The Rockies have declined their option on lefty starter Brett Anderson, Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports tweets. Colorado will pay a $1.5MM buyout rather than exercising its $12MM option.
Anderson will be 27 in February and pitched very well in 43 1/3 innings in 2014, but the Rockies’ decision is understandable given his struggles to stay healthy. Anderson has not pitched more than 113 innings in a season since 2009, and he missed most of 2014 with finger and back injuries, having back surgery in August. Still, he might be an interesting buy-low free agent target for a team seeking a ground-ball pitcher — he has an excellent 55.4% career ground ball rate. Anderson is expected to be ready for spring training.
Seems to fit as a reclamation project for Bosio.
He may very well stay in CO if they offer him a multi-year deal. Likes it there and his groundball stuff plays very well.
Who in the world would give this guy a multi year deal? Hasn’t made more then 10 starts since 2011, has 1 full season in a 6 year career only topped 100 innings twice, hasn’t done it since 2010 all as a starting pitcher. Hes a Roberto Hernadez/Jason Hammel sign-and-flip guy if he succeeds.
I agree with your first sentence/question. Nobody should be offering this guy more than one guaranteed year, but the last sentence is way off base. He’s actually got far more ability than Hammel and Hernandez, and he can be a legit 1/2 pitcher at his very best. If the team that signs him gets his very best, even in a season in which he’ll see an innings cap, they should be looking to extend him, not flip him, especially if the team that signs him makes a playoff run.
This. Anderson is in another league from those mid-to-bottom rotation guys. And he’s only 27. I think someone will absolutely offer him a 2 or 3 year deal, but he may prefer a one year to rebuild value. When healthy, he’s a solid #2 and on some teams a clear #1.
Brian Cashman will soon come a’calling
Pirates should be all over this.