09:55: Anderson will be guaranteed $ 4 million, tweets Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
09:40: This is a one-year Major League deal for Anderson, MLBTR has learned.
09:10: The Phillies are a free agent deal Jaag Anderson, reports Robert Murray of Fansided (via Twitter). The Hub Sports Management client will participate in a growing inventory of experienced weapons that take turns fighting back in the Philadelphia rotation. His agreement depends on the completion of a physical.
Anderson, 33, spent the 2020 season with the Blue Jays, but missed the start of the shortened season with a sloping tension. He returned and hit well in August before struggling a difficult month in September. Overall, he scored only 33 2/3 overs with an ERA of 7.22.
Nevertheless, there are many reasons to expect the Anderson pickup to be a valuable and inexpensive investment. From 2014-19, Anderson was a durable source of average or better innings, hitting a 3.94 ERA and 4.43 SIERA over the life of 857 frames between the D-back and the Brewers. Anderson’s only IL prospect at the time was a minimum stay for triceps distress in 2015 and short absence due to an oblique strain and a tear to his finger. His arm held up nicely in Arizona as well as Milwaukee, and even last year’s absence had nothing to do with his elbow or shoulder.
If we go a little deeper into his 2020 work, there is also reason for optimism. Anderson reduced the use of his four-seater in favor of more cutters and modifications, and the results were encouraging in some ways. He achieved a career high of 24.7 percent that entered above the league average, and his running percentage of 6.5 percent was an improvement over his Brewers days, which were well south of the league average. Anderson was plagued by a .362 average on balls in play and a home pace so high that positive regression is almost inevitable (2.94 HR / 9).
Anderson has been somewhat more susceptible throughout his career, but there is little reason to expect such an outspoken struggle to continue. Field-independent measures that normalize the domestic rate, such as xFIP (4.09) and SIERA (4.01), were a little more positive for him than his baseline ERA.
Anderson will join left Matt Moore on the big league list as a cost-effective option at the back of the turn behind the top beginners Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler and Zach Eflin. His addition could allow the Phillies to provide the best prospects Spencer Howard more time in Triple-A and to move Vince Velasquez to the bull, but it’s likely that each of Moore, Anderson, Howard and Velasquez will start for the Phils games in 2021. Teams are going to be more cautious than ever with workload after last year’s shortened series of matches, so having several starting options is of greater importance. The Phils also added Ivan Nova and Bryan Mitchell about small league treaties.