Tim Anderson Headed to Marlins on One-Year, $5-million Contract
Goodbye South Side, hello South Beach.
Shortstop Tim Anderson has reportedly agreed to a one-year, $5-million contract with the Miami Marlins, first reported by ESPN’s Jesse Rogers on Thursday. The deal comes just days ahead of Saturday’s spring training opener versus the St. Louis Cardinals.
Anderson’s arrival in Miami occurs with little surprise, as the 30-year-old infielder received a contract offer from the organization earlier this week, as Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi each reported.
The two-time All-Star has a $500,000 trade escalator in his contract, per Yahoo Sports’ Russell Dorsey, who adds the Marlins inquired about his services leading up to last season’s trade deadline.
A first-round selection in 2013, Anderson spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Chicago White Sox, logging 895 games with the franchise from 2016-23. But following a horrendous 2023 campaign, the front office declined his $14-million club option, making him a free agent.
It was a year to forget, as the right-handed shortstop endured his worst offensive showing, struggling to a .245/.286/.296 slash line while blasting only a single home run and earning a 60 wRC+, worth minus-0.5 fWAR across 123 games.
Staying healthy has also been an issue over the previous few seasons, with Anderson missing time due to right wrist, right shoulder and left knee injuries – ailments that undoubtedly contributed to last season’s offensive woes.
Perhaps a change of scenery from the rebuilding White Sox could prompt a return to form for the 2019 AL batting title champion. He did, after all, post a batting average north of .300 in four consecutive seasons prior to 2023.
Two players who were front and centre for that success were former White Sox teammates Avisaíl García and Jake Burger, whom Anderson will reunite with upon reporting for spring training after passing his physical.
Along with those two, the 2020 Silver Slugger joins a Marlins infield corps that includes 2023 NL batting champ Luís Arraez, Josh Bell, Jon Berti, Nick Gordon and Vidal Bruján. Previously, Berti was projected to assume most of the reps at shortstop.
For a lineup desperate for offence, taking a low-risk, high-reward gamble on a one-year deal with Anderson makes plenty of sense for Miami. With it, they’re betting on his offensive profile, which, in part with his defence, accounted for a career-high 4.6 fWAR in 2021 and 2.0 in ‘22.
Anderson’s glove, however, seemed to continue declining a season ago, a concerning trend over the previous two campaigns. Over 1,002.2 innings at short, he registered minus-16 DRS – tied with Amed Rosario for worst at his position – and minus-one OAA.
That’s somewhat troubling for a Marlins’ team defence that ranked 21st in DRS (-21) and 28th in OAA (-28) in the majors last season. Much of those inefficiencies stemmed from Bell, Arraez and Burger’s subpar defence at first, second and third base, respectively.
While Anderson likely won’t move the needle forward defensively, the Marlins hope his bat can help this club return to the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: D. Benjamin Miller. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.