Tag / World Baseball Classic

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A Change Can Do You Good

New general manager Chris Getz put his first stamp on the White Sox organization yesterday, declining the team’s $14 million option on Tim Anderson’s contract for 2024, making him a free agent.  Anderson, who was arguably the face of the franchise, saw his fortunes fall in the second half of 2022 and continued to freefall in 2023.

Drafter by the White Sox in the first round in 2013, Tim Anderson made his major league debut on June 10, 2016, going 2-3 in a victory against the Royals at US Cellular Field.  Replacing veteran Jimmy Rollins, who would be released five days later, Anderson played 99 games, hitting .283 with nine home runs, and finished seventh in Rookie of the Year balloting.  Showing that he was still a work in progress, Anderson slashed .257/.276/.402 in 2017, with a 2.1% walk rate, the lowest in the major leagues.  Defensively, he led the major leagues in errors, with 28, as well as fielding errors (16) and throwing errors (12).  He showed slight improvements in 2018, with slight improvements in his OBP and slugging percentage, while reducing his overall errors.

2019 was Anderson’s coming out party.  He led the major leagues with a .335 average while raising his OPS to .865, setting career highs with 167 hits, 32 doubles, and 81 runs.  He still had some issues on defense, leading all major league players with 26 errors, leading to the lowest fielding percentage amongst all shortstops.  His hot bat continued into the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, notching a .322 average and an .886 OPS.  He won his first Silver Slugger award while leading the White Sox to their first post-season appearance since 2008.  He thrived in the Wild Card series against the A’s, going 9-14 in the three-game series.

Anderson continued to prove that he his offensive improvement wasn’t a fluke when baseball returned full time in 2021.  He was named to his first All Star team and, on the game’s biggest stage, he hit a walk-off home run against the Yankees in the inaugural Field of Dreams game in the cornfields of Iowa.  Overall, he hit .309 and posted an .807 OPS while hitting 17 home runs and driving in 61 RBIs.  Continuing where he left off the previous October, Anderson hit .368 in the ALDS against the Astros.

Things started to sour for Anderson in 2022, both on the field and off.  Injuries limited him to just 79 games and left him with his lowest OPS since 2018.  Off the field, an Instagram post by a woman who was not Anderson’s wife insinuated they were in a relationship, and he was the father of her unborn child.  Looking for a fresh start, Anderson played with Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, earning praise from manager Mark DeRose and outfielder Mike Trout.  Unfortunately, those good vibes did not spill over to the 2023 season.  After an early injury, Anderson struggled the entire year, his OPS dropped to a career-low .582 and he managed just a single home run.

Now Anderson will look to rebuild his career outside of the only franchise he has ever known while the White Sox look to find a stopgap shortstop for 2024 until 2021 first round draft pick Colson Montgomery is ready to take the reins.

Anderson’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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Goodbye Jose Ruiz

Just a week into the 2023 season, the White Sox have pulled the plug on the Jose Ruiz experiment, designating the right-hander for assignment prior to today’s game.  Ruiz, who pitched well for Venezuela this spring in the World Baseball Classic, has had a bad start to the year, giving up nine earned runs in less than four innings pitched, leading to an ERA of 22.09.

Ruiz, who will turn 29 in October, was selected by the White Sox off waivers from the Padres in 2017.  He spent parts of the next six seasons on the South Side, never becoming a consistent force out of the bullpen.  After a career-best showing in 2021, he regressed last season and has been awful to start 2023.  Jesse Scholtens, a 29-year old right hander who spent the last seven years in the Padres system, has been called up to replace him on the roster.

Ruiz’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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#43 – Freddy Garcia

Name: Freddy Garcia

Rank: 43

Position: P

Years With White Sox: 2004-2006, 2009-2010

Freddy Garcia was acquired by the White Sox, along with Ben Davis, from the Mariners for Mike Morse, Miguel Olive, and Jeremy Reed on June 27, 2004.  Garcia, a friend of White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, was cautiously optimistic about the move.  “You’ve got to be a professional,” Garcia said.  “Everybody knows he’s my friend, but I want to do business.  I’ll go there and pitch the way I can pitch.”  General Manager Kenny Williams thought the move gave the White Sox the ability to “challenge for the division in a better way.”  Garcia went 9-4 for the White Sox over the second half of the season, with a 4.46 ERA as the team did not exactly challenge for the division title.

Things fell into place for Garcia and the White Sox in 2005.  In 33 starts, Garcia went 14-8 with a 3.87 ERA as the White Sox did indeed earn that division title.  Garcia then added an additional 3 wins in 3 appearances during the post-season, including the clinching game 3 of the ALDS against the Red Sox and game 4 of the World Series against the Astros, where he threw 7 scoreless innings.

The 2006 season started under a bit of a cloud for Garcia, who tested positive for marijuana during the World Baseball Classic.  Once the season started, Garcia set numerous personal milestones, including his 1000th career strikeout and, on April 29, becoming the winningest Venezuelan native in baseball history, surpassing former White Sox hurler Wilson Alvarez.  He finished the year 17-9 with a 4.53 ERA.  On December 6, he was traded to the Phillies for young pitchers Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez.

Garcia rejoined the White Sox organization on June 8, 2009, more than a month after being released by the Mets.  He made his first start in the big leagues on August 18 against the Royals, giving up 5 runs in only 4 1/3 innings.  He made 8 additional starts for the team and finished 3-4 with a 4.34 ERA.

He returned to the starting rotation in 2010, making 28 starts and going 12-6 with a 4.64 ERA.  After the season, he became a free agent.

Garcia’s numbers in a White Sox uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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The Geovany Soto Era

Lost among the hubub of moving Ryan Dempster at last week’s trading deadline was the Cubs cutting of ties with Geovany Soto, the disappointing backstop who had, at one time, held such promise.  After getting brief cups of coffee the previous three seasons, Soto broke through in a big way in 2008, making the All Star team as a rookie and earning the NL Rookie of the Year award while helping the Cubs capture the NL Central title.  Unfortunately, it all went down hill from there, for both the Cubs and Soto.

In 2009, Soto’s numbers dropped across the board, finishing with a .218 batting average and only 11 home runs, as the Cubs dropped 14 games from their win total the year before.  To add insult to injury, it was revealed in July that Soto had tested positive for marijuana during that spring’s World Baseball Classic and had been suspended from international play for 2 years.

The 2010 season was a bounce back year for Soto, but not the team.  Soto improved his average to .280 and managed 17 home runs, but the team fell even further, finishing 12 games under .500.  Last year, Soto fell off again, still hitting 17 home runs but with an average of .228 and he “lead” all NL catchers with 13 errors.  This year, amongst the rebuilding, Soto fell even further, battling injury to hit .199 in 52 games.  His era or the north side officially came to an end last Tuesday when he was traded to the Rangers for a 24 year old minor league pitcher who has a career mark of 27-43 in 6 seasons at Double A or lower.  Oh, and either a player to be named later or cash.

Soto’s numbers in a Cubs uniform, both for games I attended and overall, were:

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