Rozner: White Sox roll dice with Anderson deal

Abrupt? Absolutely.

A gamble? Certainly.

Logical? Based on their history, it would seem to be for the White Sox.

The rush to ink 23-year-old shortstop Tim Anderson after 115 days in the big leagues took the baseball world by surprise a few days ago, given that it's the most ever paid to a player with less than a year of service time - excluding, obviously, international signings and draft bonuses.

The six-year deal is worth a minimum of $24 million, as the Sox purchased three years of arbitration, and could be valued at $50 million. The Sox possess two club option years that would eat the first two years of Anderson's free agency.

If Anderson becomes a star, he will undoubtedly be giving away big dollars, but at worst he's got enough money to live the rest of his life even if he never gets another hit, never fields another groundball.

Married last year and with a 1-year-old daughter, Anderson can concentrate now on improving after a solid first few months in the big leagues, focusing on baseball and family with no worries about money.

It worked quite nicely for another shy, young Chicago infielder in the '80s, when Ryne Sandberg signed a six-year contract after two big-league seasons and just before his MVP season of 1984. It wasn't the only time Sandberg gave up dollars for long-term security, and he was never sorry.

He chose peace of mind and financial security, and it allowed him to think only about baseball and not future negotiations.

Now Anderson has done the same.

"It's life-changing," Anderson told reporters in Arizona. "For me to perform the way I did, and for them to reward me the way they did, it's such a blessing - especially for someone like me, from where I come from."

As for the White Sox, they have a strong history of making sound decisions, locking up young players before they become stars and saving a ridiculous amount of money in the process.

The first of a series of such extensions was for John Danks in late 2011, when the lefty was 26 and entering his final year of arbitration. The five-year deal worth $65 million did not work out well for the Sox because of injuries, but then they caught fire.

After one year as a starter and with a season left before arbitration, the Sox extended 23-year-old Chris Sale in March 2013, giving the left-hander a five-year deal worth $32 million, with two club options that will make the deal worth $58 million over seven years.

Sounds like a joke now, given Sale's value.

The next March brought another extension, this time for Jose Quintana, one of the most underrated players in baseball.

After two solid years as a starter and a season away from arbitration, the Sox handed the 25-year-old Quintana a five-year extension valued at only $20 million, another absurd contract that favors the club.

There are again two club options worth another $21 million to Quintana.

And in March 2015 came yet another extension, this time for 25-year-old Adam Eaton after just 123 games in Chicago.

Once again a year from arbitration, it was a five-year extension worth $22 million and club options that will extend it to seven years for another $20 million over the final two years.

Each time, a season before arbitration, five years and two club options.

Two have been traded, the third will soon go, and in all cases the team-friendly contracts have helped the Sox cash in with an enormous return of young players.

The Sox didn't sign those players - nor did they sign Anderson - with the intention of trading them, but they looked ahead, self-scouted and have done well because of their forward thinking.

If you're bad at scouting your own players, you waste money. If you're good at it, you save scores of millions.

"There's risk on both sides, but for the most part it's worked out well in the past," said White Sox GM Rick Hahn. "The benefit to the club is cost certainty and club control, and hopefully our starting shortstop is now under contract into his 30s."

Of all their extensions, this one feels like the biggest gamble and maybe least necessary so very early in Anderson's career.

Of course, much the same was said about previous extensions and - with the exception of Danks - those have worked out nicely for the White Sox.

Perhaps they have struck gold again.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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