According to MLB insider Jon Heyman, the Chicago White Sox are the favorite to sign shortstop Elvis Andrus.
The White Sox is an obvious fit for Andrus’s services. Tim Anderson will be on the IL for approximately five weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a tear in his middle finger. Leury Garcia was recently placed on the 10-day IL and has looked like he has been playing in pain for the better part of a month. That leaves the White Sox with an unproven rookie, Lenyn Sosa and Romy Gonzalez, as their only options at shortstop. That is not a recipe for success for a team in a tight division race.
Andrus was released by the Oakland Athletics, who are in the midst of a full-scale teardown. Andrus’s contract contained a vested player option for 2023 that the Athletics had no interest in paying. After failing to trade him during the offseason or the trade deadline, the Athletics was left with no other choice. Andrus’s option kicks in after 550 plate appearances, and the team didn’t want him to get anywhere near that mark.
That vested option is one of the reasons that it was so difficult to trade him. Now that he is on the open market, he should be much more attractive to teams like the White Sox.
Andrus is a 14-year veteran and two-time All-Star. He is a career .270 hitter who plays slick defense. Andrus also adds an element of speed. He has seven stolen bags on the year and ranks second amongst all active players with 324 total steals. His best season came in 2017 when he slashed .297/.337/.471 with 20 homers and 25 steals. That season he also ranked third in AL with 191 hits.
However, his offensive output has slowly deteriorated with age. This season his offseason numbers took a nosedive. The 33-year-old is hitting .237. He has hit eight home runs this year, the most he has hit since 2019. It would also be good enough for fifth on the White Sox.
His defense is a slight upgrade from Leury Garcia. In 2009 he ranked fifth in the American League in defensive WAR with a 2.3 mark. He cracked the top five again in 2017 with a 2.1 defensive WAR.While Andrus isn’t the defender he once was, he still has an Ultimate Zone Rating of (2.6) and Outs Above Average of zero. This is certainly serviceable for a few weeks while Anderson is on the shelf. It also wouldn’t hurt to bring in another veteran with playoff experience. Andrus would likely be eager to play for a contender after being in Oakland for two seasons.
The last time Rick Hahn singed a veteran to fill in for an injured starter, he caught lighting in the bottle with Johnny Cueto. Perhaps he can do it once again with Andrus.
Great… another scrap pile pick up from another teams dumpster. Typical Sox… Andrus can’t hit either. He’ll fit in just fine with Garcia and Harrison.