyday regulars at the position entering the year but are coming off significant down seasons both at the plate and in the field.

Entering the 2023 season, Anderson was generally considered to be a top-10 shortstop in the majors. Over the previous four seasons, he had slashed an impressive .318/.347/.474 in 374 games while collecting two All Star appearances, a Silver Slugger award, and a seventh-place finish in AL MVP voting. His 123 wRC+ during that time frame ranked seventh among all shortstops in the majors, ahead of stars such as Marcus Semien and Francisco Lindor. Unfortunately, the 2023 campaign saw the 30-year-old struggle badly both at the plate and in the field. Anderson posted -2 Outs Above Average last year after posting a +5 figure over the preceding four seasons while slashing a putrid .245/.286/.296 in 524 trips to the plate. That performance translates to a wRC+ of 60, 40% worse than the league average hitter and the worst figure among all qualified major leaguers last year.

As for Rosario, the 28-year-old was once a consensus top-10 prospect in the sport but struggled early in his career as a member of the Mets. He took a significant step forward during his age-23 season, however, and from 2019 to 2022 was more or less a league average regular at shortstop with a .282/.315/.412 slash line good for a 101 wRC+. While his defensive chops at shortstop were questionable, he nonetheless accumulated a respectable 7.3 fWAR during that time, good for 19th among shortstops across those four seasons. Just as Rosario’s peak was less extreme than Anderson’s, so too was his downfall in 2023. Rosario’s overall offensive production dipped only slightly last year as he slashed .263/.305/.378 (88 wRC+) in 545 trips to the plate. Much of Rosario’s regression this season came in the field, as he posted a whopping -14 Outs Above Average at shortstop in 2023, putting him in the first percentile among all major leaguers according to Statcast.

As worrisome as Anderson’s offensive woes and Rosario’s defensive struggles are, teams in need of a shortstop will be hard-pressed to find a better option available to them. While it seems there’s at least a decent chance that the Padres trade defensive stalwart Ha-Seong Kim this offseason, other top trade candidates capable of handling short such as Willy Adames of the Brewers appear unlikely to be moved at this point in the offseason. Free agency doesn’t offer much in the way of alternative options either. Looking beyond Urshela and his aforementioned defensive question marks, the list of available shortstops is made up primarily of aging veterans coming off down seasons like Brandon Crawford and Elvis Andrus and players who have struggled to stay on the field at all recently such as Nick Ahmed and Adalberto Mondesi.

Given the many question marks surrounding both players, rumors of interest have been relatively few and far between to this point in the offseason. The Angels were connected to Anderson back in November, and his presence could allow the club to give youngster Zach Neto more time in the minor leagues to develop after he was rushed to the majors last summer. As for Rosario, he’s been rumored as a potential target for the Red Sox and Blue Jays, though both clubs have added middle infielders since then in Vaughn Grissom and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, respectively.

As far as clubs who could be speculative fits for Anderson or Rosario this winter, the team that sticks out most as in need of a shortstop is the Marlins. Miami currently figures to utilize Jon Berti as their everyday shortstop despite him having started just 86 games at the position during his major league career, more than half of which came just last season. The Dodgers are also known to be on the lookout for an upgrade over their current tandem of Gavin Lux and Miguel Rojas at the position, while the Rays could use a shortstop given that Taylor Walls is still recovering from hip surgery while Wander Franco’s future in MLB is in question due to alleged inappropriate relationships with minors. The Mariners, A’s, and Pirates are among other clubs who could potentially benefit from adding another bat to their middle infield mix.

If your team needed to added a shortstop to its middle infield mix this winter, which would you rather sign? Would you value Anderson’s stronger defense and more impressive peak, or Rosario’s youth and stronger overall numbers last season?

Angels Interested In Tim Anderson

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The Angels have a “strong interest in” Tim Anderson, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, with Los Angeles eyeing Anderson as a possible second base candidate.  Though Anderson has been a shortstop for virtually his entire eight-year career in the majors, he acknowledged last month that he would be open to becoming a second baseman.

“Really, at this point, it doesn’t matter.  I’m a shortstop/second baseman,” Anderson said in an interview with MLB.com’s Scott Merkin.  “It’s whatever to allow my career to keep going.  I’m not going to wrestle with a team that I’m this or I’m that.  It’s just an honor and a blessing to fit in any lineup as a starter considering how hard this game is.  Short would be my first choice, but I also understand how older guys are viewed, now that I’m stepping into that phase, which sucks and is different.  I just want to continue to keep building on what I started and get back to what I used to be.”

Anderson just turned 30 last June, but is at a career crossroads in the wake of a disastrous final season with the White Sox.  Anderson hit .318/.347/.474 over 1641 plate appearances with Chicago from 2019-22, a four-year run that included two All-Star appearances, a Silver Slugger Award, and a batting title.  It certainly looked like Anderson was a solid bet to keep up that level of production heading into 2023, but a knee sprain (and a three-week injured list stint) early in the season seemed to throw Anderson off for the rest of the year.  Anderson hit only .245/.286/.296 over 524 PA, and he had the lowest wRC+ (60) of any qualified hitter in baseball.

This led the White Sox to decline their $14MM club option on Anderson’s services for 2024, instead buying him out for $1MM and sending the veteran infielder into the free agent market for the first time in his career.  Though the Sox didn’t have any luck in trying to trade Anderson before the deadline to decide on his contract option, it makes sense why the Angels or other clubs would be interested in him as a free agent at a lower price tag.  A return to good health and a change of scenery might well get Anderson back to the All-Star form he showed as recently as 2022, making him an intriguing bounce-back candidate.

It seems like a lock that Anderson and his reps at Excel will pursue a one-year contract this winter, in the hopes that Anderson can play well and then be lined up for a more lucrative longer-term deal next offseason.  This might fit well with the Angels’ plans, as GM Perry Minasian added mostly shorter-term deals last winter in an attempt to bolster the club’s depth around superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout.

The tactic didn’t work, as the Angels stumbled to their eighth straight losing record and their ninth straight year without a postseason appearance.  With Ohtani’s possible departure in free agency now looming, it remains to be seen how the Angels might approach the loss of their two-way star, yet signing Anderson to a one-year deal makes sense whether the Halos are looking to contend in 2024 or if they might take a step back to re-evaluate, if not necessarily rebuild.  Either way, the Angels would be hoping Anderson rebounds, as he could at least become a trade chip at the deadline if Los Angeles fell short again.

Zach Neto figures to be the top candidate for everyday shortstop work, though having Anderson on hand provides L.A. with some depth if Neto struggles in his sophomore season.  From a fielding perspective, Neto looks to be the better option given how Anderson’s glovework has been so subpar over the last two seasons, so it would seem like second base might be the Angels’ preferred position for the veteran.

However, even that isn’t a clean fit, as Brandon Drury and Luis Rengifo would seemingly have the keystone covered.  This doesn’t exactly preclude an Anderson signing, as Rengifo could play third base if Anthony Rendon encounters more injury issues, and Drury could also play first base in a timeshare with Nolan Schanuel.  If Ohtani leaves, the DH spot would now be open for the Angels to find more at-bats for various players on the roster.

White Sox Notes: Robert, Trade Market, Anderson, Coaching Staff

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The White Sox head into the offseason looking to turn things around under a new general manager after a disastrous 2023 campaign. Chris Getz, promoted from his prior post as assistant GM after the summer dismissal of Rick Hahn and Kenny Williams, met with reporters yesterday at the GM Meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz. and discussed his team’s outlook. While the rookie baseball ops leader emphasized that there are winning pieces on the roster, he also acknowledged that on the whole, “I don’t like our team,” adding that it’s “not a well-rounded club” — a blunt recognition that broad changes are needed (link via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times).

While Getz didn’t delve into specifics as to how those changes would be realized, he took an open-minded approach when asked about trade possibilities, conceding that there “are no untouchables” on his roster. That’ll surely lead to a frenzy of fan speculation regarding talents like Dylan Cease and particularly Luis Robert Jr., although Getz also noted that he won’t be “proactive” in exploring Robert trade scenarios and called the center fielder the type of player a team should build around.

The general tone of Getz’s comments, plus Robert’s talent and extremely appealing contract — he’s signed through 2025 at a total of $29.5MM guaranteed, plus club options for the 2026-27 seasons — will lead to ample interest. Still just 26 years old, Robert is fresh off a .264/.315/.542 showing in 145 games and 595 plate appearances with the South Siders. He popped 38 homers, swiped 20 bases and played standout defense in center field. It’s an MVP-caliber package of tools, and the fact that he’d earn a total of $67.5MM through 2027 if both his club options are exercised creates considerable surplus value for both the Sox or potential trade partners.

To be clear, a trade of Robert seems decidedly unlikely. Getz didn’t expressly rule it out, but it’s exceedingly rare for a player with this type of team control and affordability to be moved. Additionally, the Sox don’t appear to be embarking on another full-fledged rebuild so much as an effort to retool the roster. Names like Cease and Michael Kopech seem more attainable, speculatively speaking, as both are entering their second arbitration year and are controlled “only” through the 2025 campaign. Slugger Eloy Jimenez and lefty reliever Aaron Bummer are signed through 2024 and both have club option for the 2025-26 seasons.

Whatever trades do eventually materialize — and it seems inevitable that some deals will come together — the changes in Chicago have already begun. Hahn and Williams are out after more than two decades, and the team has already declined its $14MM team option on longtime shortstop Tim Anderson. That would’ve seemed unthinkable this time last year, as Anderson was MLB’s batting average leader from 2019-22, putting together a robust .318/.347/.473 slash in more than 1600 plate appearances over that four-year span.

Anderson’s 2023 season was an unmitigated disaster, however. The 30-year-old hit just .245/.286/.296 with only one home run on the year. His power completely eroded both due to a dip in hard contact and exit velocity but more troublingly due to a mammoth spike in his ground-ball rate. Anderson has never been a pronounced fly-ball hitter, but this year’s 61.1% grounder rate was the highest of any qualified hitter in baseball by four percentage points. Even with the ban of the most aggressive infield shifts, it’s quite difficult for any hitter to be a plus at the plate when putting such a stark percentage of his batted balls on the ground.

Despite the dismal season, the Sox haven’t ruled out a reunion with Anderson — presumably at a lower rate. Bruce Levine of 670 AM The Score reports that the Sox would consider bringing Anderson back later this offseason after he’s fielded interest from other clubs. Given the looming presence of top shortstop prospect Colson Montgomery, that might require a move to the other side of the second base bag, but Anderson has already publicly shown a willingness to make such a switch. Given the dearth of quality infield options in free agency, another club might place a bigger bet on Anderson’s track record than the Sox are comfortable making, but it’s a potential scenario to keep in mind if Anderson lingers in free agency and sees his price tag drop.

It’s also been an active week for the Sox on the coaching front, with several reported new hirings and changes to the staff. The Sox confirmed all of those previously reported new hires yesterday in announcing their finalized coaching staff for the 2024 campaign. Pedro Grifol is back for a second year managing the club, as expected. Also returning are bench coach Charlie Montoyo, pitching coach Ethan Katz, assistant hitting coach Mike Tosar and third base/infield coach Eddie Rodriguez.

Chicago confirmed previously reported hires of bullpen coach Matt Wise, hitting coach Marcus Thames, and Grady Sizemore (who’s listed as a “Major League coach” but will focus on outfield and baserunning work with the team). Also joining the staff is former big league catcher Drew Butera, who was the Angels’ catching coordinator last year and will be the Major League catching coach with the ChiSox. He joins Wise and Thames as the third coach hired away from the Angels. The Sox are also bringing former big league outfielder Jason Bourgeois aboard as their new first base and outfield coach. The eight-year MLB veteran (2008-15) had been coaching in the minors with the Dodgers prior to this move, most recently serving as the organization’s outfield and baserunning coordinator.

Central Notes: Kiermaier, Twins, Anderson, Morel, Kantrovitz, Bloom

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The Twins are interested in Kevin Kiermaier to address their need in center field, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.  Since Byron Buxton’s health and ability to play center field is still in doubt, the Twins are again looking for some help up the middle, as Michael A. Taylor (acquired last winter in a trade with the Royals) is now a free agent.  Kiermaier would come at a higher price tag in free agency, yet the veteran offers equally stellar glovework, albeit with a pretty significant injury history in his own right.

With the Blue Jays managing Kiermaier’s playing time in order to keep him healthy, Kiermaier managed to almost entirely avoid the injured list in 2023, while hitting .265/.322/.419 over 408 plate appearances and winning another Gold Glove for his work in center field.  If Buxton is able to play in the field at all, the Twins could conceivably platoon Buxton and Kiermaier in center field to keep both players fresh.  Signing Kiermaier would add yet another name to a somewhat crowded list of Minnesota position players, yet Nightengale feels the Twins will aim to trade from this surplus to land pitching help

More from both the AL and NL Central…

  • Also from Nightengale, the White Sox “desperately tried” to find a trade partner for Tim Anderson, but ended up just declining Anderson’s $14MM club option.  A trade would’ve allowed the Sox to at least recoup something in return for their veteran shortstop rather than letting him go for nothing, yet any number of factors might’ve prevented a deal.  We don’t know what Chicago was looking for in return, of course, or whether Anderson’s salary was a sticking point for either a new team to absorb, or if a suitor wanted the White Sox to eat some money to facilitate a deal.  Now a free agent, Anderson figures to draw plenty of attention as a bounce-back candidate, probably on a one-year pillow contract worth less than $14MM, considering Anderson’s poor 2023 season.
  • Christopher Morel is expected to draw a lot of trade attention this winter, as The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney write that rival teams scouted Morel thinking the Cubs would be more open to moving the utilityman in the offseason than at the trade deadline.  Morel is something of a “master of none” type of utility player, as he can play multiple positions but isn’t real defensive plus at any spot, except possibly second base.  But, this versatility and his above-average hitting numbers over 854 career PA makes him an interesting trade chip for the Cubs as they address other needs.
  • Also from Sharma and Mooney, the Mets had interest in hiring Cubs VP of scouting Dan Kantrovitz “for a high-level job in their front office,” but Kantrovitz will be staying in Chicago.  Kantrovitz has been with the Cubs for the last four seasons, after previously working as an assistant GM with the Athletics.  In other Cubs front office buzz, Sharma/Mooney figure that the team will explore an external hire for at least one of their two assistant GM openings, as a way of bringing a fresh voice into the mix.
  • “There are rumblings” that former Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom might land with the Cardinals in an advisor role, Peter Gammons reports (on X).  Not much had been heard about Bloom’s potential next step after he was fired by the Sox in September, before Gammons’ item and today’s news that Bloom turned down overtures from the Marlins about their front office vacancy.  An advisory job would be an interesting way of Bloom to keep a foothold in baseball without committing to another full-time post, as Gammons notes that Bloom is prioritizing time with his family.

White Sox To Decline Club Option On Tim Anderson

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The White Sox will decline their $14MM club option on shortstop Tim Anderson, according to ESPN’s Jesse Rogers (X link).  Anderson will instead receive a $1MM buyout, and become a free agent for the first time in his professional career.

The decision marks the end of an era on the South Side, as Anderson had been part of the organization since the White Sox made him the 17th overall pick of the 2013 draft.  Emerging as a regular through the club’s rebuilding years, Anderson made two All-Star Games, won a Silver Slugger Award (in 2020), and won the 2019 AL batting title during his eight seasons in a Sox uniform.

The White Sox recognized this potential early, and locked Anderson up on a six-year, $25MM extension prior to the 2017 season that contained club options for both 2023 and 2024.  Heading into the 2023 season, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Anderson’s first option would be picked up, yet this parting of the ways underscores the disappointing nature of the shortstop’s year.

Anderson hit only .245/.286/.296 over 524 plate appearances, and his 60 wRC+ was the lowest of any qualified hitter in baseball.  Anderson missed about three weeks due to a left knee sprain early in the season, and said last month that he never quite felt right physically for the rest of the year, undoubtedly contributing to this major dropoff at the plate.  With his defensive metrics also taking a tumble, Anderson was a sub-replacement level player, with -0.5 fWAR in 2023 after posting 16.1 fWAR over the previous five seasons.

Despite this poor performance, the Marlins and some unknown other teams still had some interest in Anderson heading into the trade deadline, even if a deal was never completed.  It is fair to guess that Anderson would’ve been among the other White Sox veterans shipped at the deadline if he’d been playing at any sort of higher level, as it could be that the Sox couldn’t find an appropriate asking price and didn’t want to just give Anderson away.

Yet now, Anderson will hit the market with no strings attached, as the White Sox certainly aren’t going to issue a $20.325MM qualifying offer for a player they could’ve retained for an extra $13MM.  Though the Sox lost 101 games last season, owner Jerry Reinsdorf and new GM Chris Getz indicated that the Sox plan to compete rather than rebuild, and it could be argued that parting with Anderson is a step in that direction if the White Sox don’t think a rebound is possible.  It’s probably fair to guess that Chicago gauged the trade market again before making today’s decision, but even if clubs do see Anderson as a bounce-back candidate, the $13MM price point also wasn’t to their liking.

Anderson just turned 30 last June, so if he stays healthy, it wouldn’t be surprising if he indeed gets back to his old form in 2024.  This makes him an interesting option within a pretty thin middle infield market, especially since Anderson has indicated he is open to playing second base.  A position change could further boost Anderson’s value, as while his glovework at shortstop has been inconsistent, he might become a plus as a second baseman.

Colson Montgomery is the shortstop of the future in Chicago, yet since the top prospect has yet to play any Triple-A ball, it would be a very aggressive move for the White Sox to pencil him into their Opening Day plans.  We can’t rule out the scenario since we don’t yet know how Getz might operate as a GM, but the likelier option is for Montgomery to make his MLB debut at some point closer to midway through the 2024 season, at the earliest.

The White Sox already needed middle infield help due to their lack of depth at second base, and now a new shortstop can also be added to Getz’s offseason checklist.  Romy Gonzalez, Lenyn Sosa, and Zach Remillard could perhaps combine to handle one position until Montgomery is called up, yet some kind of veteran upgrade is absolutely needed for second base or shortstop, particularly if Chicago has any designs on competing.  In theory, the Sox could aim to acquire a player using the $13MM they probably had earmarked for Anderson, on a shorter-term deal.

Quick Hits: Olympics, Garcia, White Sox

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MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred spoke to reporters ahead of the beginning of the World Series yesterday about a variety of topics. One point of discussion, as relayed by Evan Drellich of The Athletic, was the potential for major league players to participate in the 2028 Summer Olympics, which will take place in Los Angeles. Manfred referenced a push by Casey Wasserman, who acts as CEO of the Wasserman agency and chairman of the LA 2028 organization, making a push to include baseball in the Summer Olympics, which Manfred expressed his support for.

That said, while Manfred noted that the league “will continue to listen as to whether there’s some arrangement that could be worked out… to make it the best possible tournament,” he also cautioned that there are “challenges” that come with staging a tournament like the Olympics in the middle of the major league season, as the 2028 Olympics would be. Olympic baseball was opened to professional players in 2000, but MLB has blocked its players from participating in the games due to its overlap with the big league season, leading to rosters primarily filled by international and minor league players.

Many of the world’s best players not participating led to baseball being dropped from the games entirely in 2012, 2016, and 2024, though that could change if the league and the International Olympic Committee can work out a deal for major league players to participate in the games. It’s unclear how feasible such a deal could be, however, as Manfred explicitly clarified that even as he hopes to support the effort to bring baseball back to the Olympics, he “[is] not saying one word” about allowing big leaguers to partake in the tournament, at least at this point.

More notes from around the league…

  • Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia continued his postseason tear last night against the Diamondbacks, hitting a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to win the game for Texas. Garcia’s heroics last night add to what has been an incredible postseason for the 30-year-old. Garcia has now slugged six homers total across five consecutive games with a long ball, bringing the ALCS MVP’s postseason slash line to an incredible .357/.400/.804 in 60 trips to the plate this October. Garcia, of course, was acquired from the Cardinals back in 2019 in exchange for cash considerations. Former Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels spoke with Rob Bradford on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast recently about acquiring Garcia, who noted that Garcia was only available to the club thanks to St. Louis’s considerable outfield depth at the time, credited assistant GM of player development and international scouting Ross Fenstermaker as a key person who vouched for Garcia’s talent within the organization. The acquisition has, of course, worked out wonderfully for Texas, who have Garcia under team control through the end of the 2026 campaign.
  • MLB.com’s Scott Merkin recently looked at the questions facing the White Sox this offseason, including the futures of Luis Robert Jr. and Tim Anderson. Merkin, who indicates the White Sox view the coming offseason as more of a short-term “retool” than a full-scale “rebuild,” suggests that Robert is “as close to untouchable” as any player on the roster this offseason in trade discussions. If Chicago indeed intends to avoid a rebuild, that’s sensible, given Robert’s immense talent and four remaining seasons of team control. Perhaps more surprisingly, Merkin suggests that the White Sox “probably aren’t giving up Anderson for nothing” when discussing the club’s upcoming team option decision on his services for 2024. In a poll earlier this month, 60% of MLBTR readers responded that the White Sox should decline Anderson’s option, though Merkin seems to suggest the club either trading him or simply retaining him headed into 2024 is the more likely outcome.

MLBTR Poll: Tim Anderson’s Club Option

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The 2023 was a brutal one for the White Sox, who entered the year with postseason aspirations but found themselves as one of the league’s biggest sellers come the trade deadline. The club ultimately lost 101 games in 2023, their second 100-loss campaign in six years. While the club is facing a host of problems, from a pitching staff stripped to the bone by midseason trades to reported clubhouse culture issues, perhaps the biggest reason for concern about the club’s fortunes going forward is the fall from grace of franchise shortstop Tim Anderson.

Since breaking out during the 2019 season, Anderson has been a face of the franchise on the south side of Chicago. From 2019-2021, the young shortstop slashed an excellent .322/.349/.495 (126 wRC+) in 295 games while approaching a 20/20 campaign in both full seasons of that stretch. He led all qualified hitters in batting average during that stretch while playing a solid shortstop, and was a key piece of what looked to be a sustainable White Sox core for the future.

Unfortunately, things started to come off the rails for both Chicago and Anderson himself in 2022. Anderson’s offense regressed somewhat as he slashed .301/.339/.395 (110 wRC+). While he posted a career-best strikeout rate of just 15.7%, that improved contact did not make up for Anderson’s power outage, as he posted a career-low .093 ISO, the 18th-lowest figure of all players with as many plate appearances as him that season. To make matters worse, Anderson was limited to just 79 games by two separate IL stints for groin and finger injuries. While Anderson struggled to stay on the field, the White Sox faltered in his absence, going just 81-81 and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

After a downturn in performance for both club and player, both sides hoped for better days in 2023, but those days did not arrive. Amid the club’s worst season since their 106-loss campaign in 1970, Anderson had far and away the worst season of his career. The 30-year-old slashed a paltry .245/.286/.296 in 524 trips to the plate, a figure that’s 40% worse than league average by measure of wRC+. His wRC+, ISO, wOBA, and slugging percentage were all the worst in the majors among all qualified hitters, and his on-base percentage also ranked in the bottom five.

Anderson’s brutal season has caused plenty of speculation regarding his future in the White Sox organization. The club holds a $14MM club option on his services for the 2024 season with a $1MM buyout. While the $13MM decision once appeared to be a no-brainer for one of the league’s better regulars at a premium position, the future now appears anything but certain for Anderson and Chicago. New GM Chris Getz recently spoke about the upcoming decision on Anderson, indicating that the decision “deserves an exhaustive discussion” considering Anderson’s importance to the organization in recent years, though he offered no assurance that Anderson would return to the South Side next year.

Further complicating matters is the lack of quality shortstop options on the open market this season. If the club wishes to move on from Anderson, they’ll be hard-pressed to find a clear upgrade in free agency with Amed Rosario and Gio Urshela headlining the upcoming class. Of course, top prospect Colson Montgomery is figures to be the club’s shortstop of the future following a big season that saw him advance to Double-A late in the year. While Montgomery is certainly on the radar for a big league debut as soon as next year, it seems unlikely Chicago would be content to use him as the Opening Day shortstop next year after just 37 games at the Double-A level. Retaining Anderson certainly wouldn’t block Montgomery, as Anderson himself has expressed a willingness to move to second base going forward.

Ultimately, the upcoming option decision leaves the White Sox forced to choose between risking overpaying Anderson for another abysmal year of production in 2024 or risking him returning to form elsewhere when he could’ve been retained on a relative bargain compared to his typical production. How do MLBTR readers feel the White Sox should approach the upcoming decision on Anderson’s option? Have your say in the poll below.

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Tim Anderson Willing To Move To Second Base

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Not much went right on the South Side this year, including a miserable season for longtime shortstop Tim Anderson.  No qualified player in baseball finished with a lower wRC+ than Anderson’s total of 60, as he hit only .245/.286/.296 over 524 plate appearances — a stunning dropoff from player who’d posted a 123 wRC+ from 2019-22.

The timing couldn’t have been much worse for Anderson to have a down year, as 2023 was the last guaranteed season of the six-year, $25MM extension he signed back in March 2017.  The contract came with a pair of club option years, with the 2024 option worth $12.5MM (with a $1MM buyout).  That makes for a tricky decision for the White Sox, as paying an extra $11.5MM is steep for a player coming off a sub-replacement season.

“All I can do is understand whatever process it is and live with it,” Anderson told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin.  “It’s not my decision if I want to stay or leave.  I just have to hang with them.  I mean I would love to [stay], but I understand if I don’t fit into what they are trying to do.”

An early-season knee sprain resulted in three weeks on the injured list, and Anderson said “the body felt different each day” after he returned.  This partially explains his rough season, but heading into 2024, Anderson said he plans to be fully healthy and to sharpen all aspects of his game, both on offense and defense.  This might even include a new defensive position altogether, as Anderson admitted that it might be time for a move across the middle infield if necessary.

“Really, at this point, it doesn’t matter.  I’m a shortstop/second baseman,” Anderson said.  “It’s whatever to allow my career to keep going.  I’m not going to wrestle with a team that I’m this or I’m that.  It’s just an honor and a blessing to fit in any lineup as a starter considering how hard this game is.  Short would be my first choice, but I also understand how older guys are viewed, now that I’m stepping into that phase, which sucks and is different.  I just want to continue to keep building on what I started and get back to what I used to be.”

Public defensive metrics have been down on Anderson’s glovework for each of the last two seasons, so beyond adding positional versatility to his resume, it also might make more sense from a pure baseball perspective for Anderson to explore a move to second base.  The 30-year-old had exclusively played as a shortstop at the MLB level before this season, when he made two appearances at second base in order to help manage a minor shoulder issue.

Colson Montgomery is also a shortstop, as well as Chicago’s top prospect and ranked by MLB Pipeline as the 17th-best minor leaguer in the sport.  Montgomery hit well in his first taste of Double-A ball and should be in line to make his big league debut at some point in 2024, if all continues to go well for the 22nd overall pick of the 2021 draft.  If Montgomery might be the shortstop of the future, Anderson moving over to second base while still working as a mentor to the rookie would seem like an interesting possible scenario for the White Sox.  As well, it isn’t as if the Sox are deep in second-base options, as Chicago second baseman combined for a -0-4 bWAR in 2023.

Anderson and new White Sox GM Chris Getz spoke earlier this week, and while Anderson didn’t get into specifics about their conversation, “his ultimate goal is really trying to fix what’s going on here.  And I get that.”  Speaking with reporters prior to talking with Anderson this week, Getz said no decision had yet been made about the infielder’s club option, since the topic “deserves an exhaustive discussion because of what he has meant to this organization.”

White Sox GM Chris Getz Discusses Tim Anderson’s Future

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It’s been a rough year for Tim Anderson. After back-to-back All-Star campaigns in 2021 and ’22, the shortstop has floundered at the plate in 2023, slashing a meager .248/.290/.300 with just a single home run. By wRC+, he has been the second-worst qualified hitter in baseball, trailing only Javier Báez. Moreover, unlike Báez, Anderson is hardly an elite defensive shortstop. He has made 14 errors this year, accumulating -4 Outs Above Average and -16 Defensive Runs Saved.

The 30-year-old has a $14MM team option on his contract for 2024, and prior to this season, it seemed like a no-brainer the White Sox would exercise the option. Now, however, new general manager Chris Getz has a big decision ahead of him.

According to Getz, Anderson’s option “deserves an exhaustive discussion because of what he has meant to this organization,” reports Bruce Levine of 670 The Score. Indeed, the shortstop has done tremendous work for Chicago since his debut in 2016. Selected by the White Sox in the first round of the 2013 draft, he has played nearly 900 games for the big league club across eight seasons in the majors. He led the Sox to a Wild Card berth in 2020 and a division title in 2021.

Furthermore, this decision isn’t just difficult because of what Anderson has done in the past but because of what he can do in the future. A $14MM price tag is a lot to pay for one of the worst hitters in baseball, but if Anderson can return to anything resembling his All-Star form, that same salary will be a steal. If the White Sox choose to exercise the option, the worst that can happen is they end up eating a few million dollars. In the best-case scenario, however, they could have a star shortstop for a fraction of what he’d cost on the open market.

With that in mind, it’s no surprise the White Sox are considering numerous possibilities to keep Anderson on the roster next season. Getz mentioned that the 2019 AL batting champion has the skills to play “a lot of different positions,” although he stopped short of saying the team would ask the shortstop to move off of his long-time position. Instead, the executive re-emphasized that he and other members of the organization would be meeting with Anderson to discuss his future. Presumably, that will include a conversation about where he’ll play on the diamond.

In other White Sox news, new assistant GM Josh Barfield addressed members of the media on Wednesday (including Vinnie Duber of CHGO Sports). Barfield will have various duties in his new role, including involvement with roster construction and player acquisition, so it stands to reason he’ll also be involved in conversations about Anderson’s future.

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