October 2: The Brewers released Anderson today, per MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. The move officially rules out Anderson for the club’s postseason roster, though it was already unlikely the club would have added him back to the 40-man roster to make him eligible for the postseason. Anderson heads into the offseason early, where he’ll look to catch on with a new club as he attempts to return to the form he demonstrated from 2018-2020.
September 28: The Brewers announced that outfielder Garrett Mitchell has been activated from the 60-day injured list. In the corresponding move, third baseman/outfielder Brian Anderson was designated for assignment.
Mitchell’s official return to the active roster has been expected for a couple of days, after he rejoined the Brewers upon the completion of the Triple-A season. The outfielder played in only 16 games in April before undergoing shoulder surgery, leaving some doubt to whether or not Mitchell would even make it back before the end of the 2023 campaign. Fortunately, Mitchell was able to start a Triple-A rehab assignment earlier this month, and played in eight games in the minors.
The 25-year-old figures to get a bit more time to ramp up over the Brewers’ last few games of the regular season, as Milwaukee has locked up the NL Central title and the third seed in the NL bracket. This gives the Brew Crew some extra time to rest some regulars and figures out who might make the cut for the playoff roster before the start of the Wild Card Series on October 3.
The 20th overall pick of the 2020 draft, Mitchell made his MLB debut last season and was expected to see regular action this year, even beginning 2023 as Milwaukee’s Opening Day center fielder. Mitchell naturally still figures into the Brewers’ future plans, and what might’ve been an entirely lost season for the younger can be salvaged if he can play a role in any postseason success. Mitchell likely won’t be line for regular duty ahead of Blake Perkins or Sal Frelick in center field, but he could contribute off the bench as defensive or pinch-running depth. With Mitchell as an additional outfield option, the Brewers could use then use Mark Canha more regularly at first base or DH rather than in the outfield corners.
While Anderson’s DFA doesn’t technically rule him out of contention for the postseason roster if he clears waivers and is then eventually re-added to the 40-man roster, the writing has seemed to be on the wall that Anderson isn’t in the Brewers’ plans. His start in yesterday’s game marked his first time in the lineup since August 22, and he has played in only 11 games total since returning from a 10-day IL stint on August 3.
The Marlins non-tendered Anderson last offseason after a pair of injury-riddled down years, and the Brewers signed him to a one-year, $3.5MM deal in the hopes of a bounce-back. The experiment seemed to be working great in the first few weeks of the season, but Anderson quickly faded after that hot start, and he has a .226/.310/.368 slash line and nine home runs over 361 plate appearances while seeing a lot of action at third base and in right field.
Andruw Monasterio essentially took over the starting third base job after the All-Star break, though his own struggles led the Brewers to make the low-cost signing of Josh Donaldson on a minor league deal. Donaldson hasn’t been overly impressive since joining the active roster, though his .191/.296/.447 slash line in 54 PA in a Brewers uniform is at least better than the .659 OPS he posted in 120 PA with the Yankees. With Anderson now likely out of the picture, the Brewers look to be using Donaldson as their chief third base option for the postseason, with Monasterio perhaps acting as a utility infielder backing up Donaldson, shortstop Willy Adames, and second baseman Brice Turang. Canha, Carlos Santana, and Rowdy Tellez are the first base/DH options.
thats gotta be disappointing for BA, but mitchell offers more defensively and as a base runner… anywho, welcome back garrett!
Brian Anderson vs Mets in 2023: 5 XBH, 12 RBI in 21 AB
Brian Anderson vs rest of league in 2023: 19 XBH, 28 RBI in 297 AB
Looks like you pinpointed who will be signing him next….
Man that’s a harsh move to do to Brian Anderson. Sorry to see that happen to someone on a 1yr deal in basically the last week of a season.
Don’t have high hopes with Mitchell’s bat but defense and pinch running in late inning he’ll be welcome over Caratini, Tellez, Donaldson, and Santana.
I would’ve dfa’d Jesse Winker to be honest. Free agent at the end if the year and hasn’t done anything all year. Maybe he’s on the 60 day IL by now though. I know he’s been out for awhile and on “rehab assignment”
Winker isn’t on active roster. That wouldn’t have helped at all. He is on IL. You can’t dfa someone on the injury list. You had dfa someone on active roster
You can dfa anyone on the 40, including someone on the IL. The exception is the 60 day IL.
&Winfield that’s what my belief was. And when I last looked he wasn’t on the 60 day. But Winker is who I’d of dfa’d. They’d of probably had to cleared Anderson through waivers regardless, but I don’t foresee Winker being of any value for the remainder of the season. So at least they wouldn’t still hd Anderson on the 40 man.
I bet it’s coming. They are calling up Boushley apparently and he’s not on the 40 man, so they’ll need to open a space.
What a weird move when you consider they keep running out Rowdy Tellez who has been awful at the plate for two seasons and is a defensive liability
Agree totally. CC giving Tellez more than ample opportunity. Offers very little at this stage. Would have rather had BA as first base backup.
My thoughts/feelings exactly, I understand rowdy is a lefty but so is Mitchell and Anderson affords much more defensive flexibility and unlike rowdy will take a walk, should’ve DFad Tellez months ago and brought up Keston…..
They should just dfad all three of them Winkers, Anderson and Tellez. Once you dfa’d Anderson and Tellez then bring Winkers and dfad him right away with Chafin and then bring up Black and Gasser..
Agree. Especially with Black. It’s no surprise that the Brewers improved significantly when added Frelick, Canha, and Santana. All currently lowest K% on our team. Black is another contact guy. So tired of stranding guys on third with less than 2 outs. This will be our downfall! Did anyone else notice a couple of bunt attempts last night?? CC, that ship has sailed. Can’t expect your guys to learn how to bunt now lol. Where you can, add contact guy’s, at least on the bench. And Chafin…he’s cooked completely. At this point, an inning eater.
Agree with all but Anderson. he got the shaft.!
@Crew2011 et al.
Always liked Rowdy – his comment about enjoying playing for the Brew Crew “it’s great playing for a team that actually seem to want me” was rather sweet.
Of all 12 teams in the play offs, I’d really like the Brewers to win it all. Think they’ve got a Nationals type chance from 2019. Great pitching, great manager, not a lot of hitting.
But of the 12 managers, is any of them better game managers than Craig Counsell? They are some really good ones, don’t get me wrong, but I think Counsell could walk into any vacant on any team..
You had me sold up until “call up Keston”. Guy needs a change of scenery. He’s always mashed at AAA, so there’s not any real reason to think he’s going to be any different on the MLB level than he has been. I don’t think he works well with the hitting coach the the majors level. But his triple a numbers don’t show any sign that he’d be any better on the mlb level, because he’s always been a good triple a hitter.
They aren’t running him out. Santana is the first baseman.
Canha has been a clear upgrade on Anderson.
Yes but Anderson has versatility/plays the infield, they should’ve DFAd Tellez instead..
Exactly. Tellez has the now VERY occasional pop as his only value really. Pretty sure we could just use Santana every day at first at this point or cover a day off in a pinch with someone like Canha, who I’ve seen rumors may get reps at first base next year if we pick up his option. I wish it’d of been a remotely better year for Tellez, but he just hasn’t done much of anything.
They need Rowdy for those high leverage pitching situations so he can lock it down.
Still not sure how “rowdy” has retained his roster spot, I get he’s a true lefty hitting/fielding 1b guy but Anderson has more range, versatility, he’ll take a walk and truly has a cannon of an arm, ugh this frustrating, they have so many lefty options w/the bat, Mitchell is another and I get he’s not an infielder but jees how with his lack of production/versatility does Tellez keep his job, good for him but it just seems unfair, Keston also is an effective 1b/corner outfield option and has an OPS of what over .900 at AAA all year, what about him
They put Huira on IL at AAA because he was making CC look bad about being in his doghouse.
Rowdy lacks range at 1b, Keston lacks playing the position in general. Unless he’s somehow figured out how to play defense I’d still take Rowdy there.
As for offense, someone above hit the nail on the head..he’s always mashed in the minors (and then struggles to hit at all when called up). It would have been worth a flier at some point during the season, and I still question why they didn’t give him a couple weeks back then, but not now. His big league numbers ever since his rookie year are just plain bad, and the postseason isn’t the time to give him “one more shot” at it.
I just don’t know what happened to Brian. He was one of the best players of April, and now he had faded away.
Even Yuniesky Betancourt had a hot streak once.
Anderson went and had a kid during the season like Hader did and CC doesn’t like that
So much for everyone calling for BA to be crowned NL MVP after the first two weeks of the season. He could still be a decent bench bat for another club
Do not agree with DFA Anderson. At least he went out with a good game last night, couple of hits and strong defense!
I agree with the Anderson but remember they dfad him and if he accepts it he will still be eligible for playoffs as long as they didn’t release him
He did have that error, throwing that ball way over Rowdy’s head. I too feel bad for BA. Give it all year and get cut with 4 games to go. I guess there’s no reason to think someone would claim him at this point, so he has a chance to be selected by the Crew again at some point?
Perkins over Mitchell? Why? Perkins hasn’t done much since coming back up. I’d rather give Mitchell a shot as the primary backup OF with his speed and defense. He seems like a great pinch=running option and defensive replacement for the playoffs.
U watch Perkins play center lately? Dude is awesome out there! Bat is average, so we gotta see how Mitchell does and give him some baby steps here for a bit.
Sure, he’s a good defender, but Frelick is better and has a better arm. Mitchell has more upside at the plate too.
Another tough break for Anderson. The guy has never been the same with his last wave of injuries.
Maybe for next year, he should try to catch on with teams like the Royals or any of the losing teams in the AL Central, or the Athletics or a team like the Rockies….maybe even in Asia. He needs to go into a situation where he can just just play and get himself back together to see what he can finally be from where he was on track to being – a nice 3B glove with a decent bat.
He was on track to being absolutely mediocre, which is what he is. I dont understand your constant excuses for a guy whose best season was in the juiced ball 2019 who has been hot garbage since, while you make excuse after excuse that hes always hurt, while simultaneously bitching that Garrett Cooper was given one too many chances for a crap player thats always hurt. Theyre both injury prone players and no matter how you look at it or try to deny it, this year and for his career Cooper is still the better of the 2, while you continue to push that Anderson can be something while Cooper is meh.
@cuban1
First, very fair statement that I can’t argue much.
As for the comparison, when I stated that Cooper should have been let go, considering that Anderson is a couple of years younger, I felt that when Anderson was non-tendered, Cooper should have also been non-tendered since he was equally as worthless to the team. For me, I preferred the younger player, so I felt that Cooper should have been the first out the door before Anderson. Also, we had a surplus of bodies at 1B where we didn’t at 3B…and really didn’t fill 3B until we acquired Burger.
As for my defense of Anderson, he was a nice defensive player, as proven by being a GG finalist. With his offense, his power and Cooper’s power were similar. Cooper just had the edge in getting hits and being on base more often. But with Anderson’s defense and potentially adequate offense for a good defensive player and, again, being younger than Cooper, that’s why I favored Anderson over Cooper.
Come on seriously, neither player is worth going crazy over which is preferred at this point. With Josh Bell and Jake Burger, I’m thrilled that both Cooper and Anderson are gone.
As for a final bit about Cooper, I’ve thought about this since we rid ourselves of him. To me, he was filler and a supporting cast player. That is pretty much no doubt. The problem that myself and many Marlins fans soured on him was on his treatment by the Marlins. Let’s be honest, for the caliber of player he was, Cooper was given too many chances and too much job security. I don’t know if it was the Jeter/Denbo regime or if Ng was also part of that job security, but Cooper didn’t deserve it. Any other team would’ve moved on from Cooper after a couple of those seasons on the IL, but the Marlins didn’t and kept counting on him despite he really has done nothing much in his career. He reached the point for many of us critics of Cooper, that he became one of those “what is the obsession with this guy” players. He became similar to Tom Koehler in unexplainable job security. Essentially, while some players will wear out their welcome with a team, in Cooper’s case, no matter whose decision it was to treat him like a prized possession, the Marlins wore out his welcome to the fan base. If they didn’t do that, Cooper wouldn’t have been criticized so much by the many Marlins fans like myself.
As for Anderson, I still believe his career would have been a bit better if he wasn’t injured as often. While he was never going to be a beast, he was on track to be a decent supporting cast player, and GG caliber 3B with a decent/adequate bat. He’s not close to retirement age, so he can salvage something in his career if he goes to the right, low pressure situation.
Just my opinion. We’ll see how it all goes.
With that said, I’m much more happy with Bell and Burger. And Go Marlins!
@cuban1
Oh, and to give a better understanding of the questions I had about Cooper’s job security and the Marlins decision making with him. Look how he had many chances compared to others.
Look how fast the Marlins dropped the likes of Harold Ramirez instead of dropping Lewis Brinson, Magneuris Sierra, or Monte Harrison at the time.
Look how they insisted on playing Isan Diaz all the time over better options.
Look how they decided that among the pitchers that the D-Backs were willing to trade Jazz for at the time, the Marlins chose Zac Gallen over Pablo Lopez and…remember this…Jordan Yamamoto (lol!).
Yeah, logic like that shows the type of thinking that was involved with the Cooper love. Good riddance to him. Long overdue.
Good riddance to Anderson.
Released to become the new Mets manager
The Brewers have not been to the world series since 1982, and Lorenzo Cain was not here until 2018, (He had a short stint with them in 2010)
This was satire, which did get a chuckle out of me.
Can’t wait for him to spill the beans on why he thinks he was benched for months (he bad)
Doesn’t matter. There are only two more games left in the Brewers season anyway.
Brian Anderson the broadcaster? That’s just cold. Hopefully he got to finish his batter or whoever he was calling. Was Nick Castellenos at the dish?
If the Tigers had an 86 OPS+ 3B, they might have challenged for the division.
The release doesn’t make a lot of sense if he was going to accept the assignment in case of injury. I thought the rule was you had to be in the organization before 9/1, not on the 40-man. If the Brewers had a major injury that ended someone’s season, he could have been selected while the other player was placed on the 60-day. That’s what happened with the Mets in 2015 when Tejada was injured by Utley. They selected Matt Reynolds who wasn’t on the 40-man.
Not a surprise! My Question: How did Josh Donaldson play any better then Anderson since he was called up? He continues to look old and finished up with the bat. Defense still good, but hitting!!! Play Montiserio and Bench Josh.
Too bad because he’s a good guy but his time on DL worked against him. Good utility guy that’ll catch on elsewhere