Tiny Elvis

 

Elvis Andrus has played in 15 seasons, has a career 34.1 WAR, broke 2000 hits earlier this year and, with 347, is the active leader in stolen bases. It is unlikely that Andrus will even be considered for the Hall of Fame, seeing as he only hit .300 once despite being used primarily as a contact bat. But for someone to play for 15 years, including 10+ for one team, and still be at it at 35 is...rare in this current era of players being promoted at 27. 

It's somewhat amusing how much of an upgrade Andrus' White Sox tenure has been compared to his A's years. As a replacement for an ailing Tim Anderson last year, Andrus provided the kind of spark that hadn't been seen from him since Arlington. Now, there's not a ton of that left; he's hitting .254, he only has 41 RBIs and 85 hits, and his steadiness has been one of his chief accomplishments in Chicago this year. The White Sox haven't been steady this year. Infuriating, tumultuous, leaving itself in tatters, but not quite steady. And so having Andrus at least provide a backbone of veteran consistency as Yasmani Grandal, Yoan Moncada and Aaron Bummer give you practically none of that is preferred. 

As this is the end of Andrus' contract coming up, I'm not sure if there's anything left for him to do in the MLB. He could sign somewhere on a cheap contract and maybe make something of an impact, but it's looking like his years of playing 150 games of successful infield might be over, and I think everybody's wise to that. It's really just a matter of whether or not Andrus believes he's truly done, and that's something many MLB guys have trouble with [just look at Nelson Cruz]. 

Speaking of 'truly done', it's somehow gotten even worse for the White Sox, and with the way they're losing games they might lose 100 this year. They're in full 'just get us out of here' mode, and are relying on Jose Urena and Trayce Thompson for major roles. Only Luis Robert is gonna get out of this season with anything resembling a peak season, and it's easier if the Sox just dump everybody, let Clevinger, Anderson and Hendriks leave and rebuild as much as possible. Yoelqui Cespedes might be ready next year, some other prospects might be chomping at the bit, best make room for them and take out as many defunct pieces as possible.

I'm fine with the Sox looking different starting next year, even if it means putting a lot of these great veteran stories, Andrus included, to bed.

Coming Tomorrow- A reliever with a very fitting name.