The height of the success for the Chicago White Sox over the last decade or so came during the inaugural Field of Dreams game in 2021.
Trailing the New York Yankees by one run in the bottom of the ninth inning, Tim Anderson stepped to the plate with one on, one out and launched the first pitch he saw from Zack Britton deep into the Iowa corn fields, screaming “it’s over” as he rounded the bases.
Well, it certainly is now.
The White Sox officially parted ways with Anderson on Saturday, declining the $14 million club option on his contract and making the two-time All-Star and former batting champion a free agent.
Breaking: The White Sox are declining the option on shortstop Tim Anderson. He’s a free agent.
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) November 4, 2023
This is as much as a surprise as it isn’t.
Anderson is coming off a career-worst season in which he slashed .245/.286/.296 with one home run in 123 games. The final image of him in Chicago will likely be either getting knocked out by Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez or the tabloid-like interest in his personal life.
He was the face of a much-hyped (and ultimately disastrous) White Sox rebuild. Someone who was at times touted as the future face of baseball and was routinely accused of disrespecting the game.
Now Anderson is available for any number of contenders and rising clubs to sign a bit below market value to resurrect his career ahead of his age 31 season.
He’ll instantly be considered one of the top shortstops on the market considering his ceiling and, well, the rest of the available free agents at the position. Javier Baez, Brandon Crawford, Amed Rosario and Nick Ahmed don’t really move the needle like they once did.
Which doesn’t really let the White Sox off the hook here, either. There are no clear upgrades they could sign. Certainly no one who already has a connection with the South Side like Anderson does.
Which Free Agent Shortstop do you want #WhiteSox fans? Try to pick one, I dare you https://t.co/NhW1jhiBYR pic.twitter.com/b5kQPwkaBP
— Herb Lawrence (@Ecnerwal23) November 4, 2023
Anderson will be better off. He’ll likely land with a team that has a trustworthy coaching staff, strong clubhouse culture and a history of winning. Essentially everything the White Sox do not have.
Chicago, led now by general manager Chris Getz, will continue to mold themselves into the new Kansas City Royals by poaching every coach and player from a franchise that’s been irrelevant since winning the World Series in 2015.
Look no further than the team’s reported interest in catcher Salvador Perez and Whit Merrifield. Cutting Anderson is only further evidence of Getz’ desire to add the 33-year-old Perez, since there’s very little chance those two could exist in the same clubhouse.
These are not the moves of a serious team looking to avoiding another full rebuild. This is exactly what you do to build the foundation for a tank job. It’s hard to view the Anderson decision as anything else.
More than anything else, it’s a warning sign.
It’s going to be another long summer on the South Side next year. But Sox fans will have to endure a much longer winter first.
