Tim Anderson isn't done yet.
That wasn't a given, because Anderson's last two years would be what "done" looks like. He's been one of the league's least productive players in each of the last two seasons, hitting .235/.271/.274 with just one homer over 765 plate appearances between the White Sox and Marlins. Baseball-Reference.com has him as the least-productive position player in baseball over that stretch at -3.5 WAR. FanGraphs is slightly kinder because Fielding Run Value was more ambivalent about his defense, putting him seventh at -1.9 WAR.
Nevertheless, he'll give it at least one more go, as he signed a minor league contract with the Angels per Bob Nightengale. Anaheim is probably one of the best landing places left for him. For one, Zach Neto added injury to insult during the White Sox's sweep of the Angels in the final week of the 2024 season by hurting his shoulder on a stolen-base attempt. He underwent surgery and isn't a lock for Opening Day. There's also the idea that Ron Washington knows a thing or two about improving infield defense and putting a derailed career back on a track. Anderson just has to prove he has the physical abilities to be worth devoting such time to a non-roster invitee.
Connor McKnight is joining CHSN
Connor McKnight is going from "White Sox Weekly" to "White Sox employee," as Jeff Agrest reported that he's leaving his role at ESPN 1000 as the pregame/postgame host and occasional fill-in broadcaster to join the Chicago Sports Network in a pretty intriguing role:
McKnight, who becomes a Sox employee, will serve as the team insider, reporting from the field and appearing on CHSN shows. He also will fill in on play-by-play for TV and radio broadcasts. [...]
“Play-by-play is a bug, and I’ve got it bad. I’ll be filling in for [Len Kasper and Darrin Jackson] whenever they miss some time on the radio side and filling [for John Schriffen and Steve Stone] on the TV broadcast whenever that’s needed, as well," [McKnight said].
McKnight joins Chuck Garfien and Ozzie Guillen as known personalities who will play a part in CHSN's broadcasts around John Schriffen and Steve Stone. Whether most of Chicagoland will be able to view them in a convenient fashion remains to be seen, because the White Sox, Blackhawks and Bulls still haven't been able to strike a deal with Xfinity.
Dave Stewart is doing something else
At one point, a Dave Stewart-led investor group was reportedly "in active discussions" to buy the White Sox from Jerry Reinsdorf.
Whether it was bad information from Stewart's side or a telegraphed attempt at stoking Nashville-adjacent leverage by Reinsdorf in his quest for a new publicly financed ballpark, it's safe to say that, at the very least, owning the White Sox is no longer a priority for Stewart. There hasn't been a whisper of an update after The Athletic's original report in mid-October, and now Stewart is taking on a role in the front office of the formerly Oakland-based Athletics.
The Athletics have hired former World Series MVP and Athletics Hall of Famer Dave Stewart as a Special Assistant to Player Development for the 2025 season, the club announced Wednesday. In this role, Stewart will assist Director of Player Development Ed Sprague in addition to other members of the baseball operations department.
Speaking of Nashville fearmongering, I realized that the White Sox missed an opportunity when the Cubs unveiled their new alternate uniform.
The Cubs aren't calling it a City Connect jersey, but it's replacing the Wrigleyville uniforms and is inspired by Chicago culture with the homage to the electrified blues, so it's effectively a rose by another name. I just didn't immediately draw the city connection because I was too distracted by the guitar pick, which is a shape you see damn near everywhere in Nashville, including games. The Nashville Sounds used it as their primary logo for years, and the Nashville Predators use it as their alternate logo.
If the White Sox dropped this on one of their jerseys or caps, I'd immediately rush to the archives to rehash my talking points about Nashville not being anywhere close to MLB-ready. Good thing Kingston Mines is in Lincoln Park instead of Gage Park.
