Less than 24 hours after the rumors started swirling, the White Sox made the move.
Per multiple reports, the team has signed veteran shortstop Elvis Andrus to an unspecified deal. Andrus has cleared waivers and is expected to join the White Sox in Cleveland on Thursday.
Andrus, 33, was acquired by the A’s from the Texas Rangers on Feb. 6, 2021, with Aramis Garcia for Khris Davis, Jonah Heim, and Dane Acker. In his debut season with the A’s, he hit .243 with three home runs and 37 RBI in 146 games. This year, Andrus is batting .237/.301/.373 with eight home runs and 30 RBI. Throughout his career, he has best been known for his defense, posting +6 Outs Above Average (OAA) as recently as 2021. This season, he is at an even +/- 0 OAA on the year.
The shortstop is a two-time All-Star (2010, 2012) and left as the Rangers’ all-time leader in stolen bases (305). He also ranked second in games (1652), at-bats (6366) and triples (48), third in runs (893) and hits (1743), fifth in doubles (303) and walks (519), seventh in RBI (636) and eighth in extra-base hits (427). Andrus has logged 1,872 career games in the field, all at shortstop, while owning a cumulative .270 average with 87 home runs and 703 RBI in 1,904 games across 14 major league seasons in the majors.
Many fans have been asking, “If he isn’t good enough for Oakland, why would the White Sox want him?” The reason has to do with his previous contract structure with the Athletics. Had he stayed with the Athletics, Andrus had a player option for next year for $15M if he hit 550 PA this season. The Athletics simply did not want to take the financial risk that he would hit that mark, and instead released him. The White Sox are only responsible for the pro-rated salary of whatever the terms of the deal are – which have yet to be announced.
With Tim Anderson out for likely the rest of the regular season and Leury Garcia landing on the IL yesterday, the White Sox are in a position where they are relying on Lenyn Sosa and Romy Gonzalez up the middle. The team will now add a veteran presence to that mix to help that plug the hole.
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