'It's no secret': Anderson comfortable with White Sox

All-Star shortstop hoping to swing contract extension to remain at home with South Siders

February 23rd, 2023

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- There was $975,350,000 cumulatively spent on free-agent shortstops during this past offseason, according to Spotrac, with Trea Turner’s $300 million deal leading the way.

Tim Anderson wasn’t part of that group, since the White Sox exercised a $12.5 million club option on their All-Star shortstop for 2023. But even with a $14 million club option held by the club for ’24 -- the culmination of a six-year, $25 million extension -- Anderson knows his time is coming.

He also hopes that big deal comes with the White Sox. And for pure peace of mind, preferably sooner than later.

“I’m on two option years, and we let it get here and it’s like, dang, I kind of want to know where my feet are going to be at the next whatever years it is and I want to know where I’m going to be at,” Anderson told MLB.com during a Wednesday interview. “I’m so comfortable where I’m at now. I’m kind of just really anxious to see what it is, and I would rather be comfortable as quick as I can.

“I have a lot of things that are going on with kids and just family. Being comfortable is huge for me. No, I’m not promoting ‘pay me.’ It’s just that’s what’s really going on. Everybody knows I want to be here. It’s no secret.”

Anderson will turn 30 on June 23, in his eighth season with the White Sox. He’s a free swinger, with 61 walks over his past 1,641 plate appearances, but a calculated, skilled free swinger with a .318 average in that same time span since winning the American League batting title in 2019.

Anderson’s 2022 season was cut short after a late swing during an Aug. 6 game in Texas. He underwent surgery five days later to repair a sagittal band tear on the middle finger of his left hand. In order to reset for the ’23 season, Anderson went to Driveline in Seattle and Arizona among his offseason work.

“Just really understanding the body more as I get older and as I mature. Understand what I can and can’t do,” Anderson said. “And just realizing what I bring to the game and being confident in what I do, and not necessarily thinking too much of myself, but really having the most confidence I can and just believing I can’t be beat.”

“I've admired Tim for a long time. I love his edge. I love the way he plays the game,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “From the other side, it looked like he had one thing in mind and one thing in mind only, which was to win baseball games. Extremely talented. Obviously, the tools speak for themselves. I don't have to play Captain Obvious here.”

Grifol has learned how committed Anderson is to “his craft and this team and this organization” in the short time they have worked together. Talking with Anderson gives off that same vibe, with the shortstop’s energy a driving force for the White Sox since he arrived as a frontline player.

Colson Montgomery, ranked as the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 38 overall by MLB Pipeline, also looms on the horizon at shortstop. Anderson intends to help him in any way possible during Spring Training in the same role Jimmy Rollins played when Anderson was moving toward a starting big league job.

Anderson’s thoughts aren’t too different from what he said last Spring Training. He wants to stay with the White Sox, possibly for his whole career, but in looking at the shortstop salary landscape, and looking at his capabilities, he also wants what’s fair.

“Yeah, no discounts. No discounts,” a smiling Anderson said. “That’s not to talk [garbage] about the organization or anybody or put anything out there that might seem negative or think I want the most money. I just want to be treated fair and want both ends to be happy like we did last time, whichever way it goes.

“This has been home. This is all I know. I would be disappointed if that came to an end. But at the end of the day, I understand the process. … I’m just waiting my turn. I’m not rushing nothing. I’m not shying away and not looking at it.

“I understand what situation I’m in now. All I do is keep working, not complaining, not tripping about nothing.”