White Sox eyeing short-term veterans at shortstop

For the first time in seven years, the White Sox appear likely to head into a season with someone other than Tim Anderson penciled in as their primary shortstop. The Sox bought out Anderson’s $14M club option, and while a potential reunion isn’t entirely off the table, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that new GM Chris Getz is looking for a veteran option with good defensive skills who can be signed on a short-term deal. The idea would be for that veteran pickup to serve as a bridge to top prospect Colson Montgomery, who’s on track to make his MLB debut at some point in 2024.

Anderson turned in some strong defensive seasons early in his career, but metrics like Outs Above Average and Defensive Runs Saved have soured on his glovework in recent years. He’s seemingly acknowledged as much, expressing a willingness to move to second base if need be. In all likelihood, Anderson no longer fits the description of what Getz is targeting for this role.

It’s a bleak crop of free-agent shortstops, though there are certainly a fair number of glove-first options who’d fit this billing. Longtime D-backs shortstop Nick Ahmed has been one of the sport’s premier defenders at the position since making his big league debut a decade ago. He’s never been a big threat at the plate — although he hits lefties fairly well — and shoulder injuries have tanked his past couple of seasons. He missed almost the entire 2022 season due to surgery and hit just .212/.257/.303 in 210 plate appearances before being released by Arizona.

That said, Ahmed did manage a .257/.319/.428 batting line from 2019-20. He’s a career .257/.309/.430 hitter against southpaws. He also ranks eighth among all big leaguers, regardless of position, with 79 Defensive Runs Saved since 2015. Statcast is even more bullish, crediting him with a sensational 111 Outs Above Average in that time — second among all Major Leaguers, trailing only Francisco Lindor.

Elsewhere on the market, Paul DeJong has a long track record of quality glovework at shortstop, though his bat has wilted after a strong three-year run to begin his career in 2017-19. Since 2020, he’s turned in a grisly .200/.273/.352 batting line in 1213 trips to the plate. He was traded from the Cardinals to the Blue Jays at this year’s deadline but cut loose both in Toronto and later by San Francisco. DeJong was hitting .233/.297/.412 at the time of the trade but posted a disastrous .129/.128/.183 output between the Jays and Giants.

Speaking of the Giants, longtime shortstop Brandon Crawford’s contract expired at season’s end. He’s a free agent for the first time in his career and would certainly provide the Sox with a plus glove on a short-term deal, though he hasn’t yet made up his mind on whether he’ll continue his career into the 2024 season, tweets Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. Even if Crawford doesn’t retire, the soon-to-be 37-year-old might prefer to join a team with a clearer path to the postseason, if such an opportunity presents itself.

There are other options to consider. A reunion with Elvis Andrus could make some sense, and there are buy-low options like Amed Rosario to consider. Perhaps the Sox could pursue a multi-position option with some shortstop experience; Gio Urshela, Joey Wendle and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are all available. Urshela and Wendle have played more third base than shortstop, however, while Kiner-Falefa logged just eight innings there in ’23 and Rosario hasn’t turned in particularly strong defensive grades overall.

Whoever takes the reins, he’ll do so knowing that one of the sport’s top prospects is breathing down his neck. Montgomery, 21, posted a .287/.456/.484 batting line across three minor league levels in 2023 and ranks among the game’s top 20 prospects at FanGrahps (No. 12), Baseball America (No. 14) and MLB.com (No. 17). He climbed as high as the Double-A level in 2023 and will open the 2024 season either back at that level (presumably for a brief stint) or in Triple-A. Montgomery was the No. 22 overall pick in the 2021 draft, and he’ll get the opportunity to prove he can be the South Siders’ shortstop of the future before long.