Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Tim Anderson

AL Injury Notes: Anderson, Tigers, Odorizzi, Chapman

By | at

As the injury bug continues to bite the White Sox, Tim Anderson is at least nearing a return.  Manager Tony La Russa told reporters (including MLB.com’s Scott Merkin) that Anderson is scheduled to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment on Tuesday.  Anderson suffered a groin strain in Chicago’s May 29 game, and at the time, La Russa estimated the star shortstop would need about three weeks of recovery time.  This rehab assignment would seemingly put Anderson right on track to match or even beat that projection.

The South Side would love to have Anderson back as soon as possible, given how he was on pace for possibly the best season of his already-standout career.  Anderson hit .356/.393/.503 with five home runs over his first 173 plate appearances, plus a perfect 8-for-8 mark in stealing bases.  With Eloy Jimenez still on the IL and Yasmani Grandal now nursing a sore hamstring, Anderson’s return is a much-needed boost for a struggling White Sox lineup.

More injury updates from around the American League…

  • Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told The Detroit News’ Chris McCosky and other reporters that Tyler Alexander (elbow sprain) could be activated from the 15-day IL as soon as Tuesday, though the team hasn’t yet decided on Alexander’s next step after the southpaw has seemingly completed his rehab work.  Eduardo Rodriguez (ribcage sprain) was tentatively slated to return from his own rehab assignment this week, but that timeline is now up in the air since Rodriguez is away on a personal matter.  Meanwhile, reliever Jose Cisnero (shoulder strain) was about to begin his own rehab assignment but has now been shut down for two weeks due to soreness in his right Achilles tendon.
  • For the first since suffering a lower-leg injury almost a month ago, Jake Odorizzi joined the Astros’ other pitchers in fielding drills today.  Manager Dusty Baker told FOX 26’s Mark Berman (Twitter links) and other reporters that Odorizzi’s return to these drills is “kind of like the final hurdle” in determining the right-hander’s readiness.  The next step is gradually bringing Odorizzi along, as the pitcher told Berman and company that he was going at around “50-60%” in his first workout, and he’ll continue to slowly ramp up.
  • Matt Chapman has missed the Blue Jays’ last two games due to a sore right wrist.  Manager Charlie Montoyo told Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith and other reporters that Chapman “couldn’t even pinch-hit today,” though the third baseman is still considered day-to-day with the injury.  Imaging hasn’t yet been done on Chapman’s wrist, which Nicholson-Smith notes is an indication that the Jays believe the injury isn’t too serious.

White Sox Place Tim Anderson On Injured List

By | at

MAY 31: The Sox officially placed Anderson on the 10-day injured list today, reinstating center fielder Luis Robert from the COVID list in a corresponding move. La Russa said the team hopes to have their star shortstop back in around three weeks (via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times).

MAY 29:  White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson suffered a strained right groin during the fifth inning of today’s game with the Cubs.  While fielding a grounder and throwing out P.J. Higgins at first base, Anderson fell to the ground after making the play and was clearly favoring his right leg.  Anderson had to be helped off the field after being examined by team trainers, and was replaced at shortstop by Danny Mendick. Manager Tony La Russa tells reporters, including Jesse Rogers of ESPN, that Anderson is “for sure” going on the injured list.

In what has already been an injury-plagued season for the White Sox, losing Anderson for any significant amount of time would be the biggest setback yet.  Anderson has been the cornerstone of an otherwise inconsistent lineup, hitting .356/.393/.503 with five homers and eight steals (out of eight chances) in 173 plate appearances.

The Sox announced that Anderson will undergo further tests on Monday, so the severity of the strain won’t be known for a while yet.  It would seem like Anderson will have to be placed on the 10-day injured list, though if it’s a lesser strain, he might not miss too much action.

Mendick and Leury Garcia would be the top candidates to play shortstop, though the White Sox are otherwise short on experienced infield depth at the minor league level.  If Anderson’s groin injury does require an extended absence, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Chicago acquire a veteran infielder at least on a minor league contract to help provide more backup.

Yankees Notes: Donaldson, Andujar, Chapman, Sears

By | at

The Yankees announced Monday that third baseman Josh Donaldson has been placed on the Covid-19-related injured list. Miguel Andujar has been recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as a substitute player in his place. Donaldson hasn’t yet tested positive but reported symptoms to the team. He, Joey Gallo and Kyle Higashioka (all on the Covid list) are “more than just not feeling well,” says manager Aaron Boone (Twitter link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). “They feel sick. … They’re not available to play.”

That, however, isn’t the Donaldson news that’s the primary topic of conversation today. Major League Baseball announced that Donaldson has received a one-game suspension after making a quip to Yankees shortstop Tim Anderson wherein Donaldson called him “Jackie.” Anderson, White Sox skipper Tony La Russa and several of Anderson’s teammates were quick to call the comment racist, while Donaldson after the game sought to play it off as an inside joke through which he meant no harm. Donaldson plans to appeal the suspension, according to the league.

White Sox closer Liam Hendriks didn’t mince words when asked how the Sox clubhouse felt about Donaldson’s explanation, calling it “bullshit” and telling reporters (video link via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times): “Usually you have inside jokes with people you get along with, not people that don’t get along at all.”

Fellow reliever Joe Kelly, who was doing a radio appearance with the Parker & Spiegel Show on 670 The Score at the time the suspension broke, expressed disbelief. “One game?” Kelly asked rhetorically. “I got eight games for making a silly face at Carlos Correa.”

Major League Baseball’s statement on the matter was as follows:

“MLB has completed the process of speaking to the individuals involved in this incident. There is no dispute over what was said on the field. Regardless of Mr. Donaldson’s intent, the comment he directed toward Mr. Anderson was disrespectful and in poor judgment, particularly when viewed in the context of their prior interactions. In addition, Mr. Donaldson’s remark was a contributing factor in a bench-clearing incident between the teams, and warrants discipline.”

In other Yankees-related news on the day, Boone said that an MRI on closer Aroldis Chapman’s ailing Achilles tendon came back clean (Twitter link via Lindsey Adler of The Athletic). A trip to the injured list, however, remains a possibility for Chapman. The team is still weighing its options. The 34-year-old Chapman’s velocity, strikeout rate and walk rate have all gone the wrong direction this year. After opening the season with a dozen scoreless outings, Chapman has yielded at least one in each of his past five appearances, causing his ERA to jump to 3.86.

Meanwhile, it seems as though lefty JP Sears will make the first start of his Major League career tomorrow. Boone further divulged that the 26-year-old, who tossed a pair of scoreless relief innings in the Majors and has a 0.83 ERA and 30-to-2 K/BB ratio in 24 1/3 Triple-A frames this season, will make a spot start during tomorrow’s doubleheader (Twitter link via Hoch).

AL Central Notes: Guardians, Plesac, Quantrill, Tully, White Sox, Anderson

By | at

White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson has been served a one-game suspension for making an obscene gesture towards the fans at Progressive Field, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Anderson apologized for the gesture. He’s appealing as well, so the suspension will not occur right away. Let’s stay in Cleveland for a few other updates…

  • The Athletic’s Zack Meisel thinks the Guardians are probably done handing out extensions for now. Shane Bieber is the big name remaining without an extension, with Franmil Reyes often mentioned as another player on that hypothetical list, despite his slow start to the season. Both Bieber and Reyes are set to enter free agency following the 2024 season.
  • On another payroll note, starter Zach Plesac is making $2MM this season, despite still being a year shy of arbitration. The contract is the result of a league and union decision stemming from the Guardians’ treatment of Plesac after he violated the team’s COVID protocols in 2020. The Guardians can certainly afford the small bump in payroll, as they’re still well under $80MM in terms of total contributions for the season.
  • Cal Quantrill has been cleared to return from the COVID-19 list and he will start today’s ballgame, per Joe Trezza of MLB.com (via Twitter). Tanner Tully will head back to Triple-A to make room on the active roster, notes Meisel (via Twitter). Tully tossed two innings in last night’s loss, serving up one earned run on two hits and a walk.

White Sox Designate Jake Lamb For Assignment, Place Tim Anderson On Injured List

By | at

The White Sox announced a series of roster moves Wednesday in conjunction with September roster expansion (from 26 to 28 players). Infielder/outfielder Jake Lamb has been designated for assignment, with shortstop Tim Anderson landing on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to Aug. 29) with a strained left hamstring. The White Sox have also reinstated Billy Hamilton from the injured list, recalled infielder/outfielder Gavin Sheets and righty Matt Foster from Triple-A Charlotte, and (as previously covered here) selected the contract of utilityman Romy Gonzalez from Charlotte.

Lamb, 30, was an All-Star with the Diamondbacks in 2017 and slugged 59 round-trippers as their everyday third baseman from 2016-17. Shoulder injuries, which culminated in surgery to repair his rotator cuff, derailed his 2018-20 seasons, however. He had a nice showing with the A’s late in 2020 but hasn’t been the same player since those shoulder troubles arose.

That’s largely been the case so far in 2021, too. Lamb missed a bit more than a month with strained quadriceps earlier this summer, but even when healthy he’s been a somewhat seldom-used bench option, appearing in 43 games and tallying 131 trips to the plate. Lamb’s current .212/.321/.389 line in that time is an improvement over recent seasons but nowhere near the .248/.345/.498 pace at which he hit during that brief peak in Arizona. He’ll be placed on outright waivers or released in the coming days.

Anderson, 28, has missed the White Sox’ last three games with what the team described as general soreness in his legs, but it now appears there’s a more accurate diagnosis of what has been hobbling him. The Sox didn’t provide a timeline for his return, but they’ve had the American League Central locked down for months now, so they can afford to be cautious with his recovery. The 2019 AL batting champ is in the midst of another strong season, hitting .302/.331/.458 with 14 home runs and 17 stolen bases.

Hamilton, Sheets and Foster have all been with the Sox at various points in the 2021 season. Hamilton has had a pair of IL stints and hasn’t produced at the plate, but his speed and glovework in the outfield remain elite. Sheets hit just .225 with a .293 OBP when he was promoted for his big league debut earlier this summer, but he also ripped six homers and five doubles in 99 plate appearances — good for a .483 slugging percentage. Foster has been hit hard this season, evidenced by a 5.67 ERA in 33 1/3 innings, but he posted a 2.20 ERA with outstanding K-BB numbers through 28 2/3 frames in 2020.

White Sox Outright Nick Williams

By | at

TODAY: Williams cleared waivers and was outrighted to the alternate training site, the team announced.  Williams will remain as part of the White Sox taxi squad for their series against the Red Sox this weekend.

APRIL 15: The White Sox have reinstated shortstop Tim Anderson from the 10-day injured list and opened a roster spot by designating outfielder Nick Williams for assignment, per a club announcement. Anderson hit the injured list with a strained left hamstring last week, but his IL stint wound up lasting the minimum 10 days.

Williams, 27, had a big spring showing with the ChiSox, hitting .300/.364/.475 in 46 trips to the plate, but he’s opened the year hitless through 13 regular-season plate appearances. Williams has seen action in four games, including three starts in left field that have come at the expense of top prospect Andrew Vaughn, who is learning the outfield on the fly. At least on the surface, it would seem that Williams’ DFA could open the door for more regular playing time for Vaughn, who has somewhat puzzlingly started just half of the White Sox’ games thus far.

Williams himself once rated as one of the game’s top 30 overall prospects, per Baseball America, but that was five years ago. The former second-round pick has tallied 916 plate appearances in the Majors but carries a rather tepid .251/.312/.415 batting line in that time. The majority of his production came in a solid rookie effort back in 2017, however, and Williams has mustered just a .229/.297/.380 output in his past 573 MLB plate appearances.

The White Sox will have a week to trade Williams to another club, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or simply release him.

AL Injury Notes: Anderson, Rays, Cabrera, Schmidt

By | at

The latest injury updates from the American League…

  • The White Sox expect to activate shortstop Tim Anderson from the injured list when he’s first eligible Thursday, manager Tony La Russa told Scott Merkin of MLB.com and other reporters. The former batting champion has been down since April 5 with a strained left hamstring, and the White Sox have turned to a combination of Leury Garcia and Danny Mendick in Anderson’s absence. Garcia has gotten off to a terrible start this year, while Mendick has been great over an admittedly tiny sample size of 12 plate appearances.
  • The Rays placed right-hander Chris Archer on the IL on Saturday with forearm tightness, but they’re optimistic he won’t miss too much time, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times relays. While Archer won’t throw during the next few days, the hope is that he’ll return to the mound by the end of next week. Archer, with whom the Rays reunited on a $6.5MM guarantee in free agency, has been limited to two appearances and 4 1/3 innings in the early going.
  • More on the Rays from Topkin, who writes that center fielder Kevin Kiermaier ran “at about 70 percent” Monday and could return to their lineup within a week. Kiermaier went on the IL on April 6 with a left quad strain, and the Rays have since used a combination of Manuel Margot and Brett Phillips in center.
  • The left biceps strain that sent Tigers designated hitter/first baseman Miguel Cabrera to the iL over the weekend is mild, Jason Beck of MLB.com tweets. The Tigers are hopeful that Cabrera will miss “the shortest amount possible.” Cabrera came out of the gates slowly before the injury, as the future Hall of Famer has hit .125/.222/.292 in 27 plate appearances this season.
  • Yankees righty Clarke Schmidt, who is dealing with an elbow strain, received a cortisone injection Monday, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. He could go back to throwing either this week or next if all goes according to plan. Schmidt was only supposed to sit out four weeks when he went on the shelf in February, but his injury hasn’t healed as quickly as expected.

White Sox Place Tim Anderson On Injured List

By | at

The White Sox announced Wednesday that they’ve placed shortstop Tim Anderson on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 5, due to a strained left hamstring. Anderson exited Sunday’s game due to tightness in his hamstring, and it would seem that discomfort has not dissipated. Fellow infielder Danny Mendick was recalled from the Sox’ alternate site in Schaumburg to take Anderson’s spot on the roster.

With Anderson sidelined temporarily, the Sox are down two of their best hitters early in the season. Anderson’s absence obviously isn’t expected to be as lengthy as that of Eloy Jimenez, who is expected to miss the majority of the season due to a ruptured pectoral tendon, but his absence will be felt in the short-term.

Anderson, 27, was out to just a 3-for-15 start in 2021, though his work at the plate since Opening Day 2019 speaks for itself. He’s been not just one of Chicago’s best hitters over the past two seasons but one of the best hitters on the planet, raking at a .331/.357/.514 batting line with 28 homers, 43 doubles and a triple in 739 trips to the plate.

Mendick, a career .260/.292/.404 hitter in 154 big league plate appearances won’t replicate that offensive output, but he’ll give the South Siders a solid glove to install at the position while Anderson’s injury heals. He’s in the lineup at shortstop today, batting ninth for the series finale against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.

Tim Anderson Undergoes MRI On Hamstring

By | at

APRIL 5: Anderson underwent an MRI, and the White Sox are still waiting for the results, manager Tony La Russa told Bruce Levine of 670 The Score and other reporters. He’s unlikely to play until at least Thursday.

APRIL 4: White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson was removed from tonight’s game with the Angels after suffering a hamstring injury while trying to beat out a grounder to first base.  According to the official announcement from the Sox, Anderson is day-to-day with tightness in his left hamstring.

Leury Garcia took over for Anderson at shortstop before the bottom of the first inning, and Garcia is the likely fill-in should Anderson need some time on the injured list.  Further infield depth is available in the form of Danny Mendick at the minor league level, plus other MLB-experienced players like Matt Reynolds, Marco Hernandez, and Tim Beckham who were in camp on minors deals.

Of course, there is no way to easily replace Anderson, who emerged as one of the sport’s better hitters over the last two seasons.  Anderson has hit .331/.357/.514 (130 OPS+, 133 wRC+) with 28 home runs over 739 PA in 2019-20, winning the AL batting title in 2019 and a Silver Slugger Award last season.  The White Sox were already missing one of their biggest bats in Eloy Jimenez (who will miss the majority of the season recovering from surgery to fix a ruptured pectoral tendon) as well as fourth outfielder Adam Engel, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury of his own.

This Date In Transactions History: Tim Anderson Extension

By | at

Today marks the four-year anniversary of the White Sox locking up their franchise shortstop. On March 21, 2017, the South Siders agreed to a six-year extension that guaranteed Tim Anderson $25MM. Via a pair of club options, the deal pushed Chicago’s club control over Anderson to the end of the 2024 season.

It was easy to see the appeal for the White Sox in betting on Anderson long-term. He was a former first-round pick and top 100 prospect, so one could envision him as a core piece of the future. Anderson had also held his own as a 23-year-old the year prior. The young shortstop made his MLB debut in June 2016 and hit a decent .283/.306/.432 over 431 plate appearances down the stretch.

There’s also the reality that early-career extensions tend to carry ample upside with little downside for teams. With the MLB salary structure designed to underpay players early in their careers, extensions for those players often tack on extra years of team control at rates well below what the player would’ve made in free agency if they perform at a high level. Meanwhile, the figures are typically low enough the team can paper over the deal if the player busts.

Still, this contract represented something of a show of faith on the White Sox’s part. Anderson had yet to accrue a full year of MLB service, so he would’ve been controllable through 2022 regardless. His strikeout and walk rates had been well worse than the league average in 2016, so a wait-and-see approach would’ve been reasonable, particularly with the organization embarking on a rebuild. Instead, Chicago placed a bet on Anderson’s long-term development. As Jeff Todd examined for MLBTR, the guarantee set a new high-water mark at that time for a player with less than one year of major league service.

The White Sox are now in position to be handsomely rewarded for that decision. After making the playoffs in 2020, Chicago looks well-positioned to continue to contend over the next few seasons. Anderson is a central reason for that. He has hit a stellar .331/.357/.514 (133 wRC+) over the past two seasons, finishing seventh in American League MVP voting in 2020.

While he has never drawn many walks, Anderson has improved in virtually every other regard since his rookie season. He’s cut his strikeout rate in recent years while hitting for more power and reliably posting high batting averages on balls in play. Anderson will play out the next two seasons on respective guaranteed salaries of $7.25MM and $9.5MM. Barring an unexpected drop in performance or injury, the White Sox should have little hesitancy excising the 2023-24 options (valued at $12.5MM and $14MM, respectively) and keeping Anderson in Chicago for the first half of this decade.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top