The Miami Marlins are in second place in the NL East. The Atlanta Braves are of course running away with the division, but I predicted this. What could The Fish do to secure a playoff spot this season? As my colleague wrote, the offense is the big issue. We also know that Kim Ng prioritizes contact hitting. What if there's a contact hitter potentially available that could improve the team's chances?
The Miami Marlins should target Chicago White Sox SS Tim Anderson
The Chicago White Sox are a terrible team this season. They're currently at 13-24 and 6.5 games back from the AL Central leading Minnesota Twins. To be fair, the 6.5 games back isn't that big of a hole, but the record is absolutely dreadful. It's hard to believe that just two years ago they looked like a division dynasty. Could the Pale Hose be ready to rebuild or at least to sell some pieces at the trade deadline?
SS Tim Anderson is a free agent after the season, unless the White Sox pick up his $14 million team option for next season. It seems like a no-brainer for them to do it. Anderson has a career .287/.316/.440 batting line in 790 games and 3205 AB. He's currently batting an unimpressive .263/.309/.329 in 18 games and 76 AB, but it's likely temporary. There's no reason to believe that he suddenly declined, and that he can't match his .301/.339/.395 batting line from last season.
Would the Chicago White Sox be willing to trade Tim Anderson to the Miami Marlins? If the White Sox are ready to give up on this season, and ready to rebuild then yes. They don't even have to want to rebuild. If they don't plan on extending the 29 year old Tim Anderson long-term, or can't agree on an extension with him.... they have to trade him.
The Miami Marlins currently have Joey Wendle at SS. Wendle is hitting .063/.118/.188 in a small sample size this season. He's a career .269/.321/.397 hitter, who never came close to hitting 20 home runs in a season, unlike Anderson. So should the Miami Marlins target Tim Anderson? Definitely if the price is right.