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| Elvis Andrus |
The Sox are in trouble at that position. Tim Anderson is out for at least another month after having surgery on his left hand. Danny Mendick, who filled in capably in late May and early June when Anderson was out with a groin strain, is done for the season with a torn ACL. And Leury Garcia is also on the injured list with a back strain.
That leaves Romy Gonzalez and Lenyn Sosa to play shortstop. Gonzalez is a Quad-A player. Sosa is a 22-year-old prospect who needs more reps at Triple-A. He's talented, but not ready for the majors.
Enter Andrus, who will turn 34 next Friday. The Oakland Athletics just released him because he was approaching the amount of plate appearances that would automatically cause his $15 million option for 2023 to vest. Oakland is rebuilding, and would rather play younger players, so it's in the interest of the both the A's and Andrus to part ways.
By no means is Andrus the cure for what ails the Sox, but he'll provide league-average play at shortstop -- an upgrade over both Gonzalez and Sosa -- and an upgrade over Garcia if and when he returns.
Andrus is batting .237/.301/.373 with eight home runs and 24 doubles this season. No, that .674 OPS doesn't thrill anyone, but again, it's about competence. And at the very least, Andrus is a good defender who will solidify the left side of the infield in the short run.
According to Passan's report, Andrus will join the Sox in time for an important three-game series with the Cleveland Guardians that starts Friday.
The Sox are limping into Cleveland, having been destroyed 21-5 by the Houston Astros on Thursday. After taking the first two games of the four-game set against the league-best Astros, the Sox lost the final two games of that series to fall to 61-58.
They are 2.5 games out of first heading into the weekend.
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