Shortstop Tim Anderson is joining the Miami Marlins for the 2024 Major League season.

The former Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa baseball and basketball standout and the National League team have agreed on a $5 million contract for the 2024 campaign, with USA Today and ESPN among the media outlets reporting the deal on Thursday.

Anderson started at shortstop for the American League in the 2022 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. But on Nov. 4, the Chicago White Sox announced they had declined their option on Anderson’s contract. Rather than pay Anderson $14 million for the 2024 season, the White Sox chose to pay him a $1 million buyout to become a free agent.

Anderson’s .318 batting average from 2019 through 2022 was the highest in the Major Leagues for any player with at least 1,000 at-bats across those four seasons. Anderson was an American League all-star in 2021 and 2022 and won the American League batting championship in 2019 and a Silver Slugger Award in 2020.

But in 2023, Anderson hit .245 with a .286 on-base average and .296 slugging percentage. Anderson missed about three weeks with a knee sprain and dealt with shoulder soreness during the season.

In 2023, Joey Wendle started 81 games at shortstop and Jon Berti started 52 games at shortstop for the Marlins. Wendle batted .212 and left in free agency for the New York Mets. Berti played in 133 games in a utility role last season, when he hit .294 after leading the National League with 41 stolen bases in 2022.

Miami starts its Grapefruit League schedule on Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals, who share Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Jupiter, Florida, with the Marlins during spring training.

Anderson earned All-State honors at Hillcrest High School in 2011. He also helped the Patriots win the AHSAA Class 6A boys’ basketball championship that year.

The White Sox chose Anderson from East Central Community College at No. 17 in the 2013 draft, and he became Chicago’s regular shortstop during the 2016 season, a position he held for the next eight seasons.

The White Sox signed Anderson to a six-year, $25 million contract before the 2017 season. He had played 99 games in the 2016 season, and at that time, his deal was the most lucrative signed by a player with less than one full season of experience.

The contract included team options for the 2023 and 2024 seasons, and White Sox declined the 2023 option.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.