There wasn't a good scenario in which Matt Thaiss remained with the White Sox, at least beyond July. His presence on the South Side past the trade deadline would have required at least one suboptimal outcome, if not multiple:
- Thaiss playing so poorly that nobody else wants him
- Edgar Quero hurt or otherwise creating red-flag concerns
- Kyle Teel hurt or otherwise creating red-flag concerns
- Korey Lee being intolerable as a second catcher
Instead, the White Sox are batting 1.000 at the moment. Thaiss was an above-average contributor, Quero is holding his own in Chicago, Teel is thriving in Charlotte, and the White Sox actually cared about burning Lee's last option, which wouldn't be a driving factor if they were over him. Add it all up, and that's how Thaiss ended up heading to Tampa Bay for Dru Baker before the end of May.
Despite Thaiss' departure being a foregone conclusion, I'll miss watching the strange nature of his plate appearances, specifically how they culminated in a line you seldom see: .212/.382/.294 over 110 plate appearances. It seems like this is likely to change as the league truly comes to grips with this new version of Thaiss -- one who chases less than ever, makes more contact than ever, but has conceded power in doing so.
But should Thaiss be a victim of an updated book, White Sox fans won't be around to see it. As far as his former franchise is concerned, his numbers are locked in, which puts him in some rare territory. He's one of 11 players to post a 20 percent walk rate over 100 plate appearances in the season, and one was Clark Griffith, a pitcher and manager for the White Sox in their very first year of major league existence.
When you reduce the list to 10, the variety is impressive:
| Player | Year | BB% | PA | Line |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yasmani Grandal | 2023 | 23.2 | 375 | .240/.420/.520 |
| Babe Borton | 1913 | 21.7 | 106 | .275/.442/.338 |
| Gus Niarhos | 1951 | 21.7 | 217 | .256/.419/.310 |
| Warren Newson | 1992 | 21.4 | 173 | .221/.387/.265 |
| Warren Newson | 1995 | 21.1 | 109 | .235/.404/.388 |
| Frank Thomas | 1994 | 21.1 | 517 | .353/.487/.729 |
| Frank Thomas | 1995 | 21.0 | 647 | .308/.454/.606 |
| Matt Thaiss | 2025 | 20.9 | 110 | .212/.382/.294 |
| Frank Thomas | 2004 | 20.6 | 311 | .271/.434/.563 |
| Earl Torgeson | 1958 | 20.3 | 236 | .266/.415/.468 |
It's no surprise to see Grandal and Thomas up there given the threat they represented, and while Torgeson isn't front of mind, this chart catches him thriving in strict platoon duty at the end of a long, successful career. The others are more difficult to account for -- particularly Niarhos, who must've terrified American League pitchers by hitting the only homer of his 858-game major league career that year.
But I was delighted to see Newson included, because as I wrote about 14 years ago at South Side Sox, it confounded to look back at his career from a post-Moneyball perspective and see how little press he generated for his ability to reach base. Between Thaiss and Chase Meidroth, it turns out that similar profiles can occasionally pop up unannounced.
Tim Anderson DFA'd by Angels
When word of the Angels reaching a deal with Oscar Colás broke on Tuesday, perhaps they realized their fascination with former White Sox had reached a tipping point. A day after that signing came to light, the Angels shuffled out three former Sox acquired over the winter, optioning Jake Eder to Triple-A while designating for assignment Chuckie Robinson and, more notably, Tim Anderson.
(Yoán Moncada is still standing, holding down third base while hitting .228/.333/.478 over 28 games.)
Anderson signed a minor-league deal with the Angels in January, and it looked like the best possible landing spot, both due to Ron Washington's reputation for coaching up infielders and Zach Neto opening the season on the injured list. While Anderson experienced a little bit of a rebound, it's only because he fell off so hard the previous season with the Marlins:
- 2024: .214/.237/.226, 3 2B over 241 PA, 27 wRC+
- 2025: .205/.258/.241, 3 2B over 90 PA, 42 wRC+
What's surprising is that Anderson is regarded as replacement-level (0.0 bWAR) or better (0.2 bWAR), solely on the strength of his defense, as both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast love what they've seen from him at shortstop thus far. Perhaps Washington's magic still works to a limited degree. If so, Anderson might be able to continue playing baseball as a glove-first depth option at Triple-A, a la Jacob Amaya, if that's what he wants to do. The bat looks like it's gone.
Rate Field Mass details
About 10 days ago, the White Sox announced that Rate Field would host a Catholic Mass in honor of Pope Leo XIV on June 14 while the Sox are in Texas playing the Rangers.
The key details have arrived over the last couple of days. The Archdiocese of Chicago said the Sox Fan Pope will record a video message for the event, and tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. CT Friday. I can't say I ever thought about what a Mass seating chart would look like at 35th and Shields ...
... and now I'm thinking about how a bullpen phone could be repurposed into a perfect tabernacle, and how there isn't a Miller Lite Landing at Notre-Dame. As long as la Sagrada Familia is under construction, there will always be time to work one into those plans.
