And just like that, the rumblings that the White Sox and Tim Anderson were working out a long-term contract have been proven true. According to Colleen Kane the sides have agreed to a six year deal worth $25 million with two additional club option years believed to be worth and additional $26.5 million. In other words, the White Sox bought out the years they would already have him under control, but now for a fixed cost rather than varying around arbitration, and now have potentially below market options for his first two years of free agency.
It may seem a bit early to buy out the pre-arb years of someone who hasn’t yet reached the century mark in games played, but at the incredibly low average cost of $4.16MM per year it’s pretty hard to imagine this deal coming back to bite the Sox in any way, shape, or form. At that price, Anderson will basically just have to exist to be worth his contract, with an impressive amount of surplus value coming the team’s way. It also may be a sign that the Sox are expecting Anderson to be the new face of the team in what will hopefully not be a completely bleak and painful rebuild.
And, although this isn’t the only way to avoid arbitration, the Yankees recently demonstrated that not going through the procedure can be a victory in and of itself, regardless of the dollars and cents.