Former All-Star and batting champion Tim Anderson spoke to reporters via Zoom today regarding the fifth anniversary of the Field of Dreams game. During that call, Anderson revealed that he is retiring from baseball, per James Fegan of Sox Machine.
Anderson was born in 1993 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and was raised there as well. After graduating high school, he attended East Central Community College in Decatur, Mississippi. He had played both baseball and basketball in high school but decided he was too short for the the latter and focused on baseball in college. He impressed enough there to be a first-round pick in the 2013 draft. The White Sox took him 17th overall and lured him away from a commitment to the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a signing bonus of $2.16MM.
As a professional, Anderson quickly flashed some strong tools and put himself on the prospect map. His natural athleticism led to him being quickly recognized as a potential long-term shortstop with the wheels to steal bases. His bat was a bit more questionable but it was felt that he still had lots of room for improvement since he was still getting adjusted to the sport after pivoting from basketball somewhat recently. Baseball America ranked him a top 100 prospect in 2015 and 2016.
He made it to the big leagues in the latter of those two years. During his first few big league seasons, he was a toolsy shortstop for the Sox. He stole lots of bases and generally covered shortstop well. He hit a few homers but his overall offense was held down by a lack of walks, which led to low on-base marks.
By the end of 2018, Anderson had appeared in 398 games and stepped to the plate 1,643 times. His 3.4% walk rate was one of the lowest in the big leagues. Among guys with at least 700 plate appearances in that span, Dee Strange-Gordon was the only guy lower, at 3.2%. Anderson’s 26% strikeout rate was also worse than average. Despite 46 home runs, he had a .258/.286/.411 line and 86 wRC+ in that span. Regardless, FanGraphs credited him with 5.8 wins above replacement thanks to his speed and defense.
Despite his flaws, the Sox believed in Anderson. In the midst of that early-career stretch, in March of 2017, he and the club signed a six-year, $25MM extension. That bought out his remaining arbitration years and also came with two club options for 2023 and 2024, potentially giving the Sox two extra years of affordable control over Anderson.
Anderson eventually found a new gear. He still didn’t walk much but cut the strikeouts way down, meaning he put the ball in play quite a bit. From 2019 to 2021, his 3.6% walk rate was still quite low but he was only punching out in 21.6% of his plate appearances. That helped him hit .322/.349/.495 for a 126 wRC+ over those three seasons. That was propped up by a .385 batting average on balls in play but nonetheless helped him produce 11.1 fWAR in that span of three seasons, one of which was shortened to just 60 games. He was the American League batting champion in 2019 and then was selected to All-Star games in both 2021 and 2022.
In that 2022 season, second All-Star selection notwithstanding, it was a challenging year. He had multiple stints on the injured list and only got into 79 games. His six home runs represented a dip for him, as he had mostly been in the 20 range in previous campaigns. He did cut his strikeout rate even further, however, getting it to 15.7%. Even with the missed time and the power outage, he hit .301/.339/.395 for a 110 wRC and was worth 2.2 fWAR. The Sox made the easy call to pick up his $12.5MM club option for 2023.
Unfortunately, in hindsight, it now appears that was the beginning of the end for Anderson’s production. Early in 2023, a left knee sprain sent him to the IL. He only missed a few weeks but never got back on track. He finished the year with just one home runs in 524 plate appearances and slashed .245/.286/.296. The Sox turned down Anderson’s $14MM club option for 2024, which once looked like a real bargain, opting instead for the $1MM buyout.
A free agent for the first time, Anderson signed a one-year, $5MM deal with the Marlins for 2024 but wasn’t able to bounce back. He hit .214/.237/.226 over 65 games before being released in July. He signed a minor league deal with the Angels going into 2025 and cracked the Opening Day roster but hit .205/.258/.241 before being cut loose at the end of May.
Anderson’s career sloped off more aggressively than anyone could have anticipated but he had a strong peak. As mentioned, he won a batting title and made a couple of All-Star teams. He appeared in 991 games and stepped to the plate 4,139 times. He racked up 1,088 hits, including 98 home runs. He scored 552 runs, drove in 250 and stole 122 bases. He had a .276/.307/.407 line and 93 wRC+, though those numbers were dragged down by his rough performance in his final years. The same goes for his career tallies of 17.6 fWAR and 15.4 bWAR, as he was below replacement level in his later campaigns. Baseball Reference pegs his career earnings at $43.75MM.
We at MLB Trade Rumors salute Anderson on a fine playing career and wish him the best with whatever comes next.
Photos courtesy of Mike Dinovo, Mark J. Rebilas, Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images
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