Tim Anderson to sign with Miami Marlins

[Kevin Barral]

It took until deep into spring training to get it done, but the Miami Marlins have made their first Major League free agent signing of the offseason and filled their void at shortstop.

On Thursday morning, Jesse Rogers of ESPN broke the news that Tim Anderson is signing with the Miami Marlins on a one-year, $5M deal. It's the first major league free agent signing of the Peter Bendix era. Anderson would slot in as Miami's starting shortstop. The official signing is still pending a physical and corresponding 40-man roster move.

In 2023, Anderson slashed .245/.286/.296/.582 with one home run, 25 RBIs and a 60 wRC+. Although Anderson had what was the worst season of his career up to this point, looking at every other year, the 30-year-old shortstop had posted a wRC+ over 100 in the past four years, most notably in 2019 where he put up a 128 wRC+ along with a slash line of .335/.357/.508/.865 with 18 home runs and 56 RBIs. More recently, in 2022, Anderson may have seen a major dip in fWAR, but was still hitting over .300 and had a wRC+ over the league average. Like most players the Marlins have brought in, Anderson would be a bounce-back candidate.

Anderson isn't the same offensive star he once was back in the early stages of his career, but still a lot of reasons to like what he does at the plate. In 2022, Anderson struck out at a 15.7%, but had a more aggressive approach in 2024, with his K% going up 7.6%, but the BB% going up one percent. There is reason to believe that in a big ballpark like loanDepot park, Anderson would benefit given his ability to hit the ball well from gap-to-gap and fit somewhere between the third through sixth spot of a lineup. Even in 2023, he still hit the ball to all sides of the field, but just not as far as he did in years prior.

 

Defensively, it's been an up-and-down road for the newest Marlin. His best season at shortstop came in 2018 where he had a 12 DRS and ranked in the 94th percentile of outs above average. Looking back at his last great season for the White Sox in 2022, Anderson had a -7 DRS and dropped to the 26th percentile in OAA, so you can say it's more realistic to use those latter numbers as the expectation for him moving forward.

Some rumors have suggested Anderson has been an issue in the clubhouse in the past, but former teammate Jake Burger has insisted otherwise. Also, in a year where the Chicago White Sox lost 101 games, it's easier to understand why veteran players like him could get frustrated.

Anderson's low point was on August 5 in a game against the Cleveland Guardians when he got into a fist fight with José Ramírez and was knocked to the ground by a punch. He would later serve a five-game suspension for the incident.

For Anderson, a fresh start is what he needs, along with a team giving him a chance. A clubhouse with Luis Arraez, Skip Schumaker and other veteran pieces is an environment that should benefit him. He has an opportunity to win baseball games and go to the playoffs, while also re-establishing himself as a reliable shortstop who could earn a much larger contract next offseason, whether that comes from the Marlins or another club.

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[MRDHU75]

I am happy for this move.

Love Berti to death, but can't see him being an everyday guy.

This allows him to do his super utility role as well as gives Amaya another chance in AAA to hone his skills.

I can see a bounce back from Tim, as he has that edge on him to prove the doubters wrong.

[Slacker Mills]

I'd say Bendix created a void, not filled it. Anderson was awful last season. Yep, he's been an All Star ... just like Avisail. Wendle, and Segura had been. What reason is there to believe that Anderson can make up 4.4 WAR differential between Berti and himself last season? Can't think of one.

[Slacker Mills]

One post wasn't enough to quell my frustration. Bendix old team gets a superior SS for $1.2M while he gifts his new team with a $5M train wreck.

[Slacker Mills]

2 hours ago, Slacker Mills said:

One post wasn't enough to quell my frustration. Bendix old team gets a superior SS for $1.2M while he gifts his new team with a $5M train wreck.

 

2 hours ago, Slacker Mills said:

One post wasn't enough to quell my frustration. Bendix old team gets a superior SS for $1.2M while he gifts his new team with a $5M train wreck.

Not done. Where in the lineup do you put a guy with a 60 OPS? 10th? 11th?

[MRDHU75]

50 minutes ago, Slacker Mills said:

One post wasn't enough to quell my frustration. Bendix old team gets a superior SS for $1.2M while he gifts his new team with a $5M train wreck.

Ok, then who do you put there?

Amaya? Berti? Gordon? Bride?

[Slacker Mills]

2 hours ago, MRDHU75 said:

Ok, then who do you put there?

Amaya? Berti? Gordon? Bride?

1) Jazz 2) Brooks Lee (Wait, the Fish drafted Berry ahead of one of the best SS prospects in the game) 3) Rosario (Wait, that was Bendix old team that signed him) 4) Amaya. You have to play defense when you are pitching-centric team!

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, Slacker Mills said:

 

Not done. Where in the lineup do you put a guy with a 60 OPS? 10th? 11th?

I get the frustration over the offseason in general but I think Anderson is a decent upside play. His final few years in Chicago were just toxic. There was the TLR debacle and then Anderson just fell apart last season in almost every way imaginable. I think a change of scenery will do him good.

[Ely Sussman]

4 hours ago, Slacker Mills said:

One post wasn't enough to quell my frustration. Bendix old team gets a superior SS for $1.2M while he gifts his new team with a $5M train wreck.

Personally, I would've gone with Rosario over Anderson too. Still trying to wrap my mind around how Rosario's price fell that low.

[Hans Herrera]

15 hours ago, Slacker Mills said:

 

Not done. Where in the lineup do you put a guy with a 60 OPS? 10th? 11th?

I guess in the same spots this team had Wendle, Stallings, and/or Segura... all of them had lower OPS than Tim last year.

Almost any improvement from Tim will make this team better than last year. Rosario? Sure, I recognise they are similar players and Rosario wasn't as ugly as Tim was last year, but has he ever had a .300 average season? Has he ever been an All-Star...? That's the reason for the overpay:

https://stathead.com/baseball/versus-finder.cgi?player_id2=rosari000ame&player_id1=anders003tim&request=1&utm_campaign=2023_01_wdgt_player_comparison&utm_source=br&utm_medium=sr_xsite&utm_id=anderti01