Jon Greenberg wrote:
Tim Anderson is gone and the White Sox’s ‘Change the Game’ era is over
There were no quotes in the press release. Just 137 efficient words.
On Twitter, there was a lovely video tribute that lasted 1 minute, 42 seconds.
The deliveries were different, but the message was the same: Tim Anderson is no longer on the Chicago White Sox.
Not long ago, he was the face of a franchise on the rise. But Anderson’s fall mirrored that of the Sox. As he went down, so did they, and “Change the Game” has given way to “Turn the Page.”
It happened fast.
The White Sox chose not to pick up Anderson’s $14 million option, they announced Saturday. Given that he was one of the worst hitters in baseball last year — if not the worst everyday player for most of the season — this shouldn’t be a shocker.
It’s a decision that everyone was prepared for, but given the context of Anderson’s career, it’s a decision that surprised me a little.
If the Sox are serious about being competitive in 2024 — wasn’t that why Jerry Reinsdorf claimed he promoted Chris Getz to GM without a search? — then a possible rebound season from Anderson could help them accomplish that modest goal.
If they were bad in 2024 and he just started hitting again, well, they could try and get something of value for him as a trade deadline rental. If he were bad and they were bad, a distinct possibility, well, that $14 million wouldn’t result in Jerry Reinsdorf walking around in a bankruptcy barrel.
But the Sox just cut bait, owing him nothing more than a $1 million buyout, a press release and a Twitter goodbye.
"White Sox decline Tim Anderson's option."
It’s a move reminiscent of the Cubs non-tendering Kyle Schwarber before the 2021 season, though Schwarber helped the Cubs win a ring, as opposed to Anderson leading the Sox to a division title.
Schwarber has hit 125 regular-season homers and another 14 playoff homers since then, while playing in three championship series and one World Series.
Anderson would probably welcome that kind of rejuvenation.
In truth, both sides need a fresh start. Anderson was once the spirit of the team’s marketing campaign meant to celebrate individuality and a particular kind of South Side vibe.
“We had A.J. (Pierzynski), A.J. had a pretty big personality, but we’ve never had someone with the swagger and confidence of Tim Anderson, which seems to be carrying through the clubhouse,” White Sox vice president of sales and marketing Brooks Boyer told me before the 2021 season.
But last year, Anderson’s free-swinging swagger was replaced with brooding groundouts. The Sox were so bad that the tenured front office of Ken Williams and Rick Hahn were defenestrated by Reinsdorf during the season. (And yet, manager Pedro Grifol, who refused to move Anderson down in the order when it was painfully obvious it was hurting both him and the team, is still here.)
The rebuild ended not in multiple championships and parades, but in the rubble of failed promises and broken dreams.
A long-awaited change has come to the White Sox and no one is safe. But it’s not as if the team looks like it’s going to be good anytime soon.
There is no youth movement on the way, Grifol is in over his head, and the team is so short on talent right now that it’s conceivable it’s worse than last year’s 61-win campaign.
So for just $14 million, the Sox could’ve kept Anderson and their options open. That they didn’t speaks not only to Getz’s desire to move on from Anderson, who wasn’t exactly a clubhouse leader, but also the team’s likely plan to cut salary.
Last season, the Sox opened with a bloated payroll above $180 million. (Note to Getz: Don’t overpay for relievers.) This season, it should be significantly lower. After all, the Sox had the worst attendance decline in baseball last season and no one is watching their games on TV.
This year promises to be a little more low-key.
Last season was such a newsy disaster, from the Mike Clevinger story to the team’s 8-21 start to the Anderson KO in Cleveland to the fire sale to traded players ripping the team to the front-office firings and Getz hiring, the Sox were wire-to-wire weird. The only uplifting part of the season was when closer Liam Hendriks returned from his cancer treatment. But in perfect 2023 Sox fashion, he blew out his elbow. If he pitches again, it might not be with the Sox, who declined his club option. (They still owe him $15 million, but they can pay it off in installments.)
The immediate goal for the Sox seems to just be another forgettable cellar-dweller while they figure out what’s next. I guess it’s a good thing they’re modeling themselves after the Kansas City Royals then. But even the Royals had back-to-back World Series appearances fairly recently, something that seems like a mere dream for the White Sox and their fans.
It was amusing that Reinsdorf, who is a bit of an expert on owning bad teams, tried to sell everyone on a quick turnaround under Getz.
“The conclusion I came to is what we owe our fans and ourselves is not to waste any time,” Reinsdorf said. “We want to get better as fast as we possibly can. If I went outside, it would have taken anybody at least a year to evaluate the organization. I could have brought Branch Rickey back. It would have taken him a year to evaluate the organization.”
That kind of thinking makes you realize why Reinsdorf teams are so infuriating on a regular basis. (In a conversation with reporters, Reinsdorf also extolled the virtues of David Eckstein, which felt like a rejected joke from the “Fire Joe Morgan” website.)
In truth, no one knows what to expect from this team going forward, except that you don’t have to block off any dates for playoff games for the foreseeable future. The Sox still have some talent to build around (Luis Robert, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech, Andrew Benintendi, Yoán Moncada and Eloy Jiménez) and a few highly touted prospects, led by shortstop Colson Montgomery. Can Getz and his new front office build a roster around the remaining talent? Hahn and Williams flopped in that regard and here we are.
Anderson was supposed to represent a brash, winning era of Sox baseball. He did for a fleeting few years. But the game didn’t change and neither did the Sox, who find themselves on the cusp of another rebuild as they look for a new identity. https://theathletic.com/5031616/2023/11 ... -anderson/
Hard not to argue.
|
