Marlins cut another flailing veteran hitter: Tim Anderson

The Tim Anderson era is over in Miami, as first reported by Craig Mish of SportsGrid on Tuesday. Anderson has been designated for assignment with the expectation that he'll be released in the coming days. Just a week removed from his 31st birthday, he has rapidly declined from perennial American League batting title contender to one of MLB's least-valuable players.

Anderson was the most expensive pickup of an uneventful 2023-24 Marlins offseason, signing a one-year, $5M deal in late February. The club handed him their starting shortstop job despite struggling mightily with the Chicago White Sox the year before (.245/.286/.296, 1 HR, 13 SB, 60 wRC+, -0.2 fWAR in 123 G). Given his age and impressive track record, Anderson looked to be a logical bounce-back and change-of-scenery candidate, plus none of Miami's in-house alternatives at the position were particularly exciting. It was the epitome of a low-risk, high-reward move.

Unfortunately, Anderson did virtually nothing to "reward" the Marlins' faith in him during his half-season tenure. I expressed my concerns in early May and he made no improvements from there. He was useless offensively, lacking any semblance of plate discipline or power (.214/.237/.226, 0 HR, 4 SB, 31 wRC+, -1.2 fWAR in 65 G). At shortstop, his defensive performance was mixed at best.

TA departs on a particularly low note. During Sunday's Marlins loss, he committed a crucial error that helped the Philadelphia Phillies score two unearned runs, then struck out swinging on a non-competitive pitch to make the final out.

Anderson's DFA continues a trend. Last month, the Marlins moved on from outfielder Avisaíl García and catcher Christian Bethancourt. That veteran trio had more than $30M of guaranteed money remaining on their contracts. Dane Myers essentially replaced García on Miami's active roster, Ali Sánchez replaced Bethancourt and now Xavier Edwards will replace Anderson. Each of the newcomers are five-plus years younger than their predecessors. Midway through a non-competitive season, the Marlins are reallocating playing time toward guys who could have a future with their organization.

It'd be a shame for Anderson to vanish from baseball so suddenly. Here's hoping that he finds a way to reinvent himself and resurface as a viable big leaguer in 2025.