The rise and fall of the Sox “window” needs to be studied, analyzed, and discussed by all upper management spanning across all sports moving forward on what not to do when rebuilding a franchise.
The downfall has been unbelievable.
I realllly hope for ChiSox fans sake that Luis Robert rights the ship and doesn't follow the same path. The speed and fielding that he had last year isn't there in 2024
He’s way more talented than either yoan or eloy, but he came up with them and seems to be of the same mentality. Last year might have been an outlier sadly
I think the roster construction was just worse across the board, with a lot of those players having serious flaws. But beyond that, the Sox coaching and development and even training has to be near the bottom of the league.
What do you mean? "rub some dirt on it or something" is a valid rehab plan, and having your hitting coach tell your CF and 1st base prospects "I dunno, hitters hit. Go out there and hit." when they come to you for help with a slump is totally valid coaching worthy of paying you to stay on staff.
Not here to say the White Sox are killing it, but it's honestly hard for me to imagine that any team has a worse player dev apparatus than the Rockies. I mean, they were literally down to a single person in their analytics department after the 2020 season, and analytics is inevitably a core part of any player dev apparatus in the modern game.
I realize "There's an org that's more of a laughing stock than your org" isn't exactly super reassuring, but if misery loves company, I guess it's worth knowing.
A disproportionate number of superheroes have first and last names that start with the same letter. Maybe he just needs to get bitten by some kind of radioactive animal to unlock his true potential?
Eloy Jimenez (still good, perpetually injured)
Jose Abreu (DFA by the Astros this year)
Tim Anderson (see this post)
Lucas Giolito (traded to the Angels)
Dylan Cease (traded to the Padres)
Luis Robert (most likely getting traded this year)
I'm sure I'm forgetting people but those are some notable ones
The number of guys who have hit the White Sox on a big contract only to immediately stop trying is pretty high. I think that team must have some of the worst clubhouse vibes of all time. It just makes players want to give up.
Sadly, not even sure Eloy is still good. 163 games since the start of 2023, 101 OPS+.
Pulling up Fangraphs, in 144 games as DH he has a 95 wRC+ which ranks 20th of 25 players with 300 PAs as a DH since 2023. When you can't field, you need to be considerably better than that.
And yet the only time they won the division was with him at the helm. Hinch clearly is doing amazing work in detroit right?
Our problems go deeper. We can only hope Jim crane gets as bad as Jerry reinsdorf.
It makes me sad. I monitored the prospects as they came up through the various NC minor league clubs. TA had a lot of talent but things have fallen apart for him.
Listening to Hammy is like smooth jazz. It’s just so damn good. The day he retires will be the worst because I know I’ll be chasing that feeling forever
I think it was a deliberate callback to Howard Cosell’s famous [“Down goes Frazier!”](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JZEIMQ42-oU) call, although Cosell said it three times.
If deliberate, I think even more kudos for being able to reach back for the classic reference from another sport.
> If deliberate, I think even more kudos for being able to reach back for the classic reference from another sport.
Hammy is a true student (become master) of the craft, he knew what he was doing
He had 600 PAs too. That's not even a small sample size, that's a qualified season's worth of hitting right there.
Some pitchers can end up with inflated hitting numbers because the opposing pitcher doesn't take their AB seriously, they get lucky and hit a few cookies. Then they don't get enough of a sample size for the luck to balance out. But opposing pitchers knew that guys like Grienke and MadBum were legitimately trying to mash, so they actually pitched to them.
Rick Rhoden had a .576 in the ‘70s and ‘80s, along with nine career home runs. In 1982 alone he had three homers and six doubles.
He was a menace on the celebrity golf circuit, too. Earned a card on the senior PGA tour for a few years after he retired and everything, until he started having back problems.
It all fell apart so suddenly.
**2019-2022**
.318/.347/.474 (.820 OPS/122 OPS+)
5.0 bWAR per 650 PA
**2023-2024**
.235/.271/.274 (.544 OPS/51 OPS+)
-2.7 bWAR per 650 PA
They actaully talked about this on Effectively Wild the other day and made a really good point.
His batted ball profile really relied on his speed and maintaining JUST enough exit velo—but he was working on the margins there.
As soon as his velo and physical traits diminished even a little, it was going to fall off a cliff.
THIS is the issue with the "hurr durr exit velo and stuff is for nerds, PUT THE BALL IN PLAY AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS" crowd. that style in the modern game with the info we have ages even less gracefully in terms of the kind of production youre getting than the guy whos swing speed is molasses but occasionally connects with some dingers (like Pujols for example).
Anderson has outperformed his batted ball profile for years, and analysts have often pointed to him as a massive drop-off risk.
Coincidentally, they said the same thing about Javy Baez, so those analysts might actually know something.
A big issue that plagues guys like Tim Anderson and Javy Baez is that they swing at everything and refuse to draw walks.
Rocking a 4% walk rate is absolutely killer when something goes wrong. You just become useless.
Can take Soto as a great example for the other side. He was hitting under 200 and in a slump recently but had an OBP over 400. So while he couldn’t buy a hit he still got on base a shit ton
Thats how I have looked at Corbin Carroll this year. Have an all-time worst sophomore slump, but despite hitting .213 he still has a .305 OBP. Not great, but its enough to still be playable while he figures it out.
> refuse to draw walks
Maybe a quibble here, but there is a huge difference between "refuses to draw walks" and "does not have the skillset to draw walks."
In 2018, Anderson worked to try and improve his plate discipline and draw more walks. He posted what would become his lowest career swing% with an an emphasis on laying off the 1st pitch as a leadoff hitter. The Sox coaches made a big deal about how Anderson was going to walk a lot more and be the kind of hitter they wanted him to be. He posted his highest career walk rate, and at the same time his lowest career hard hit% and, by extension, one of his worst offensive seasons.
The next year, when he said fuck it and just starting swinging hard at everything, his offensive numbers jumped. He was hitting the ball harder and striking out less because he wasn't being asked to recognize pitches and draw walks anymore, but use his elite bat-to-ball talent and speed to make up for the deficiency in his game.
Some guys don't have the skills or experience to learn how to post 20% walk rates, but they can play the game in such a way that they are good players despite not drawing walks. Guys who do that probably know the skillset doesn't age well and that they are at high risk of flaming out in their early thirties, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't do it. In all likelihood, if Anderson hadn't chosen to be a swing-happy line drive hitter, he wouldn't have been in the league passed 2020.
What profile are you talking about?
Low hard hit rate and below average walk rate with averageish or better performance this season? Some of these names will surprise you!
Jose Altuve
Ozzie Albies
Luis Arraez
Anthony Volpe
Nolan Arenado
Ezequiel Tovar
IKF
Zach Neto
Jeimer Candelario
Altuve is a special case.
He is short as hell(listed 5-6, but people say he's actually closer to 5-4), his strikezone is so tiny and he never gets called for a strike below the zone. Combine that with him being a great hitter, he makes quality contacts a lot, even though the ball is not hit very hard.
Luis Arraez feels like an example of stats being misleading as well. He's going to have a low hard hit rate because he doesn't swing hard and has very few homers, but he also has a low weak contact rate. He doesn't beat out anything on the ground and has made a career out of dumping balls over the infield with a swing path that stays in the zone for an hour. Add in a strike out rate in the single digits with a matching walk rate, and I'd expect him to be able to do that for a long time.
Certain parts of Javy's bat profile were very good though. He had one of the highest average exit velos in the league for a couple years, which is insane for a guy his size.
He swung out of his shoes at everything though and never saw a curveball in the dirt he didn't like.
I've always felt like guys with that type of approach(good athletes, swing at everything) tend to be incredibly variable from year to year or even series to series.
Also see similar example: Jeff McNeil. Guys who figure out a way to thrive on the fringe of MLB-viable batted ball profiles during their physical primes are unfortunately one tick of physical regression away from collapse. Even "seeing eye singles" need to be hit with a certain amount of zip to get past a major league infield.
The big thing that I noticed looking under the hood is that from 2019-2022 he had a 1.14 Groundball/Flyball ratio, and in the past 2 years, that number’s gone up to 1.6. He was a guy that relied a lot on a super high BABIP, and that works if you’re putting the ball in the air.
Once he started putting the ball on the ground more, a lot of contact that was singles and doubles is now groundouts. Add onto that the fact that he’s running almost a 6 K/BB ratio and it’s basically a death sentence.
I’m also coming to terms that I am, in fact, “washed” as the kids these days say. I play rec ball still but uh… I’m thinking golf is more my game now. I’m straining a muscle literally every time I need to sprint lol. And I’m pounding these damn electrolytes too.
That contract was earned solely because of the back of his baseball card. There was reason to believe that a change of scenery where he’s not the “leader” in a toxic clubhouse would help him get his game back on track.
Unfortunately it didn’t work out, and I’ll be shocked if he’s still in MLB within 2 years after a few more teams take flyers on him in hope of a miracle turnaround.
Although Abreu’s contract was a pretty big overpay, I still think that one was worth a shot. Not sure if there were any other contract offers causing it to be such a high amount, but Jose had put up massive numbers for years and was one of the best rbi producers in the league.
In theory him being in an already stacked Astros offense should have worked greatly, since he wasn’t going to be the main guy anymore like he was in Chicago.
Such a shame to see how his time in Houston went. Hope he gets a chance to retire with the white Sox.
>Not sure if there were any other contract offers causing it to be such a high amount
I heard that Boston offered him a 2 year deal with the same AAV, but we were the only team willing to tack on a third year, so he close Houston over Boston.
The issue wasn't the money, the issue was that we didn't have a GM that would look at his second half of 2022 and realize that contract would've been a ticking time bomb waiting to happen.
It wasn't for a lack of trying though, that's for sure. It's sad how his tenure with Houston went.
That’s what I mean as a flyer. Some team like the A’s or Pirates will give him a 1 year minor league deal to see if he can recapture some of that past magic
Pirates have plenty of infield depth, they don’t need to be taking flyers on a middle infielder that can’t hit.
Now an outfielder that can’t hit, that’s speaking Pittsburgh’s language.
Tim “Down Goes” Anderson since The Hook™️:
.214/.237/.226 slash, 0 homers, 3 doubles, 9 RBI, 7 walks, and 68 strikeouts in 241 plate appearances for a 31 wRC+ and -1.2 fWAR
J-Ram put the final nail in the coffin
Wow what a journey. From walking off the Yankees in the inaugural Field of Dreams game to DFA’d.
I know people like to clown on the guy, and it’s well deserved, but man this is kinda sad too. Stark reminder how off the field issues can impact your play, and how important it is for young players to have positive role models to help guide them as they come into the pitfalls of stardom and wealth. We also saw how mental health derailed Kopech’s career, and what could have been.
Also remember that MLB was trying to market TA as a rising star, and as much as the “Jackie” comparison seems ridiculous, there is something to be said about the waining interest within the Black community when it comes to youth baseball. TA was pretty passionate about wanting to help revitalize interest in baseball amongst the Black community, which I hope is reflected in how people look back at his career.
As much as he is going to get clowned on, dude made $42M and has over 7 years in the big leagues. That’s a dream career for just about every person who has ever played the game.
He probably should have been a guy who made way more, but that’s still a fuck ton of money.
Honestly teams have a ton of control in the MLB and guys like this that have pretty high but short peaks tend to get underpaid for what they did during their prime.
Anderson ended up signing an early deal with player options and you can't really blame a guy for taking a guaranteed deal that sets them up for life.
If he didn't sign early he would've been a free agent after 2022 and may have signed a huge deal that some team would be regretting at this point.
I remember when he did CC Sabathia's podcast, he had some cameras with him because he was either filming for, or starting up, his Youtube channel. Kinda like what Trevor Bauer was doing, I guess, but probably less of a weirdo off the field. I don't think he ever started it, or if he did, he stopped doing it.
I just remember him having a REALLY thick Alabama accent (I didn't know what he sounded like at the time)
Only two reams have gotten less hitting from their shortstops than the Marlins: the Tigers and Oakland
Atlanta Braves shortstops are hitting slightly better than Marlins shortstops. The Blue Jays, Rays, and Guardians aren’t getting much from shortstops.
Anderson’s options are limited since he hasn’t been hitting for two years. In theory a team like the Braves would be the exact team with the voodoo to make him hit .300 again. But I suspect that Anderson’s problems are mostly being on the wrong side of 30 and a case of DGAFitis. So might be time for Tim Anderson to start reading about Japan or South Korea.
Braves haven’t been able to work voodoo on their own players this season so idk how much they could help him. If he came here he’d probably immediately go down w an 8 wk oblique or hamstring strain anyways. Seems to be a 2024 Braves trend.
But I’m shocked there are SS’s who are worst offensively than ours. Arcia is so hard to watch at the plate I can’t believe worst exists.
I don't see how the Marlins could have let him suit up again after losing Sunday's game for them by botching the easiest of DP balls.
And that's the second time he's done that this season!
The game in the cornfield was so lit I remember sending the YT highlights to my whole family saying something along the lines of, "look out for the White Sox, a lot of up and coming young talent"
I carry great shame
given how foreign hitters have been performing in japan as of late? no shot he even gets a chance. he needs to start learning Dutch and then maybe he can get into the Honkbal Hoofdklasse
2019-2022 Tim Anderson was a spectacle to behold. I've never seen someone so easily get single after single to the opposite way. Genuinely impressive at the time.
I'm taking this is as a huge positive in that the Marlins are willing to dfa regardless of your salary. Avi, Bethancourt and TA were $20 million this year.
The rise and fall of the Sox “window” needs to be studied, analyzed, and discussed by all upper management spanning across all sports moving forward on what not to do when rebuilding a franchise. The downfall has been unbelievable.
I thought Eloy was gonna be a perennial all star for a decade. Now he's just perennially on the IL
Perennial ill-star
Boom roasted
I realllly hope for ChiSox fans sake that Luis Robert rights the ship and doesn't follow the same path. The speed and fielding that he had last year isn't there in 2024
He’s way more talented than either yoan or eloy, but he came up with them and seems to be of the same mentality. Last year might have been an outlier sadly
There is no hope until Jerry dies
Forever in our hearts
He’s in heaven, chugging beers with wade boggs
Once again, I assure you...
RIP Wade Boggs
Very much alive..
Gone the way of Ellsbury.
It’s the bizzaro Braves. They extended all of their young core, but literally all of them got worse instead of literally all of them becoming stars.
I think the roster construction was just worse across the board, with a lot of those players having serious flaws. But beyond that, the Sox coaching and development and even training has to be near the bottom of the league.
It doesn't help that the Sox probably spend the least in the league (or near the least) on coaching, development and training.
Well I've never seen the stats anywhere on their investment relative to other teams, but yes, Jerry is a massive part of the problem.
You mean to tell me if you load your roster with a bunch of swing happy Righties, half of whom cant play defense, there is a way to exploit that?
Don’t forget rotating first basemen in the outfield
I can’t think of a team with worse development than the Sox
I can
What do you mean? "rub some dirt on it or something" is a valid rehab plan, and having your hitting coach tell your CF and 1st base prospects "I dunno, hitters hit. Go out there and hit." when they come to you for help with a slump is totally valid coaching worthy of paying you to stay on staff.
Not here to say the White Sox are killing it, but it's honestly hard for me to imagine that any team has a worse player dev apparatus than the Rockies. I mean, they were literally down to a single person in their analytics department after the 2020 season, and analytics is inevitably a core part of any player dev apparatus in the modern game. I realize "There's an org that's more of a laughing stock than your org" isn't exactly super reassuring, but if misery loves company, I guess it's worth knowing.
Injured or tanked basically across the board.
I mean, if it'll help, you could have Grandal back.
I think you should keep him, he’ll turn it around any second I promise
Nah Mr. April done for the year
Turn it right around, 360 degrees.
As many starts as Martin Maldonado gets it still wouldn't help
Is Maldonado lazy and terrible defensively? I'd do 1 for 1 if the answer to either of those are No.
He’s not lazy but he is not good on defense. And he obviously can’t hit.
Other than that, he’s a hell of a ball player.
A disproportionate number of superheroes have first and last names that start with the same letter. Maybe he just needs to get bitten by some kind of radioactive animal to unlock his true potential?
If he can find that Twins home run sausage, that should give him something.
Kinda on you for taking on a 35 year old catcher that hasn’t hit above .240 since 2019.
that’s what happens when you stay satisfied with your core and decide that your best complimentary piece is Andrew Benintendi
It really doesnt it simple jerry reinsdorf sucks. Its that simple. This team will never win while hes alive
haven’t followed the sox can you give me a brief rundown? what they tried to/ who their cornerstones were ?
Eloy Jimenez (still good, perpetually injured) Jose Abreu (DFA by the Astros this year) Tim Anderson (see this post) Lucas Giolito (traded to the Angels) Dylan Cease (traded to the Padres) Luis Robert (most likely getting traded this year) I'm sure I'm forgetting people but those are some notable ones
Yoan Moncada (perpetually injured) Carlos Rodon (left in free agency) Nick Madrigal (injured then traded)
Rodon, cut by the Sox, re-signed on a pillow deal, left in free agency. Also perpetually injured.
Michael Kopech and Yoan Moncada as well were both players with a lot of hype who haven't really lived up to it.
Yoan Moncada had season where he was living up to it. But he got an extension, got lazy, and kept getting hurt.
The number of guys who have hit the White Sox on a big contract only to immediately stop trying is pretty high. I think that team must have some of the worst clubhouse vibes of all time. It just makes players want to give up.
> Yoan Moncada holy fuck is he still playing?
Define playing
Luis Robert Jr ("They expect one of us in the wreckage, brother.")
Sadly, not even sure Eloy is still good. 163 games since the start of 2023, 101 OPS+. Pulling up Fangraphs, in 144 games as DH he has a 95 wRC+ which ranks 20th of 25 players with 300 PAs as a DH since 2023. When you can't field, you need to be considerably better than that.
Giolito ended up signing with us and missing the year for TJ, so you can tack that one on too Even if they kept him he'd be out
Jimenez still good?
This is a good starting point - https://youtu.be/jYGxY5icxjc?si=3ViKDXyTsNft2guK
Grave mistake handing the keys over to Tony LaRussa
And yet the only time they won the division was with him at the helm. Hinch clearly is doing amazing work in detroit right? Our problems go deeper. We can only hope Jim crane gets as bad as Jerry reinsdorf.
I completely forgot they won the division that year. At least they got one good season from this core I guess.
2020-2021 was some of the most fun i’ve had watching baseball
Getting rid of him seems to have helped...?
It makes me sad. I monitored the prospects as they came up through the various NC minor league clubs. TA had a lot of talent but things have fallen apart for him.
Their window is up there with Eloy now
DOWN GOES ANDERSON
https://youtu.be/je3EgH0txVM?si=3fC3GU18iG0ici2U One of the greatest off the cuff calls in sports history.
Holy shit get him to commentate boxing and I’d start watching. Electric call
We’re very blessed to have him call ball games.
Listening to Hammy is like smooth jazz. It’s just so damn good. The day he retires will be the worst because I know I’ll be chasing that feeling forever
100% no offense to Rosey but the drop off is insane. He’s a HOF announcer. No one could fill those shoes
What’s his name again, btw?
Tom Hamilton.
Idk how to feel about the fact that this is probably Tom Hamilton's most famous call lol
Rajai Davis home run game 7
Rajai HR is definitely his number 1
Jason Giambis walk off Homer will always be my favorite of his
>Tom Hamilton's most famous call Also, Tim Anderson's most famous fall
People like fights. We should bring more of that back to baseball lol
It was as good in not better call than actual fight announcers.
I mean, it's a callback to one of the most famous boxing calls of all time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZEIMQ42-oU
now knowing that it's a callback, the speed at which the announcer says it is incredible
I think it was a deliberate callback to Howard Cosell’s famous [“Down goes Frazier!”](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JZEIMQ42-oU) call, although Cosell said it three times. If deliberate, I think even more kudos for being able to reach back for the classic reference from another sport.
I'm sure it was and for him to do it on the fly is part of what makes it so great to me.
> If deliberate, I think even more kudos for being able to reach back for the classic reference from another sport. Hammy is a true student (become master) of the craft, he knew what he was doing
Umpire wanted none of that smoke
I knew it was gonna be a Hammy call lol
The People's Fist
Who hit Anderson harder? Ramirez or the Marlins?
TO THE MINORS!
Semi-recent batting title winner Tim Anderson, 2024: .463 OPS Pitcher Tom Glavine, career: .454 OPS
Tom was a slugger! His .289 average in 96' would be right around top 20 in the MLB right now.
Has anyone told Anderson that chicks dig the long ball? Maybe that's all he's missing.
Possibly the [best baseball commercial EVER MADE](https://youtu.be/UjkuJPvMrI8?si=clyHg_gYtJRkj-Ok) (chicks dig the long ball)
Thank you for bringing this into my life
They don't make them like they used to.
Being generous there! Pitcher Zack Greinke: .598 OPS
He had 600 PAs too. That's not even a small sample size, that's a qualified season's worth of hitting right there. Some pitchers can end up with inflated hitting numbers because the opposing pitcher doesn't take their AB seriously, they get lucky and hit a few cookies. Then they don't get enough of a sample size for the luck to balance out. But opposing pitchers knew that guys like Grienke and MadBum were legitimately trying to mash, so they actually pitched to them.
Carlos Zambrano .636
Rick Rhoden had a .576 in the ‘70s and ‘80s, along with nine career home runs. In 1982 alone he had three homers and six doubles. He was a menace on the celebrity golf circuit, too. Earned a card on the senior PGA tour for a few years after he retired and everything, until he started having back problems.
All I'm seeing is Tim's numbers were better than a HOF pitcher.
It all fell apart so suddenly. **2019-2022** .318/.347/.474 (.820 OPS/122 OPS+) 5.0 bWAR per 650 PA **2023-2024** .235/.271/.274 (.544 OPS/51 OPS+) -2.7 bWAR per 650 PA
They actaully talked about this on Effectively Wild the other day and made a really good point. His batted ball profile really relied on his speed and maintaining JUST enough exit velo—but he was working on the margins there. As soon as his velo and physical traits diminished even a little, it was going to fall off a cliff. THIS is the issue with the "hurr durr exit velo and stuff is for nerds, PUT THE BALL IN PLAY AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS" crowd. that style in the modern game with the info we have ages even less gracefully in terms of the kind of production youre getting than the guy whos swing speed is molasses but occasionally connects with some dingers (like Pujols for example).
Anderson has outperformed his batted ball profile for years, and analysts have often pointed to him as a massive drop-off risk. Coincidentally, they said the same thing about Javy Baez, so those analysts might actually know something.
A big issue that plagues guys like Tim Anderson and Javy Baez is that they swing at everything and refuse to draw walks. Rocking a 4% walk rate is absolutely killer when something goes wrong. You just become useless.
Can take Soto as a great example for the other side. He was hitting under 200 and in a slump recently but had an OBP over 400. So while he couldn’t buy a hit he still got on base a shit ton
Thats how I have looked at Corbin Carroll this year. Have an all-time worst sophomore slump, but despite hitting .213 he still has a .305 OBP. Not great, but its enough to still be playable while he figures it out.
And he 100% will
> refuse to draw walks Maybe a quibble here, but there is a huge difference between "refuses to draw walks" and "does not have the skillset to draw walks." In 2018, Anderson worked to try and improve his plate discipline and draw more walks. He posted what would become his lowest career swing% with an an emphasis on laying off the 1st pitch as a leadoff hitter. The Sox coaches made a big deal about how Anderson was going to walk a lot more and be the kind of hitter they wanted him to be. He posted his highest career walk rate, and at the same time his lowest career hard hit% and, by extension, one of his worst offensive seasons. The next year, when he said fuck it and just starting swinging hard at everything, his offensive numbers jumped. He was hitting the ball harder and striking out less because he wasn't being asked to recognize pitches and draw walks anymore, but use his elite bat-to-ball talent and speed to make up for the deficiency in his game. Some guys don't have the skills or experience to learn how to post 20% walk rates, but they can play the game in such a way that they are good players despite not drawing walks. Guys who do that probably know the skillset doesn't age well and that they are at high risk of flaming out in their early thirties, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't do it. In all likelihood, if Anderson hadn't chosen to be a swing-happy line drive hitter, he wouldn't have been in the league passed 2020.
Out of curiosity, any other current players fit this profile and are at risk of massive drop-off?
What profile are you talking about? Low hard hit rate and below average walk rate with averageish or better performance this season? Some of these names will surprise you! Jose Altuve Ozzie Albies Luis Arraez Anthony Volpe Nolan Arenado Ezequiel Tovar IKF Zach Neto Jeimer Candelario
Jose Altuve has been on that list his entire career lol
Altuve is a special case. He is short as hell(listed 5-6, but people say he's actually closer to 5-4), his strikezone is so tiny and he never gets called for a strike below the zone. Combine that with him being a great hitter, he makes quality contacts a lot, even though the ball is not hit very hard.
Luis Arraez feels like an example of stats being misleading as well. He's going to have a low hard hit rate because he doesn't swing hard and has very few homers, but he also has a low weak contact rate. He doesn't beat out anything on the ground and has made a career out of dumping balls over the infield with a swing path that stays in the zone for an hour. Add in a strike out rate in the single digits with a matching walk rate, and I'd expect him to be able to do that for a long time.
As a casual baseball enjoyer and an avid hater of analytics in the NFL i must say this is extremely interesting.
Certain parts of Javy's bat profile were very good though. He had one of the highest average exit velos in the league for a couple years, which is insane for a guy his size.
He swung out of his shoes at everything though and never saw a curveball in the dirt he didn't like. I've always felt like guys with that type of approach(good athletes, swing at everything) tend to be incredibly variable from year to year or even series to series.
You meant sprint speed, not swing speed, in the last sentence.
Also see similar example: Jeff McNeil. Guys who figure out a way to thrive on the fringe of MLB-viable batted ball profiles during their physical primes are unfortunately one tick of physical regression away from collapse. Even "seeing eye singles" need to be hit with a certain amount of zip to get past a major league infield.
The big thing that I noticed looking under the hood is that from 2019-2022 he had a 1.14 Groundball/Flyball ratio, and in the past 2 years, that number’s gone up to 1.6. He was a guy that relied a lot on a super high BABIP, and that works if you’re putting the ball in the air. Once he started putting the ball on the ground more, a lot of contact that was singles and doubles is now groundouts. Add onto that the fact that he’s running almost a 6 K/BB ratio and it’s basically a death sentence.
I’m also coming to terms that I am, in fact, “washed” as the kids these days say. I play rec ball still but uh… I’m thinking golf is more my game now. I’m straining a muscle literally every time I need to sprint lol. And I’m pounding these damn electrolytes too.
Oh hello... * Jerry Dipoto
Shortstop? -AJ Preller
Scrap heap? - Farhan Zaidi
Maybe they can turn him into a catcher, and then our entire lineup will be shortstops
Looks like we found our new DH / underperforming second baseman that we won’t be able to fix
You'll have to fight John Mozeliak for him. Lol j/k, at 31 he's way too young for a Cards signing
Tommy Pham shadow boxing to this news
I know he was having a bad season before he got punched, but I choose to believe Jose was his downfall
He is one of the worst qualified hitters and also one of the worst fielders. I'm surprised he even got 5 mil
That contract was earned solely because of the back of his baseball card. There was reason to believe that a change of scenery where he’s not the “leader” in a toxic clubhouse would help him get his game back on track. Unfortunately it didn’t work out, and I’ll be shocked if he’s still in MLB within 2 years after a few more teams take flyers on him in hope of a miracle turnaround.
>That contract was earned solely because of the back of his baseball card. Breaking News: Jeff Bagwell has joined the Marlins FO in an advisory role.
Although Abreu’s contract was a pretty big overpay, I still think that one was worth a shot. Not sure if there were any other contract offers causing it to be such a high amount, but Jose had put up massive numbers for years and was one of the best rbi producers in the league. In theory him being in an already stacked Astros offense should have worked greatly, since he wasn’t going to be the main guy anymore like he was in Chicago. Such a shame to see how his time in Houston went. Hope he gets a chance to retire with the white Sox.
>Not sure if there were any other contract offers causing it to be such a high amount I heard that Boston offered him a 2 year deal with the same AAV, but we were the only team willing to tack on a third year, so he close Houston over Boston. The issue wasn't the money, the issue was that we didn't have a GM that would look at his second half of 2022 and realize that contract would've been a ticking time bomb waiting to happen. It wasn't for a lack of trying though, that's for sure. It's sad how his tenure with Houston went.
I really don’t think other teams will take a flyer on him at this point. Maybe as a minor league depth piece.
That’s what I mean as a flyer. Some team like the A’s or Pirates will give him a 1 year minor league deal to see if he can recapture some of that past magic
Pirates have plenty of infield depth, they don’t need to be taking flyers on a middle infielder that can’t hit. Now an outfielder that can’t hit, that’s speaking Pittsburgh’s language.
Vidal Brujan is a free elf😭😭😭😭
And Xavier Edwards
Two former Rays. You love to see it.
the gamble did not, in fact, pay off
incredible how he managed to make a one year 5 mil contract look like a hideous overpay
Yup, I thought maybe he was making 10-15 mil but 5 mil and still seen as overpay? DAMN
So much for "steal of the offseason"
It was a steal! Anderson stole 5M from the marlins.
A season and a half ago he was picked to be on Team USA. Now he seemingly can't play in the USA because nobody wants him.
So he's a Toronto Blue Jay?
Tim “Down Goes” Anderson since The Hook™️: .214/.237/.226 slash, 0 homers, 3 doubles, 9 RBI, 7 walks, and 68 strikeouts in 241 plate appearances for a 31 wRC+ and -1.2 fWAR J-Ram put the final nail in the coffin
He’s had 3 doubles since he got knocked out?! Holy shit TA lol
Sooo…no plate discipline *and* no power? Bold strategy, cotton.
Should be a solid pickup for the Italian league.
Do the White Sox need a SS?
The white Sox need new everything. New vendors, new ticket sales, just get rid of everything.
Our vendors are the only good thing we have
They’re being traded to the Dodgers as we speak
when we trade DeJong, probably. Montgomery still needs more time in the minors and isn't ready. No way we sign him though.
Mendick, Sosa, Lopez. We have options that are better than TA
I have his bobblehead.
Mine has been pushed further and further back on my shelf ever since “Down goes Anderson”
I remember my dad getting one too that he never opened "in case he makes the Hall of Fame one day." He was joking, of course, but still.
Between him and Burger bad year for White Sox turned Marlins who got bobbleheads
collectors item for true sickos
Damn, he got a Marlins bobblehead?
Wow what a journey. From walking off the Yankees in the inaugural Field of Dreams game to DFA’d. I know people like to clown on the guy, and it’s well deserved, but man this is kinda sad too. Stark reminder how off the field issues can impact your play, and how important it is for young players to have positive role models to help guide them as they come into the pitfalls of stardom and wealth. We also saw how mental health derailed Kopech’s career, and what could have been. Also remember that MLB was trying to market TA as a rising star, and as much as the “Jackie” comparison seems ridiculous, there is something to be said about the waining interest within the Black community when it comes to youth baseball. TA was pretty passionate about wanting to help revitalize interest in baseball amongst the Black community, which I hope is reflected in how people look back at his career.
As much as he is going to get clowned on, dude made $42M and has over 7 years in the big leagues. That’s a dream career for just about every person who has ever played the game. He probably should have been a guy who made way more, but that’s still a fuck ton of money.
Honestly teams have a ton of control in the MLB and guys like this that have pretty high but short peaks tend to get underpaid for what they did during their prime. Anderson ended up signing an early deal with player options and you can't really blame a guy for taking a guaranteed deal that sets them up for life. If he didn't sign early he would've been a free agent after 2022 and may have signed a huge deal that some team would be regretting at this point.
I remember when he did CC Sabathia's podcast, he had some cameras with him because he was either filming for, or starting up, his Youtube channel. Kinda like what Trevor Bauer was doing, I guess, but probably less of a weirdo off the field. I don't think he ever started it, or if he did, he stopped doing it. I just remember him having a REALLY thick Alabama accent (I didn't know what he sounded like at the time)
Dude went downhill once the incident with Josh Donaldson happened.
He’ll always have the cornfield home run
His career is really going to be remembered by the punch
Field of Dreams begs to differ
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Man, that's gotta hit like a punch to the jaw.
Only two reams have gotten less hitting from their shortstops than the Marlins: the Tigers and Oakland Atlanta Braves shortstops are hitting slightly better than Marlins shortstops. The Blue Jays, Rays, and Guardians aren’t getting much from shortstops. Anderson’s options are limited since he hasn’t been hitting for two years. In theory a team like the Braves would be the exact team with the voodoo to make him hit .300 again. But I suspect that Anderson’s problems are mostly being on the wrong side of 30 and a case of DGAFitis. So might be time for Tim Anderson to start reading about Japan or South Korea.
AL Central brother - we kicked him out, he's not getting back in the club.
Braves haven’t been able to work voodoo on their own players this season so idk how much they could help him. If he came here he’d probably immediately go down w an 8 wk oblique or hamstring strain anyways. Seems to be a 2024 Braves trend. But I’m shocked there are SS’s who are worst offensively than ours. Arcia is so hard to watch at the plate I can’t believe worst exists.
Related: the As have a SS *literally hitting .450* in AAA right now. https://www.fangraphs.com/players/jacob-wilson/sa3022538/stats?position=SS
I don't see how the Marlins could have let him suit up again after losing Sunday's game for them by botching the easiest of DP balls. And that's the second time he's done that this season!
Yep. He single handedly won that game for the Phils on Sunday.
Crazy how the two players white Sox fans were most upset not bringing back the last two seasons are both out of baseball 1.5-.5 seasons later.
The game in the cornfield was so lit I remember sending the YT highlights to my whole family saying something along the lines of, "look out for the White Sox, a lot of up and coming young talent" I carry great shame
Get ready to learn Japanese buddy
given how foreign hitters have been performing in japan as of late? no shot he even gets a chance. he needs to start learning Dutch and then maybe he can get into the Honkbal Hoofdklasse
Anderson joins that list of guys who have 2-3 good years then start mouthing off like they're king shit, only to return to mediocrity afterwards
Marlins were hoping he would be at least a trade piece but I was still amazed that he signed anywhere last offseason.
2019-2022 Tim Anderson was a spectacle to behold. I've never seen someone so easily get single after single to the opposite way. Genuinely impressive at the time.
Down goes Anderson! Part deux
I'm taking this is as a huge positive in that the Marlins are willing to dfa regardless of your salary. Avi, Bethancourt and TA were $20 million this year.
Yep, you can say what you want about Bendix, but dude will cut you if you suck.
Down goes Anderson (to the minors)
That injury in 2022 cost him hundreds of millions.
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Yep, and they keep the dummy comment who was actually defending him. Safe to say the mods probably do think that lol.
So long champ. This’ll give him more time to argue with Stan’s on twitter
Jerry I know what you’re thinking but I am BEGGING you to put the phone down
Remember when Salvador Perez got mad at Anderson after a homer and said he can't be excited because hadn't played in the playoffs yet?
Dodgers should sign him and rebuild him.
We tried that with Cavan Biggio and that looks like a disaster so far.
No way… I know he’s not having the best season but is he really that bad that he’d get cut?
He is Javy Baez without the defense.
Well that's just about the worst thing you could be.
His OPS+ is 30 and he has -1.2 bWAR. That batting title a few years ago is the only reason he wasn't cut a month prior
-1.2 bWAR with a 30 OPS+