The Braves have signed veteran third baseman/corner outfielder Brian Anderson to a major league contract, reports Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Anderson, a CAA client, will be in uniform for tonight’s game. He opted out of a minor league deal with the Mariners over the weekend. Atlanta transferred lefty Tyler Matzek from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the roster for Anderson.
Anderson, 31, should be a familiar face for Braves fans and those within the organization. The former third-round pick spent the 2017-22 seasons with the Marlins, taking regular at-bats between stints as the team’s everyday third baseman and everyday right fielder. From 2018-20, Anderson was one of Miami’s most reliable hitters, batting .266/.350/.436 with 42 home runs, a hefty 74 doubles and six triples in 1419 plate appearances. By measure of wRC+, he was 15% better than a league-average hitter in that span.
Shoulder injuries and a severe oblique strain both weighed down Anderson’s production in 2021-22, however, and the always cost-conscious Marlins non-tendered him following the ’22 campaign, making him a free agent a year early. He signed with the Brewers in hopes of rebounding but didn’t manage to do so, slashing .226/.310/.368 (85 wRC+) in 361 plate appearances. So far with the Mariners’ Triple-A club in Tacoma, Anderson had tallied 176 plate appearances and recorded a .270/.358/.439 batting line with six round-trippers and seven doubles.
While Anderson obviously can’t replace Ronald Acuña Jr., whose 2024 season ended last week when he suffered a torn ACL, the seven-year MLB veteran can still give the Braves an experienced right-handed bat to pair with lefty-swinging Jarred Kelenic in left field. Kelenic, Michael Harris II and Adam Duvall figure to take the bulk of the outfield at-bats, with Marcell Ozuna seeing regular time at DH and left-hitting J.P. Martinez receiving sporadic outfield at-bats as well.
BA should have been the RH platoon the Mariners needed, not Victor Robles.
Yeah, no. Anderson is terrible outfielder and is not a good hitter either. At least Robles can give you plus defense and speed at the back of your bench
Agree. And similar (meh) offense.
Guy hits a lot better when playing third and dhing. Playing outfield does affect his offense for some reason
And the Braves should’ve signed Robles for an OF platoon with Duvall and/or Kelenic. Let’s trade!
This is a sneaky nice pickup by the Braves. It always felt like he was a Braves killer with the Marlins and just a solid ball player. What happened to him? Injuries? Looking at his numbers, yes they aren’t super and trending the wrong direction, but they seem to be better than a lot of guys playing in the show. Injuries hurt his progress?
During his time in MIA he was frequently on the IL mostly for shoulder issues. So yeah, injuries have been the thing that have mostly held him back because he’s always been a pretty solid hitter.
Everything is explained nicely in the article above. Should answer all your questions.
The article only said “more to come” when I posted this.
All your questions were answered in the article.
you geniuses don’t realize he probably posted this before the full article was available, but i do hope you feel better about yourselves for correcting someone in a comment section today.
What? Are you gatekeeping the gatekeepers?? That’s kind of redundant. Now who’s going to gatekeep the gatekeeper of the original gatekeepers?
The article only said “more to come” when I posted this… smh.
Well, this will make a great Future Trivia question: Who did the Braves sign to replace MVP Ronald Acuna after his 2024 knee injury ?
They thought to themselves, who got hit more than acuna in those Marlins series, and decided to hope he hits just as much for them as they hit him
For the cost not a bad deal: still have about 30-45 days before the trade season gets going. Sure this won’t be the Braves only move but not much out there in early June
AA is playing 4D Battleship.
I was thinking 4D Hungry Hungry Hippo
I shot you nit, I almost went 4D H3!
The Braves don’t have the future we thought. Nationals will finish with a better record
You don’t have the brains you think you do.
Will he last longer than Wendle???
AA single-handedly making Immaculate Grid easier for Barves fans almost weekly:)
Anderson will play as often as Wendle did. Only reason we didn’t bring up Wall or Eli White instead was because we want those guys getting ab’s.
Kelenic down, maybe out. Time to put in Wall, as he has played well and was a spark plug before.