Some bad news for a big name: the White Sox have designated shortstop Jimmy Rollins for assignment.
Chicago did so to call up top shortstop prospect Tim Anderson today. They did that because Rollins was hitting a mere .221/.295/.329 with two homers and eight RBI over 149 at-bats. That’s in keeping with his 2015 performance, so it’s less likely a slow start than simply where Rollins is as a player right now.
Anderson, meanwhile, was hitting .304/.325/.409 at Triple-A this year. He had a similar yet slightly better line at Double-A last season. He hit a tad better than that across three levels in 2014. Just as Rollins is who he is now, Anderson seems to be a guy who can get on base at a decent clip for a middle infielder and supply some gap power on occasion. It’s time to see what the 23-year-old can do in the bigs.
This may not be the end of the line for Rollins. Rollins’ defense has noticeably deteriorated, but perception tends to lag the numbers with some front offices and so someone might still think he’s a plausible stopgap at shortstop based on reputation alone. Hard to say. As of now, he’s 37 with a career line of .264/.324/.418 and has 2,455 hits, 231 homers, 470 stolen bases, four Gold Gloves, an MVP Award and a World Series on his resume.
