White Sox leaning on Andrus' leadership skills as they try to stay afloat

Fortunately for the White Sox, Elvis Andrus has not left the building.

He still works at Guaranteed Rate Field but Andrus didn't return to the Sox until early in spring training, when he agreed to a one-year, $3 million contract after lingering on the free-agent market for almost four months.

He's moved from shortstop, his position for 14 seasons, to second base and is having a down year with the bat, but Andrus is giving the White Sox something that is in very short supply - leadership.

"He's critical," manager Pedro Grifol said. "He's the one voice you hear all the time. He's the guy you hear in the dugout. When we get behind, he's saying we can get this done. When we lose 2 or 3 games and we are still 5½ games out, he's the one telling everyone we can do something magical.

"He's been around. He's seen a lot."

In 2015, Andrus was playing for the Rangers and they were 47-52 and 8 games out of first place in the AL West in late July.

Texas went 41-22 the rest of the way and advanced to the playoffs after winning the division.

Anything is possible, especially in baseball.

As bad as the Sox have been over the opening three months of the season, they are well within striking distance in the woeful AL Central.

"Not really," Andrus said when asked if he's ever played in such a weak division. "That's the first time. Very happy that it's that way."

After a 7-21 April, the White Sox have shown some flashes of being the team expected to contend for a postseason berth. They've been brief, but Andrus is convinced the best is yet to come.

"That's something we talk and try to transmit to the guys, in baseball you have to be able to have a short memory," the 34-year-old infielder said. "You cannot stick to the past, stick to the last week, the last day. For us, it's looking ahead.

"As long as we believe, we know we have the talent to do it. It's about sticking as a team and pulling the right way. We haven't played to our maximum potential but we're still competing and that's what it's all about. Something we talk about every single day, there's a lot of season left, a lot of games ahead of us."

Speaking of games, Andrus played in his 2,000th Wednesday night. Miguel Cabrera and Nelson Cruz are the only active players to reach the milestone.

"That's a big deal," Grifol said. "How many players do you see running around major league stadiums with 15 years and 2,000 games? There's not many. The life span of a major league player is what, three years? What he's done is difficult because you have to stay healthy and you have to perform.

"There's always someone trying to take your job, trying to push you out and for the last 15 years, nobody has done that. That's a credit to his work ethic, his talent, his makeup, his drive, his will just to be a major leaguer. And not only that I'm extremely proud of what he's doing and the way he's leading us and keeps things in perspective.

"He knows where we're at. He understands what this is about. He knows the work we have to do. I'm happy he's here with us sharing those experiences."