It took until late February, but Anderson finally found his next home, reportedly signing with the Miami Marlins for one year and $5 million, pending a physical.
The pay cut is humbling -- Anderson was supposed to make $14 million with the White Sox in 2024 until the bottom fell out -- but otherwise it's a fair deal, because it gives him one more chance to prove he's capable of being an everyday shortstop.
Now that he has officially rejoined Jake Burger to help the Marlins return to the postseason after a surprising, Pythag-defying run in 2023, we can officially refer to the White Sox's Anderson era in the past tense.
I'm sure most of you had already done that, but I trained myself to crack open a door on buy-low opportunities after Carlos Rodón -- a Scott Boras client, mind you -- re-signed with a White Sox team that non-tendered him. In my post about the White Sox's decision to decline Anderson's option, at least I nailed the price:
Hell, one of those teams could be the White Sox. There’s a chance that Anderson’s time on the South Side isn’t over, because the White Sox don’t have immediate heirs apparent at either middle-infield position. It wouldn’t shock if Anderson returned on a one-year, $5 million deal to play second base. They’d certainly have all the playing time for him to use both sides of a pillow contract.
But all things considered, a change is best for everybody.
It was easy to say, "As Tim Anderson goes, so go the White Sox," because the team followed him to his extremes. When he was in shape to win batting titles, he created highlights for the ages ...
... and when his MLB status collapsed, the White Sox also foundered - not just in statistics, but off-field drama and on-field humiliation.
On the other hand, "As Tim Anderson goes, so go the White Sox" was just as much a self-fulfilling prophecy. By loading up on right-handed hitters with a suspect command of the strike zone, defensive limitations and a rich injury history, it didn't take much to disturb the constitution of the roster. They needed to maximize their contact in order for the whole concept to work, and any prolonged Anderson absence or downswing could be enough to expose the flaws elsewhere and set the dominoes in motion. Pedro Grifol exacerbated the issues by making no effort to mitigate Anderson's struggles over the course of the season.
Like so many other developments over the last couple years, it's a shame and a waste. Anderson's rise to star shortstop and batting champ was a developmental triumph at the individual and organizational levels. He overcame considerable draft day odds and early-career adversity, and the White Sox had the time and patience to see it through. Combine his action-packed approach with his visible charisma, and he was the first member of the White Sox with zero 2005 ties to reliably move merchandise.
In an instant, it was all over, and what's more, it had to be over. Everything collapsed, and trying to resuscitate any career beyond contractual obligations only risked prolonging the agony.
José Abreu moved on, and despite some hard feelings for his former employer and a worrisome first half with the Astros, is clearly better off. He quelled some doubts with a thunderous return to the postseason, and comes into this preseason still loving the game.
Jose Abreu’s hair has gotten longer up top, and his next gray one will be his first. He must not be getting older.
“No, I’m old now,” he said, a wry smile on his 37-year-old face, in the Astros’ spring training clubhouse, “but I still have the passion that made me want to play baseball. So I feel young.”
If Anderson can manage to play more than 123 games in a season for the first time since 2018, he stands to benefit just as much from a change of scenery.
Assuming it's a big enough change, that is. The risk for Anderson is that he runs into the same problem he had with the White Sox, where there are just a few too many players with his flaws. The Marlins had the fourth-lowest walk rate in baseball last year, and running out an Opening Day left side of Burger and Anderson doesn't figure to help much.
For the White Sox fans tracking Anderson in Miami, they can isolate him from the stresses of the team, since the latter won't really register. Games played will be the major metric, because if he maintains a track toward 140 or more, that'll signal rebuilt standing. Unlike the White Sox, the Marlins won't have the emotional attachment to keep running him out there if it's simply not working.
