Marlins make contract offer to Tim Anderson

[Ely Sussman]

The terms of the offer aren't yet known, but Anderson would be the team's first major league free agent signing of the 2023-24 offseason if they can agree on a deal.

Even with Spring Training officially underway, the Miami Marlins continue to pursue new players. During a slow-moving offseason, they've moved the slowest of any MLB club, entering Friday as the only one of the 30 that hasn't signed a player to a major league free agent contract. As first reported by The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal (and confirmed by the Miami Herald), the Marlins have offered a deal to free agent Tim Anderson, presumably to be their primary shortstop this season.

The 30-year-old Anderson owns a career .282/.312/.422 slash line (98 wRC+) across his eight previous MLB seasons (all with the Chicago White Sox). The two-time All-Star produced 4.6 fWAR as recently as the 2021 season.

However, TA has been awful since returning from a groin injury on June 20, 2022. In exactly 162 games since then, he has been sub-replacement level with a .246/.286/.295 slash line (61 wRC+). That led the White Sox to decline what had previously been viewed as a team-friendly $14M club option for the 2024 season. Safe to assume, whether the best offer comes from the Marlins or somebody else, he'll have to settle for a smaller guarantee than that.

Rosenthal also reports that the Marlins remain engaged with Gio Urshela "about a role in which he mostly would play first base, third and DH." It is unclear if there is a scenario that involves signing both Anderson and Urshela. Barring injuries, I don't see the fit given all of the Marlins position players who are currently penciled into Opening Day roster spots. 

 

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[Brock Beauchamp]

This makes a ton of sense for both the Marlins and Anderson. He needs a place with secure playing time to get some runway at a healthy bounce back season.

[Slacker Mills]

The tale of the proposed Cabrera trade (Let's face it, the terms were at least close to what the Marlins were willing to accept if the reporter bothered to draft the story!) and the Tim Anderson offer present a very ugly view of what the new front office may do. Anderson doesn't hit for average, has zero power, has slowed down on the bases, and plays a ****** SS. Every tool is missing. You don't pay for what once was.

[Stanley J Makowski]

An excellent move and I'm all for it. The guy was injured last year. Hitting at #2 with Arraez on base nearly half the time should help both him and the team. And not a pitcher was moved, another plus.

[Ely Sussman]

17 minutes ago, Stanley J Makowski said:

An excellent move and I'm all for it. The guy was injured last year. Hitting at #2 with Arraez on base nearly half the time should help both him and the team. And not a pitcher was moved, another plus.

My expectations for him would be low, but it's still the appropriate way to go if the risk is so minimal. I'm grateful they didn't desperately trade for him last summer. Now, he'd be coming in with so much to prove and is hopefully motivated to re-establish himself.

[One Regend]

This is what I'd call a high risk potentially high reward signing. This is the type of signing most small-market teams make. They can't outbid the Dodgers, Mets, or Yankees for bats with consistent results, but they can sign guys like these in hopes of a bounceback campaign. If (and this is a BIG if) Tim Anderson returns to form, this signing might be huge. It can also spectacularly backfire if Anderson continues to tread water like he was in 2023. But if you're the Marlins, you've got to make gambles like these. Let's hope it actually pays off for them.

[Slacker Mills]

19 hours ago, Ely Sussman said:

My expectations for him would be low, but it's still the appropriate way to go if the risk is so minimal. I'm grateful they didn't desperately trade for him last summer. Now, he'd be coming in with so much to prove and is hopefully motivated to re-establish himself.

Low expectations? How about no expectations. Anderson hit just like Segura, Wendle and company last season and his fielding was much worse than any of them. If you are a pitching-focused team, at least put some great gloves on the field to help them out. Things are already bad enough in the infield with Burger, Bell and Arraez.