White Sox Bring Back Elvis Andrus To Fill Void At Second Base

According to Jeff Passan, the Chicago White Sox are in agreement on a one-year deal with Elvis Andrus. Andrus, a Scott Boras client, will earn $3 million. He is expected to be the starting second baseman. The move will bump Romy Gonzalez down the depth chart into a utility infielder role, should he make the team.

During the first press conference of Spring Training, White Sox general manager Rick Hahn took the time to boast about the rave reviews that Gonzalez had been receiving over the offseason. Apparently, Hahn knew what most fans knew all along. Gonzalez is not a starting-caliber second baseman. Hahn decided to bring a familiar face back into the mix to remedy the situation.

Elvis Andrus is a clear upgrade from what the White Sox had in-house, which isn't saying much. Second base was a lingering problem all offseason. The front office signed Hanser Alberto, Erik Gonzalez, and Nate Mondou to minor-league contracts, which inspired little confidence. They also had Lenyn Sosa in the minor leagues, who was expected to compete for the starting job with Romy Gonzalez.

Andrus is a 14-year veteran and two-time All-Star. He is a career .270 hitter who plays slick defense. The White Sox picked him up off the scrap heap to replace the injured Tim Anderson, and he revitalized the lineup. Andrus slashed .271/.309/.464 over 191 plate appearances with the White Sox last season and nearly pushed them into the playoffs.

On top of his productive at-bats, he brought two invaluable things to the White Sox: sure-handed defense and a high baseball IQ. Those were two things the White Sox lacked all season. Along with the production on the field, Andrus has also provided value off of it. He went out nearly every day to work on double plays with Romy Gonzalez and established himself as a voice in the clubhouse.

However, Andrus' brief tenure with White Sox seemed to be a bit of an outlier. The 34-year-old's offensive output has slowly deteriorated with age. Last season his offseason numbers took a nosedive before coming to the South Side. He was hitting .237 with just eight home runs, the most he has hit since 2019. He hasn't hit above .250 since 2019. That being said, he did finish the year with 17 home runs which would have tied for the White Sox team lead had he played an entire season with the White Sox. Andrus also believes that he found an adjustment in his swing last season that helped his second-half surge.

Defense is something he has excelled at since entering the league. In 2009 he ranked fifth in the American League in defensive WAR with a 2.3 mark. He cracked the top five again in 2017 with a 2.1 defensive WAR. While Andrus isn't the defender he once was, he still had an Ultimate Zone Rating of (2.6) and Outs Above Average of zero as a shortstop in Oakland last season. That being said, he has yet to play a game at second base in his career. However, he seems confident he can make the transition.

"I play a lot with all the shifting," Andrus told reporters last season. "I've been playing a lot of second. I've made like five double plays from second base. So yeah, I'll be down for whatever he thinks I can do to help the team to win. I'm down to go out there and do my job."

With the shift gone, having middle infielders with range is more important than ever. He ranked in the 84th percentile in Outs Above Average last season, but his arm strength was considered below average for a shortstop, so the move to second may be beneficial for him.

Andrus may also have sneaky potential as a base stealer. He swiped 13 bags last season and ranks second amongst all active players with 330 total steals. With the widened bases and new pickoff rules, his speed could be an asset on the basepaths.

His best season came in 2017 when he slashed .297/.337/.471 with 20 homers and 25 steals. That season he also ranked third in AL with 191 hits. The White Sox are hoping to capture lighting in a bottle once again.