Miami Marlins seriously pursuing the top remaining SS

The Fish are pursuing a formerly elite SS for the job

Neil Raymond

Tim Anderson / Quinn Harris/GettyImages

It's not a secret that the Miami Marlins need help at SS. The Fish could technically also use help at both the catcher and DH spots, but SS may arguably be the most important area of the roster that needs to be attended to. The Fish have finally taken a major action to improve there. Peter Bendix is after long time Chicago White Sox SS Tim Anderson.

The Miami Marlins have made an offer to former Chicago White Sox SS Tim Anderson.

A year ago the Miami Marlins being after Tim Anderson would've been a much much bigger deal. Anderson batted .297/.329/.455 from 2018-2022 with the Chicago White Sox. Whenever he received more than 500 AB in a season, he hit 17-20 home runs a season. That was elite production and he was worth 16.2 WAR for that time period. Taking out the shortened 2020 season, he was worth 3.5 WAR a season.

Tim Anderson was also a pretty good defender during that time. He was worth a very impressive 2.3 dWAR in 2018 and 1.0 dWAR in 2021. Things have however fallen off a cliff for him last season. H already had a -0.3 dWAR in 2022, but that declined to a -0.9 dWAR in 2023. He batted .245/.286/.296 in 123 games and 493 AB, with a home run and 25 RBI.

One of the biggest issues with Anderson was his 61.4% ground ball rate last season. He just kept hitting the ball into the ground. He has a career 53.2% rate, so perhaps he can get back to something more resembling that production this upcoming season. He's not much of a power hitter, having a career 87.6 mark and actually had an 87.8 in 2023.

The hope with Tim Anderson is that he can bounce back to his 2018-2022 numbers. Can it be possible? That remains to be seen as he's only 30 years old and dealt with a left knee strain last season. Will a healthier version of Anderson put up better numbers? We don't know what Peter Bendix offered Tim, but we can assume it was a one year deal at a salary lower than $10 million. Hopefully he will end up signing, unless a better option is acquired instead.

Neil Raymond

Neil Raymond has been a lifelong Miami Marlins fan, with the 2003 playoff run being one of his favorite childhood memories. Neil has been called a "walking encyclopedia" for his knowledge of MLB statistics and the sport's history. He follows every game and actually invented his own statistic for player value on his side project BaseballAnalyzed.com. Writing for Fansided's Marlin Maniac since 2022, he also loves Fantasy Baseball and as such is an FSWA member. Neil also loves to travel, read and follow "Futbol" teams: Germany, Argentina, Greece, Inter Miami, Bayern Munich and NYC FC.