Breaking News: Boston Red Sox Sign a $180m Super Star Right Hander.
MassLive’s Christopher Smith reports that Anderson’s deal with the Red Sox guarantees him $1.25MM and comes with an additional $500k in potential performance bonuses.
The Red Sox have made their deal with Anderson official, per a club announcement. Right-hander Lucas Giolito was transferred to the 60-day injured list in the corresponding move. Giolito’s placement on the IL is hardly a surprise, given he’s expected to miss the entire 2024 season after undergoing an internal brace procedure on his right elbow.
The Red Sox have signed right-hander Chase Anderson to a Major League deal, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (X link). It was a very short stint in free agency for Anderson, who was only officially released from his minors deal with the Pirates earlier today.
Yesterday was the deadline for Anderson and other Article XX(B) free agents to decide whether or not to exercise the opt-out clauses in their minor league contracts, unless their teams had already agreed to include them on the 26-man active roster. Since it seems like the Pirates preferred other options for their starting rotation, Anderson was prepared to opt out, and then quickly landed with Boston after he returned to the open market.
Assuming Anderson appears in a big league game, the Red Sox will be the eighth different team Anderson has pitched for during his 10 MLB seasons. The right-hander posted some solid numbers with the Diamondbacks and Brewers from 2014-19, but he has struggled mightily ever since, with a 6.19 ERA over 192 innings since the start of the 2020 season.
Anderson has subsequently bounced around to seven different teams (including two stints with the Rays) in the last four-plus years, seeing action at the big league level with the Blue Jays, Phillies, Reds, Rays, and Rockies. Anderson had a 5.75 ERA over 17 starts and 81 1/3 innings last season for a Rockies team that was desperate to fill innings within an injury-riddled rotation. Boston’s pitching situation isn’t in quite such a dire state, though there is some definite uncertainty within the projected starting five of Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford, Garrett Whitlock, and Tanner Houck.
Lucas Giolito‘s season-ending elbow surgery thinned out a rotation that was already lacking in depth, so Anderson can now fill a swingman role who can step in for a spot start if necessary. The fact that Anderson landed a guaranteed big league deal might speak to how urgently the Red Sox wanted to add pitching help prior to Opening Day, though it is safe to assume that Anderson’s deal isn’t overly pricey.
