Tim Anderson is the face of the Chicago White Sox who are about to be very good.
The Chicago White Sox have had a lot of different “face of the franchise” players in their history. From Minnie Minoso to Frank Thomas, to Paul Konerko, to even Jose Abreu, the White Sox have some legendary players to look back on fondly. When people think of any team in any sport, there is always that one player that pops in your head first. They are that player that is on the billboards, in the commercials, or on the game ticket.
When you think of the Los Angeles Lakers you think of LeBron James, when you think of the Edmonton Oilers you think of Connor McDavid, or when you think of the Kansas City Chiefs it is Patrick Mahomes. Every team has that guy that they think of and for the Chicago White Sox right now it is Tim Anderson.
Anderson came up and had an up and down start to his career but has bloomed into a superstar in recent years. He became an elite baseball player in 2019 and has carried it all the way through 2020. At 27 years old, he sure has a lot of amazing play left in him for the White Sox. This is one of the players that the team has built around on the field so that should tell you how good they think he is.
He was even in the American League MVP conversation for most of the season. He ended up coming in seventh which is very good for a player like him. He was an amazing hitter in 2019 but his defense was pretty poor. Since then, he has started to become a very good defender which is why he became an MVP candidate in 2020.
All of these skills are proof that he can be a big part of a World Series-winning team. They do not, however, prove that he is the face of the franchise. As good as he is, he isn’t even the best player on the team (which is scary for the rest of the league). Jose Abreu did win the MVP and you can argue that guys like Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert, and Eloy Jimenez have a higher ceiling. With that said, none of those guys can be the face of the team like Anderson can.
In 2019, he started a movement when he flipped his bat after hitting a home run against the Kansas City Royals. That moment led to the baseball world talking about him and the rest of his Chicago White Sox teammates. Players who do that for a franchise are the real leaders and ones who represent the group as a whole. Tim Anderson is that player for them right now and is going to be for a long time.