<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A veteran infielder who the Toronto Blue Jays had a rumoured interest in acquiring ahead of the 2023 deadline has just become a free agent. </span></p>
<p></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this series, we look at free agents who the Jays could have an interest in when free agency opens on Monday. Recently, we’ve looked at Shohei Ohtani, Cody Bellinger, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Today, we’ll look at Tim Anderson.</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WhiteSox?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WhiteSox</a> have declined the $14-million club option on shortstop Tim Anderson for the 2024 season ($1-million buyout). <a href="https://t.co/11i0nootCD">pic.twitter.com/11i0nootCD</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) <a href="https://twitter.com/whitesox/status/1720871171963367442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h2>Tim Anderson’s 2023:</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 30-year-old shortstop had a rough 2023 season with the Chicago White Sox. He slashed .245/.286/.396 with a homer in 524 plate appearances, giving him a 60 wRC+ and a -0.5 fWAR. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">It was a staggering decline for a player who had been an All-Star in each of the past two seasons. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Anderson’s best season came in the shortened 2020 campaign, in which he posted a .322/.357/.529 slash line with 10 homers in just 221 plate appearances, but that was a rather small sample size. His 2019 sample size was larger, slashing .335/.357/.508 with 18 homes in 519 plate appearances for a 128 wRC+ and a 4.5 fWAR.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Defensively, Anderson is a below-average inf, posting a -16 Defensive Runs Saved and a -1 Outs Above Average in 1002.2 innings fielded at the position. Back in 2018, he had a 12 DRS and 8 OAA, but this appears to be an outlier as his second-best season in terms of DRS and OAA came in 2021 with a 3 DRS and 3 OAA.</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Thank you, Tim Anderson, for a game us Sox fans will never forget. <br /> <a href="https://t.co/paDiZAsybY">pic.twitter.com/paDiZAsybY</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Chicago Jay (@Chicago_Jay1) <a href="https://twitter.com/Chicago_Jay1/status/1720890716711219614?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 4, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<h2>What will Tim Anderson’s contract be like:</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The White Sox declined his $14 million team option for the 2024 season, so it’s well within reason to believe that he’ll make less than that coming off an abysmal 2023. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">It wouldn’t be surprising to me if a team offered a contract that’s similar to what the Blue Jays offered Kevin Kiermaier and Brandon Belt, two veterans coming off of difficult seasons, but maybe in the $7-8 million range.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There could be a comparison to former Blue Jay Marcus Semien and how they handled his contract coming into the 2021 season. Prior to his fantastic 2021 season, Semien only had one season with a wRC+ above 100 (2019, 138), with all other seasons falling in the 90 range.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">That season, Semien made $18 million, which is significantly more than what Anderson will make. However, I can see a similar premise where the Blue Jays sign Anderson to a “show-me” deal to try to regain the All-Star form he had from 2019-2023. </span></p>
<h2>Is Tim Anderson a fit for the Blue Jays:</h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yes. As it stands, the Blue Jays don&#8217;t have an established, full-time third or second baseman, as Whit Merrifield and Matt Chapman are both set to become free agents. There are internal replacements such as Davis Schneider, Addison Barger, and Orelvis Martinez in the system, but having Anderson fill in for one season would take the pressure off of those young players.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the majors, Anderson has only played 18 innings at second base, with the rest of the 7662 innings coming at shortstop. We’ll use Semien as a comparison here, but he was also a shortstop and only played 647.2 innings at other positions dating back to 2013 and 2014. When he signed with Toronto, he moved to second base and excelled. Could the same happen with Anderson?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Even if they don’t try to pull off a Semien situation again, it’d be nice to have a backup shortstop with as much experience under his belt as Anderson, which they felt they needed to get at the 2023 deadline in Paul DeJong after Bo Bichette went on the Injured List. </span></p>
<hr />
<p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">As always, you can follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Threads @Brennan_L_D</span></i></p>
<hr />
<h2 class="mb-5 text-2xl font-bold">Previously…</h2>
<ul class="mb-5 list-disc pl-8">
<li class=""><a class="text-accent" href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/free-agent-profile-shohei-ohtani-is-this-winters-top-free-agent-despite-off-season-elbow-surgery" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Free Agent Profile: Shohei Ohtani is this winter’s top free agent despite off-season elbow surgery</strong></a></li>
<li><a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/free-agent-profile-the-blue-jays-pursued-cody-bellinger-last-winter-and-likely-will-again-this-year"><strong>Free Agent Profile: The Blue Jays pursued Cody Bellinger last winter and likely will again this year</strong></a></li>
<li><a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/free-agent-profile-yoshinobu-yamamoto-finished-his-npb-career-with-one-of-the-best-starts-in-japan-series-history"><strong>Free Agent Profile: Yoshinobu Yamamoto finished his NPB career with one of the best starts in Japan Series history</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2 class="mb-5 text-2xl font-bold" style="text-align: center;"><a class="text-accent" href="https://gml-grp.com/C.ashx?btag=a_24038b_2065c_&amp;affid=7966&amp;siteid=24038&amp;adid=2065&amp;c=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO</a></h2>
<p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-61491" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/Betano_ON_Base_727x404-1.png" alt="" width="727" height="404" srcset="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/Betano_ON_Base_727x404-1.png 727w, https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/Betano_ON_Base_727x404-1-300x167.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 727px) 100vw, 727px" /></p>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">A veteran infielder who the Toronto Blue Jays had a rumoured interest in acquiring ahead of the 2023 deadline has just become a free agent. </span>



<span style="font-weight: 400;">In this series, we look at free agents who the Jays could have an interest in when free agency opens on Monday. Recently, we’ve looked at Shohei Ohtani, Cody Bellinger, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Today, we’ll look at Tim Anderson.</span>

https://twitter.com/whitesox/status/1720871171963367442
<h2>Tim Anderson’s 2023:</h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The 30-year-old shortstop had a rough 2023 season with the Chicago White Sox. He slashed .245/.286/.396 with a homer in 524 plate appearances, giving him a 60 wRC+ and a -0.5 fWAR. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">It was a staggering decline for a player who had been an All-Star in each of the past two seasons. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Anderson’s best season came in the shortened 2020 campaign, in which he posted a .322/.357/.529 slash line with 10 homers in just 221 plate appearances, but that was a rather small sample size. His 2019 sample size was larger, slashing .335/.357/.508 with 18 homes in 519 plate appearances for a 128 wRC+ and a 4.5 fWAR.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Defensively, Anderson is a below-average inf, posting a -16 Defensive Runs Saved and a -1 Outs Above Average in 1002.2 innings fielded at the position. Back in 2018, he had a 12 DRS and 8 OAA, but this appears to be an outlier as his second-best season in terms of DRS and OAA came in 2021 with a 3 DRS and 3 OAA.</span>

https://twitter.com/Chicago_Jay1/status/1720890716711219614
<h2>What will Tim Anderson’s contract be like:</h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">The White Sox declined his $14 million team option for the 2024 season, so it’s well within reason to believe that he’ll make less than that coming off an abysmal 2023. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">It wouldn’t be surprising to me if a team offered a contract that’s similar to what the Blue Jays offered Kevin Kiermaier and Brandon Belt, two veterans coming off of difficult seasons, but maybe in the $7-8 million range.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">There could be a comparison to former Blue Jay Marcus Semien and how they handled his contract coming into the 2021 season. Prior to his fantastic 2021 season, Semien only had one season with a wRC+ above 100 (2019, 138), with all other seasons falling in the 90 range.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">That season, Semien made $18 million, which is significantly more than what Anderson will make. However, I can see a similar premise where the Blue Jays sign Anderson to a “show-me” deal to try to regain the All-Star form he had from 2019-2023. </span>
<h2>Is Tim Anderson a fit for the Blue Jays:</h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Yes. As it stands, the Blue Jays don't have an established, full-time third or second baseman, as Whit Merrifield and Matt Chapman are both set to become free agents. There are internal replacements such as Davis Schneider, Addison Barger, and Orelvis Martinez in the system, but having Anderson fill in for one season would take the pressure off of those young players.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">In the majors, Anderson has only played 18 innings at second base, with the rest of the 7662 innings coming at shortstop. We’ll use Semien as a comparison here, but he was also a shortstop and only played 647.2 innings at other positions dating back to 2013 and 2014. When he signed with Toronto, he moved to second base and excelled. Could the same happen with Anderson?</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Even if they don’t try to pull off a Semien situation again, it’d be nice to have a backup shortstop with as much experience under his belt as Anderson, which they felt they needed to get at the 2023 deadline in Paul DeJong after Bo Bichette went on the Injured List. </span>

<hr />

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">As always, you can follow me on Twitter, Instagram, and Threads @Brennan_L_D</span></i>

<hr />

<h2 class="mb-5 text-2xl font-bold">Previously…</h2>
<ul class="mb-5 list-disc pl-8">
 	<li class=""><a class="text-accent" href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/free-agent-profile-shohei-ohtani-is-this-winters-top-free-agent-despite-off-season-elbow-surgery" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong class="text-lg font-bold">Free Agent Profile: Shohei Ohtani is this winter’s top free agent despite off-season elbow surgery</strong></a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/free-agent-profile-the-blue-jays-pursued-cody-bellinger-last-winter-and-likely-will-again-this-year"><strong>Free Agent Profile: The Blue Jays pursued Cody Bellinger last winter and likely will again this year</strong></a></li>
 	<li><a href="https://bluejaysnation.com/news/free-agent-profile-yoshinobu-yamamoto-finished-his-npb-career-with-one-of-the-best-starts-in-japan-series-history"><strong>Free Agent Profile: Yoshinobu Yamamoto finished his NPB career with one of the best starts in Japan Series history</strong></a></li>
</ul>

<hr />

<h2 class="mb-5 text-2xl font-bold" style="text-align: center;"><a class="text-accent" href="https://gml-grp.com/C.ashx?btag=a_24038b_2065c_&amp;affid=7966&amp;siteid=24038&amp;adid=2065&amp;c=" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO</a></h2>
<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-61491" src="https://publish.bluejaysnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/Betano_ON_Base_727x404-1.png" alt="" width="727" height="404" />

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