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Cardinals Sign Josh James To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals announced Friday that they’ve signed right-handed reliever Josh James to a minor league contract. The 30-year-old hasn’t pitched in the Majors for two seasons and was non-tendered by the Astros after undergoing season-ending surgery to repair his right flexor tendon in 2022. He’s represented by CAA.

Prior to that injury, James spent parts of four seasons in the Houston ’pen as a hard-throwing but command-challenged middle reliever who could miss bats in droves. He’s pitched 106 1/3 innings in the majors and carries a 4.64 ERA with a huge 34.3% strikeout rate but an ugly 13.2% walk rate. James averaged 97.1 mph on his heater from 2018-20 but saw that mark tumble to 94.8 mph in 2021. Injuries limited him to just 25 2/3 innings between Triple-A and the big leagues in ’21, and he managed only 27 2/3 frames in the minors the following year before requiring surgery.

Between his injuries and his history of command troubles, James is a project for the Cardinals and little more than a roll of the dice at this point. If he can get back to full strength and back on track in the upper minors, he could eventually be called up when injuries and/or poor performance create an opening in manager Oli Marmol’s relief corps.

As it stands, however, the St. Louis bullpen figures to include Ryan Helsley, Giovanny Gallegos, JoJo Romero, Andrew Kittredge, Andre Pallante and Zack Thompson, with a handful of candidates for the final two spots (John King, Nick Robertson, Riley O’Brien, Rule 5 pick Ryan Fernandez and non-roster invitee Wilking Rodriguez among them).

Rangers Trade J.P. Martinez To Braves

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The Rangers announced Friday that they’ve traded outfielder J.P. Martinez to the Braves in exchange for minor league right-hander Tyler Owens. Texas needed to open a spot on its 40-man roster in order to finalize yesterday’s reported signing of David Robertson, and a trade of the 27-year-old Martinez seemingly paves the way for that signing to be made official. Robertson is taking his physical in Texas today.

Martinez made his big league debut with the Rangers in 2023, appearing in 17 games and tallying 44 plate appearances late in the season. He hit .225/.250/.325 with a homer, a double and an unsightly 16 strikeouts (36.4%) during that cup of coffee. His output in 77 Triple-A games (353 plate appearances) was far more encouraging. The lefty-swinging Martinez slashed .298/.418/.543 with 14 long balls, 21 doubles, four triples and a hefty 38 stolen bases in 42 attempts. The small-sample strikeout woes that plagued him in the majors weren’t present in Triple-A; he walked at a 15.6% clip in Round Rock and fanned at a much more manageable 22.9% rate.

It’s worth noting that Martinez was older and more experienced than much of his competition in Triple-A. In addition to five minor league seasons, he played five years in the Cuban National Series (Cuba’s top professional league) and spent two seasons in the independent Canadian-American Association. Be that as it may, it was still an impressive showing and far and away his most productive minor league performance to date since signing with the Rangers organization in March of 2018. Martinez at one point ranked second among Rangers prospects, per Baseball America, but he dropped to 27th the following year (2020) and has been off the radar on major prospect rankings for the organization since.

The Braves’ outfield is full with Jarred Kelenic in left, Michael Harris II in center and reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. in right field. It’s feasible that Martinez could compete with Forrest Wall and non-roster veteran Jordan Luplow for a bench spot to begin the season. Martinez (two) and Wall (three) both have minor league option years remaining, so either could be sent down without needing to first be exposed to waivers. Luplow isn’t on the 40-man roster and would need to earn a job this spring.

Turning to the Rangers’ side of the swap, they’ll add a 23-year-old righty who was the Braves’ 13th-round pick in the 2019 draft. Owens split the 2023 season between High-A and Double-A, working to a combined 3.03 ERA in 65 1/3 innings split between the bullpen and the rotation. He fanned 23.4% of his opponents against a 7.7% walk rate, although both his strikeout and walk rate took a turn for the worse when moving up to the Double-A level from High-A.

Listed at 5’10” and 185 pounds, Owens is undersized but nonetheless elevated his prospect status with his 2023 performance. Baseball America ranked him 22nd among Braves prospects this offseason, touting a plus fastball that reaches 98 mph and befuddles hitters thanks in part to a lower-than-usual release angle. BA’s report also notes that Owens has a slider with strong spin rates which could be a plus pitch if he can locate it more consistently — which he’s struggled to do at this point in his career.

Owens gives the Rangers a potential bullpen arm who could be in the big leagues at some point in 2024 or in 2025, although it should also be noted that all 29 other teams passed on selecting him in December’s Rule 5 Draft despite being eligible.

The Rangers have more outfield depth in the upper minors and on their big league bench than the Braves, who have a stacked bullpen that left Owens with little chance of breaking through in the immediate term (barring multiple injuries on the MLB roster). Martinez is more interesting than the standard player who might be designated for assignment to make room for a free agent signing, and the Braves accordingly sent a relatively near-term bullpen prospect who seemingly has a chance to make it in the big leagues. Both clubs dealt from positions of depth and addressed areas of need; on the whole, it seems like a sensible swap for both parties.

Francys Romero first reported that Martinez had been traded to Atlanta.

Orioles Sign Ronald Guzmán To Minor League Deal

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The Orioles announced that they have signed Ronald Guzmán to a minor league deal. The lefty is represented by JP Sports Advisors.

Guzmán, 29, has 246 games of major league experience. He spent 2018 to 2021 with the Rangers and also had a brief showing with the Yankees in 2022, working primarily as a first baseman for those years. He hit .225/.302/.410 in his 823 plate appearances, launching 31 home runs but also striking out at a 29.2% clip.

Just over a year ago, he signed a minor league deal with the Giants for the 2023 season. It was reported in early February that he would be attempting to become a two-way player. He was apparently hitting 96 miles per hour on the radar gun around that time, as well as throwing a slider and changeup.

Unfortunately, the experiment hit a snag pretty quickly, as he left a Spring Training game with an injury. He was later diagnosed with pronator strain in his left forearm, telling Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle at that time that he expected to be out of action for about six to eight weeks. He didn’t return to official game action until August, making three rehab appearances before being released.

It appears he is healthy now, as he has recently been playing for Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League. He has played some first base, left field and made two appearances on the mound. The fact that the O’s listed him as a left-handed pitcher in their announcement suggests that they may be more interested in him for that role, though perhaps they will let Guzmán do both.

He still has effectively no experience as a pitcher to speak of, so it’s tough to know what to expect from him going forward, especially after last year being essentially wiped out by injury. But for the O’s, there’s no risk in bringing him aboard on a minor league deal to see if he can thrive in his new role with a bit of health.

Rangers Sign Jared Walsh, Matt Duffy, Blake Taylor To Minor League Deals

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The Rangers announced that they have signed first baseman Jared Walsh, infielder Matt Duffy and left-hander Blake Taylor to minor league deals. All three deals come with invites to major league Spring Training. Walsh and Taylor are repped by ISE Baseball, Duffy by TWC Sports.

Walsh, 30, once looked like a mainstay of the lineup for the Angels. He hit nine home runs in the shortened 2020 season and then added another 29 the year after. His .280/.338/.531 batting line in that time translated to a wRC+ of 130, indicating he was 30% better than the league average hitter. He wasn’t considered a strong defender but the bat was clearly enticing.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t been anywhere near that level since, with injuries holding him back. He hit .215/.269/.374 in 2022, with that season ultimately ended by thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. He returned in 2023 but battled neurological issues, including insomnia and headaches, something he discussed with Sam Blum of The Athletic in May. He hit just .125/.216/.279 in 39 major league games last year, getting passed through waivers twice. The second such instance was in October and he elected free agency afterwards.

For the Rangers, they have Nathaniel Lowe at first base but don’t have a strict designated hitter. If Walsh were able to get over his recent health issues and return to that strong form he showed a few years ago, he would be a candidate to take over the bulk of the DH at-bats, while also providing depth for a possible Lowe injury. If he were to get back in form and earn himself a roster spot, he could be retained for future seasons via arbitration, though he is out of options.

Duffy, 33, is a veteran utility guy. He spent 2023 with the Royals and hit .251/.306/.325 in his 209 plate appearances for a wRC+ of 72. That offense is obviously subpar, but he provided the club with defensive versatility. He spent some time at all four infield positions and even tossed two innings of mop-up duty on the mound. He’s also played a bit of left field in previous seasons.

The Rangers have Lowe at first, with the rest of the infield set to be filled out by Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Josh Jung. They also have infielders like Ezequiel Durán, Jonathan Ornelas, Josh H. Smith and Justin Foscue on the roster, but Duffy will add a bit of veteran non-roster depth.

Taylor, 28, pitched in 92 major league games for the Astros over the 2020 to 2022 seasons. He allowed just 3.06 earned runs per nine frames over 79 1/3 innings combined, but a bit of luck may have been involved. His 19.1% strikeout rate and 12.6% walk rate were both a few ticks worse than average, while his .249 batting average on balls in play and 79.3% strand rate were both on the fortunate side. His 4.65 FIP and 4.94 SIERA each suggest he may have deserved worse results than the ERA might indicate.

In 2023, he began the year on the injured list due to a left elbow strain. He was activated a couple of weeks later and optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land. He made 35 appearances for the Space Cowboys with a 5.15 ERA, 14.9% strikeout rate and 13.1% walk rate. He was released in August.

The Rangers lost lefties Aroldis Chapman and Will Smith to free agency and then non-tendered Brett Martin. Their southpaw relief contingent now consists of Brock Burke, Jake Latz and Antoine Kelly. They could also have Cody Bradford back there if he’s not working out of the rotation. Taylor will give them some non-roster depth with a bit of major league experience under his belt. If he is able to earn his way back to the majors, he does have one option year remaining.

Yankees, Luis Torrens Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Yankees have agreed to a minor league contract with catcher Luis Torrens, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. Presumably, he’ll be in camp as a non-roster invitee this spring.

Torrens, 27, has spent time in the big leagues in each of the past five seasons, suiting up for the Mariners, Padres and Cubs in that time. He had a solid run with the ’21 Mariners, popping 15 home runs and hitting .243/.299/.431 over a career-high 378 plate appearances, but he’s generally struggled at the plate since. In 196 trips to the plate over the past two MLB seasons, Torrens carries just a .229/.286/.307 slash.

The Yankees are plenty familiar with Torrens, as they’re the organization that originally signed him as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela back in 2012. The Padres plucked Torrens out of the Yankees’ system in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft even though he’d never played above A-ball. A then-rebuilding San Diego club succeeded on keeping Torrens on its Major League roster all season, thus acquiring his long-term rights. He spent nearly all of the 2018-19 seasons in the minors, hitting quite in well in Double-A, but was traded to the Mariners alongside Ty France, Andres Munoz and Taylor Trammell in the 2020 swap that sent Austin Nola and Dan Altavilla to the Padres.

Overall, Torrens is a career .227/.289/.354 hitter in the bigs and a .246/.311/.486 hitter in Triple-A. He has at times shown the ability to be an above-average hitter relative to his position, and at his best he draws interesting ratings from Statcast in terms of his batted-ball profile. From 2020-22, Torrens averaged a hearty 91 mph off the bat and saw a sizable 45.7% of his batted balls travel at velocities of 95 mph or greater. But he’s also been too strikeout prone, sports a below-average walk rate and puts the ball on the ground far too often (49.9%) for someone who’s ranked in the 26th percentile of MLB players in terms of sprint speed (per Statcast). Defensively, Torrens has some encouraging traits and also some red flags. He’s thwarted a huge 37% of stolen base attempts against him in his professional career but also consistently delivered negative marks for framing.

It’s not a surprise to see the Yankees add some more catching depth. New York traded backup catcher Kyle Higashioka to the Padres as part of their deal to acquire Juan Soto, and they’ll face a decision on Ben Rortvedt this spring given that he’s out of minor league options. With prospect Austin Wells and veteran Jose Trevino already on the 40-man and likelier to make the roster, Rortvedt could be squeezed out, and Torrens adds some depth in the event that he’s claimed by another club. If not, he can join Rortvedt and Carlos Narvaez as catching options in Triple-A Scranton, where he could also see occasional action at first base — a position where Torrens has tallied 482 innings between the majors and minors.

Rockies Sign John Curtiss To Minor League Deal

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The Rockies have signed veteran righty reliever John Curtiss to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training, MLBTR has learned. He’ll compete for a job in manager Bud Black’s bullpen this spring.

Curtiss, 30, has pitched in parts of six big league seasons but didn’t break out until a terrific 2020 showing with the Rays (1.80 ERA, 25.3% strikeout rate, 3% walk rate in 25 innings). Tampa Bay traded him to the Marlins the following offseason, and Miami flipped him to the Brewers after a strong start to his 2021 campaign. Unfortunately for both Curtiss and the Brewers, the right-hander suffered a torn ligament in his elbow just two weeks after being acquired and wound up undergoing Tommy John surgery.

The Mets signed Curtis after the Brewers non-tendered him, knowing he’d miss his first season with the team. That pact included a club option that the Mets exercised, and Curtiss returned to pitch 19 2/3 frames for New York this past season. His 4.58 ERA, 19.8% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate were all down relative to his 2020-21 seasons, however, and Curtiss wound up hitting the injured list with discomfort in his surgically repaired elbow. His ligament remained intact, but the right-hander still required surgery to remove loose bodies from the elbow. The Mets announced at the time of the procedure that he was expected to be ready for spring training.

Despite that favorable timeline, the Mets removed Curtiss from the 40-man roster following the season. He elected free agency, as is his right as a player with more than three years of MLB service.

If Curtiss is back at full strength, he’ll likely have a good chance to break a thin Rockies bullpen. The righty’s track record is fairly limited, but from 2020-23 he pitched 89 innings of 3.24 ERA ball with a combined 23.2% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate and 40.8% ground-ball rate. Curtiss’ 94.5 mph average fastball with the Mets in 2023 was right in line with his pre-surgery levels from 2020-21. There’s some unknown now that he’s undergone a second elbow operation, of course, but it’s encouraging that he’d regained his velocity following the Tommy John procedure.

As things stand, the Rockies’ bullpen is practically wide open. Right-hander Justin Lawrence is the favorite to close games after notching 11 saves and logging a 3.72 ERA in 75 innings out of the ’pen last year. Jake Bird should have a spot locked down after recording a team-high 84 1/3 innings with a respectable 4.27 ERA. Beyond that, things are murky. The Rockies let Brent Suter, their top 2023 performer, depart in free agency. He signed a one-year, $3MM deal with the Reds. Veterans Pierce Johnson and Brad Hand were traded at last year’s deadline.

Right-hander Daniel Bard is still under contract for another season, but he followed his All-Star 2022 campaign with a tough 2023 season that saw him return to the injured list owing to a long-running battle with anxiety that has at multiple points led to the yips. Bard eventually pitched 49 1/3 innings with a 4.56 ERA but did so with nearly a walk per inning and with more total walks issued than strikeouts recorded. Tyler Kinley posted a 6.06 ERA in his return from elbow surgery, albeit in a sample of just 16 1/3 innings. The Rox picked up veteran lefty Jalen Beeks in November after the Rays placed him on waivers, and he’ll look to bounce back after a down showing in 2023.

Other options in the Colorado ’pen include Nick Mears, Gavin Hollowell and Rule 5 pickup Anthony Molina. Curtiss will compete with that group as well as a slate of non-roster veterans including Ty Blach, Matt Koch and Chance Adams. If Curtiss makes the club and finds success in that harsh pitching environment, he can be controlled through the 2026 season via arbitration.

Brewers, Christian Arroyo Agree To Minor League Deal

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8:23am: The two parties are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The deal contains a $1.5MM salary at the big league level, and Arroyo would have the opportunity to unlock an additional $500K via incentives. Those incentives are tied to plate appearances, a source told MLBTR while also confirming the terms of the deal. Arroyo will be in camp as a non-roster invitee when spring training opens.

8:13am: The Brewers have agreed to a deal with free agent infielder Christian Arroyo, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. Terms of the arrangement are not yet known. Arroyo is represented by O’Connell Sports Management.

Arroyo, 28, has spent the past four seasons with the Red Sox but was designated for assignment and outrighted off the 40-man roster not long after the 2023 trade deadline. He elected free agency at season’s end. He’s six days shy of five years of MLB service, meaning that he can be controlled through the 2025 season via arbitration, if the Brewers choose.

The 2023 season was a rough one for Arroyo, who had a pair of IL stints due to a hamstring strain and an ankle sprain. He appeared in 66 games when healthy but scuffled with a .241/.268/.369 batting line over the course of 206 trips to the plate. Coincidentally, Boston cut him loose in August after acquiring infielder Luis Urias in a trade with the same Brewers organization that Arroyo will now join.

Prior to his 2023 struggles, Arroyo had a solid run at the plate with the Red Sox. From 2020-22, the former first-round pick (No. 25 overall by the Giants in 2013) and top prospect slashed a combined .273/.320/.427. He walked at a well below-average 4.7% clip but also showed off above-average contact skills and a 19.4% strikeout rate that was a few percentage points lower than the league average.

While he’s played all over the infield and also logged 108 innings in right field in 2022, Arroyo has played primarily second base and third base in the big leagues. Defensive metrics generally agree that he’s a sound defender at second base, where he’s tallied 12 Defensive Runs Saved and an 8.5 Ultimate Zone Rating in 1332 innings there. Statcast’s Outs Above Average considers him to be essentially average there. His grades at third base aren’t as strong, but he’s also only logged 447 innings at the hot corner in the big leagues. Beyond his work at second, third and in right field, Arroyo has 195 career innings at shortstop and another 53 frames at first base.

Arroyo’s experience around the diamond should serve him well for a Brewers club that has question marks at each of his primary positions. Former first-rounder Brice Turang will likely get the first crack at second base in Milwaukee, but he hit just .218/.285/.300 in 448 trips to the plate as a rookie. Turang was optioned multiple times in 2023 and ripped through Triple-A pitching in Nashville (.298/.365/.561), but he’s yet to find his stride in the bigs.

It’s a similar story at the hot corner, where 26-year-old Andruw Monasterio hit .271/.343/.371 to begin his MLB career but saw his production crater in the season’s final few weeks. Monasterio finished out the season with a .259/.330/.348 slash that checked in 12% below league average, by measure of wRC+. He played strong defense at the hot corner, which surely helps his cause as well, but as a career .257/.365/.370 hitter in three Triple-A seasons, he’s hardly a lock to provide enough offense to carry the position at the MLB level.

Both Turang and Monasterio have minor league options remaining, so it’s feasible that Arroyo could challenge either for a larger role in the Milwaukee infield. He could also win a bench job over current right-handed-hitting utility infielder Owen Miller, who hit .261/.303/.371 with the Brew Crew in 2023 (81 wRC+). Like Turang and Monasterio, Miller has a minor league option remaining and could thus be sent down to Nashville (without needing to pass through waivers) in the event Arroyo outplays him this spring.

Yankees Outright Oscar González, Jeter Downs

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The Yankees announced that outfielder Oscar González and infielder Jeter Downs were both outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. That indicates that both players passed through waivers unclaimed after being designated for assignment in the past week. A third player that they club put on waivers, outfielder Bubba Thompson, was claimed by the Twins.

González, 26, debuted with a splash while with the Guardians in 2022. He hit 11 home runs in 91 games and slashed .296/.327/.461 for a wRC+ of 125. He also endeared himself to fans by using the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song as his walk-up music and hitting a series-clinching walk-off home run in the 15th inning of a game in the Wild Card round against the Rays.

But things went off the rails last year, as his poor plate discipline got worse and his production couldn’t stay afloat. His 3.9% walk rate in 2022 was already less than half the league average and that mark fell to 2.8% in 2023. His 19.6% strikeout rate also ticked up to 25.6%. He hit .214/.239/.312 in the majors and spent most of the year on optional assignment.

Poor pitch selection seems to be a clear issue for him, as he has swung at 49.1% of pitches outside the strike zone in his career thus far. That’s the highest rate among MLB hitters with at least 550 plate appearances over the past two seasons. He still managed to hit enough to be useful a couple of years ago but his stock has clearly fallen since.

The Guardians put him on waivers earlier in the offseason, with the Yankees making a claim in early December. The fact that he passed through waivers this week means that all 29 other clubs declined to give him a roster spot. Since this is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he will stick in the organization as non-roster depth.

The 25-year-old Downs is in a similar situation, having just been claimed by the Yankees last month. Fairly or unfairly, he is best known by many fans for going to the Red Sox in the deal that sent Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers. Once a top prospect, he hasn’t been able to hit much since that trade. He has produced a batting line of .200/.309/.365 in the minor leagues over the past three years, leading to a wRC+ of 80. He’s only been given 50 major league plate appearances in that time and hit just .182/.260/.273 in those.

He has gone from the Red Sox to the Nationals and now the Yankees via waivers, but today’s transaction indicates no club was willing to give him a roster spot. Like González, he lacks the necessary service time or previous outright to elect free agency, meaning he will stick in the organization as depth without taking a spot on the 40-man roster.

Twins Claim Bubba Thompson

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The Twins claimed outfielder Bubba Thompson off waivers from the Yankees, per an announcement from the Yankees. He’d been designated for assignment last week in order to open space on the roster for right-hander Luke Weaver. The Twins had a pair of open spots on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move isn’t necessary.

Thompson, 25, is the game’s fastest player by measure of Statcast’s average sprint speed metric (30.4 ft/sec). He’s also one of the sport’s lightest hitters. In 241 career plate appearances at the big league level — all coming with the Rangers, who originally took him in the first round of the 2017 draft — Thompson is a .242/.286/.305 hitter. That modest slash line comes in spite of a hefty .351 average on balls in play and masks (to an extent) a career 29.9% strikeout rate. Thompson’s top-of-the-scale speed is countered by bottom-of-the-scale ratings in terms of average exit velocity (career 84.1 mph) and hard-hit rate (21.9%).

As one might expect for a player with such prodigious wheels, Thompson grades as a sound defender in his limited MLB action. He’s logged 595 innings in the outfield and been credited with a +1 from both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average. The former high school football star has drawn praise for off-the-chart athleticism dating back to his amateur days, and Baseball America has previously credited him as a plus-plus runner and plus defender in center field while also cautioning that he’s a below-average hitter who lacks consistency from at-bat to at-bat.

It hasn’t yet manifested in game settings, but Thompson draws praise for his above-average raw power. He’s never topped 16 home runs in a single season, however, and he’s only reached double-digit home runs twice in his pro career. He hit six home runs in 362 plate appearances in 2023 — all coming in the minors. Thompson is a career .284/.347/.440 hitter in 677 Triple-A plate appearances and a .268/.329/.436 hitter overall in the minors.

Thompson will give the Twins some depth in center field and a strong defensive alternative in the event that perennial injury risk Byron Buxton isn’t able to suit up in the outfield. Knee surgery limited Buxton exclusively to DH work in 2023, though the organization’s hope is that he can return to the outfield in 2024. As it stands, lefties Matt Wallner and Max Kepler are expected to man the corners at Target Field, although Kepler’s name has once again been floated as in trade rumblings throughout the offseason as Minnesota looks to pare back payroll and Kepler enters the final season of his contract.

Thompson still has a pair of minor league option years remaining, so the Twins can freely shuttle him between Triple-A St. Paul and the big league team this coming season — assuming he sticks on the 40-man roster for the remainder of the offseason. If things go well, he can take help to offset the loss of free agent Michael A. Taylor, though Thompson has a long ways to go before proving he has enough bat to stick on a big league roster with any degree of consistency. If the Twins can succeed in coaxing more out of him at the plate, he can be controlled for another six seasons.

Tigers Sign Drew Anderson To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers have signed right-hander Drew Anderson to a minor league deal, reports Evan Woodbery of MLive. It’s unclear if the righty will be in major league camp with the Tigers.

Anderson, 30 in March, got scattered major league time from 2017 to 2021. He suited up for the Phillies, White Sox and Rangers, appearing in five straight seasons but never making more than nine appearances in any individual campaign. He threw a combined 44 1/3 innings in 19 games over that stretch, allowing 6.50 earned runs per nine frames. His 8.3% walk rate was around average but his 14.7% strikeout rate was well below.

After that run, he headed overseas to join Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Over the past two years, Anderson tossed 115 innings in 34 games for the Carp, with a 3.05 ERA in that time. He struck out 20.7% of batters faced while giving out walks at an 8.4% clip.

On the heels of those solid results in Japan, Anderson now returns to North America and will join the Tigers. He has worked both as a starter and a reliever in his career and it’s unclear which role the Tigers have in mind for him, but he would seem to have a steep climb towards a starting role.

The club has Tarik Skubal, Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty in the rotation, with Matt Manning, Casey Mize, Reese Olson and Sawyer Gipson-Long likely batting for the spots at the back end. Other options on the roster include Alex Faedo, Mason Englert, Joey Wentz and Keider Montero. Top prospects Wilmer Flores, Ty Madden and Jackson Jobe are getting close to their major league debuts, with Flores having already secured a spot on the 40-man.

Nonetheless, as the cliches say, you can never have enough pitching depth and there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. For Anderson, he will get a chance to show himself to MLB scouts after a couple of years abroad and try to get back to show.

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