As someone who once took part in a scrum of media waiting to talk to former Cubs outfielder Matt Szczur about returning to Chicago for the first time, a crush of reporters awaiting an athlete returning to this town is standard fare. But the Marlins media contingent was a little taken aback by the collection of TV cameras and recorders waiting Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field for shortstop Tim Anderson, who used to command these gatherings on the regular.
"It's exciting to come back and play the Cubs. I guess it feels OK," Anderson said.
Anderson was still a willing and practiced participant in the media circus. He shook hands and graciously accepted the well-wishes of people who covered him for years, and he talked about having "my smile back" and being in a good place. But with camera lights drawing sweat on his brow and reminded of the days of "As TA goes, the White Sox go," Anderson didn't profess to be homesick.
"I'm glad that definitely is gone, because it definitely takes a whole team to win," Anderson said when reminded of that oft-repeated rationale.
Marlins manager Skip Schumaker credited Anderson for being an influence on Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Nick Gordon in making them regular early arrivals to the ballpark, a nod to the gravitas his accomplishments as a two-time All-Star carry across the league. But the expectations for Anderson to carry a team with his starpower are gone.
This shying away from the spotlight is an about-face from the days where Anderson sought to assert himself as a new face of baseball at the height of his powers; he now describes the experience as simultaneously trying and rewarding. But his past talk doesn't change the current prescription: An Anderson attempting to reestablish himself as a credible starting shortstop is miscast as a frontman, and it would have been nigh impossible for him to avoid that expectation in a White Sox uniform, at least right now.
"I can play the game free and play my role," Anderson said, though at times his acceptance of his current role was shown to be acceptance of his old one being ended for him. "I asked for extensions year after year, so it's always been in my thought process that you're never going to spend your whole career with one team. We all know how it works."
A big contract extension for Anderson at his career peak would have been a festival of good feelings, and the principles of the White Sox rewarding a centerpiece player for a job well done would have temporarily drowned out concerns about how his game projected to age, at least for a time. Even gambling on a Tim Anderson bounce-back this year -- either for his team option or something in the territory of his one-year, $5 million pact with Miami -- would have been a more intriguing way to hand out shortstop opportunities than the White Sox ultimately chose, but also more expensive for a roster that was driven to trim payroll.
However, the Sox are also supposed to have a better view than anyone as to what Anderson is capable of after a barrage of leg ailments over the last three years, and whether it was best for both to move on after a personally and professionally humbling 2023. Nothing the 30-year-old has done on the field thus far has challenged their judgment.
These sorts of Statcast readouts never captured the juice of Anderson's production as well as his surface stats, nor his pesky reputation with opposing pitchers. But when those surface stats are .267/.313/.283 with no extra-base hits since an Opening Day double, it would help if the underlying numbers suggested a burst of regression was on its way. Schumaker says watching Anderson behind the scenes presages better outcomes.
"There's people that you trust in the baseball world, and they were exactly right on his work ethic, how he impacts his teammates," Schumaker said. "He's going be fine. His defense has been better than than advertised. Whatever the metrics you want to look at, I think he's been outstanding, honestly. There are some metrics that said he wasn't great to his left, he's been great so far for us. At least he's passing the eye test, but I think more than anything is the work ethic. He wants to be good. He wants to be great. We're less than 20 games in. I'm looking forward to seeing him play shortstop for a long time here."
Despite the new surroundings and color schemes, Anderson has found himself in a strangely similar situation, where a Marlins team expected to contend for a return to the playoffs has started the season so poorly while accumulating such a litany of injuries, that the franchise's direction is already starting to look different than it was when he first reported to spring camp.
Only Anderson's old club has a worse record than Miami's 4-15 mark. Jake Burger just hit the injured list, and Schumaker's own contract situation makes him not the best person to assert that Anderson has a long future with the Marlins. If a sell-off comes to Miami, Anderson is no longer with an organization as committed to sticking with him through struggles as his last one. Former Sox reliever Declan Cronin seemed to be in great spirits, at least.
But it's hard to imagine Anderson finding any situation as sweet as 2019-2021 with the White Sox, as the charismatic homegrown star of a team finding its place and voice through him, least of all coming off a season that jeopardized his status as any everyday player. With how rough the fall was for both sides, any answer about why things fell apart for Anderson and the White Sox has to start with pointing the blame inward, before spreading around the ample leftovers.
"I don't know, man," Anderson said. "A lot of my decisions as well, off the field, kind of interrupted things as well. We understood that. It's hard to win when you don't have the right guys to go out and compete, that want to win it. That don't have anything to do with where we are now. I'm only looking forward, not looking back. I wish them well."
