The Chicago White Sox and shortstop Tim Anderson have agreed to terms on a six-year, $25 million contract extension, according to an official press release from the team on Tuesday.
This extension includes two club contract options for the White Sox that can keep Anderson in Chicago all the way until 2024. If the White Sox do end up picking up the contract options one day, the price of Anderson’s total salary will skyrocket to $50.5 million, making the deal a seven-year, $50.5 million deal potentially.
Anderson was currently scheduled to become arbitration-eligible for the 2020 campaign and would’ve become a free agent following the conclusion of the 2022 season. Anderson made his Major League debut in June last year, meaning this new contract makes him one of the top earners already on a young White Sox team.
In June, the White Sox designated Jimmy Rollins for assignment to clear the way for Anderson on the 40-man and active roster after the then-22-year-old Anderson batted .304/.325/.409 with 4 homers, 20 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases across 256 plate appearances at Triple-A Charlotte.
That same success that Anderson experienced at Triple-A transferred over to the big leagues, as Anderson batted .283/.306/.432 with 9 homers, 30 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases in 99 Major League games last season, giving the White Sox a middle infielder that was good with the bat and improving on defense. Anderson committed 14 errors at shortstop last season, but still posted a fielding percentage of .965% in 859.2 innings of action.
Last off-season, the White Sox finally committed to a large scale rebuild by trading away Chris Sale and Adam Eaton in-exchange for prospects. In the Sale trade, the two most notable prospects the White Sox received back from the Boston Red Sox in the trade were infielder Yoan Moncada, and right-handed pitcher Michael Kopech.
Moncada will likely be the White Sox second baseman for the future, while Kopech will join a starting rotation that already features Jose Quintana, Carson Fulmer and Carlos Rodon. Joining the rotation will also likely be right-hander Lucas Giolito, who came over from the Washington Nationals in the Eaton trade after making his Major League debut next season.
Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier will man the corner positions for the White Sox in 2017, as the future of the White Sox infield could already be set once Moncada joins the fold for good. This means that the White Sox will have to find long-term solutions at catcher, designated hitter, and their outfielders.
Right now, the White Sox are projected by MLB.com to start Omar Narvaez at catcher and Matt Davidson at designated hitter. Their outfield alignment, from left-to-right goes as Melky Cabrera, Peter Bourjos, and Avisali Garcia. Chicago will almost certainly want to upgrade these three positions, and they have the prospects to do it, and can still acquire more.
Zack Collins, Luis Alexander Basabe, Charlie Tilson, Alex Call, Jameson Fisher, Adam Engel, Micker Adolfo, Jake Peter, and Jacob May are among the players who could could feel the need at those three specific positions.
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