Brewers sign Brett Anderson to a one year deal

[long ball]

I agree the Brewers need to add some additional starting pitching, preferably someone with a little more health certainty than Anderson.

 

SP depth currently:

 

Anderson

Burnes

Faria

Houser

Lauer

Peralta

Suter

Woodruff

 

That's really only 8 guys unless you want to consider Supak too. I'm also not even confident Faria will last very long on the 40 man roster once we make it into the season. I think they probably need 1 minor league signing like a miley or tomlin from the last couple years and another guy you'd hope to get 25+ starts from.

 

You forgot Lindblom. IMO Faria was so horrible he doesn't make the team and he is out of options. Stearns has indicated they would like Suter and Peralta to be in the pen. I can't imagine how Burnes doesn't start the year in AAA. Both quantity and quality are severely lacking right now. It's still only Dec. 13th and I believe Stearns has more surprises up his sleeve

 

Whoops lol. I was looking off their 40 man on their website and totally brain farted on Lindblom. I still think the overall point still stands about where they are rotation depth wise. Could use 1 minor league signing and 1 major league signing.

[DHonks]

 

Financial terms unknown at this point but I can't see it being very much. He's not going to blow anyone away but I like this as a solid #4/#5 signing.

 

Doesn't matter how bad Omar Navarez is at throwing out runners if we have a few lefties in the rotation holding guys on.

 

I really wanted us to get him...in the draft. Would love to find those old archives. Still he’s a welcome addition

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Brett Anderson has a little more of an injury history, and wasn't as solid at the beginning of his career as Miley, but also wasn't nearly as terrible as Miley was before his time as a Brewer. But the two of them compare pretty favorably stuff and makeup wise.

[brewerfan82]

Another great low cost acquisition by Stearns. So far he's added SP Anderson, SP Lauer, SP Lindblom, C Narvaez, SS Urias, re-signed RP Claudio, while picking up some insurance/wildcard/depth pieces in IF Rodriguez, OF Broxton, RP Grimm, RP Yardley. These aren't the sexiest moves, but he's filling holes with capable players and has built up a ton of financial flexibility with a ton of offseason remaining. I'm excited to see if he has a couple of his annual post-Winter Meeting surprises still to come in the next month!

[3and2Fastball]

$5 million plus incentives on a 1 year deal for a LHP Starter who had a 3.89 ERA last year...

 

I don’t see why this is not a great signing....

 

Did Stearns come out and announce that the Brewers 2020 rotation is now in place, and I missed it? Is it Feb 13th? Because I’m pretty sure my calendar says Dec 13th...

[markedman5]

Eh. A pitch to contact guy if there ever was one. They did need some SP depth, just not sure if ths is an upgrade over Anderson and I would guess it will come in around the same price that he was given what the market has been. But I could be wrong. Maybe it'll be much lower than I'm expecting.

 

I think he will be making much less than Anderson's $8.5m

 

Yep.....https://twitter.com/buster_espn/status/1205587800730542082?s=21

[wallus]

 

Did Stearns come out and announce that the Brewers 2020 rotation is now in place, and I missed it? Is it Feb 13th? Because I’m pretty sure my calendar says Dec 13th...

 

Nope. Each move we make I read posts like we are done for the offseason. I don't get it.

[SeaBass]

I understand being underwhelmed at this move but I do not understand being upset about this move.

Exactly.

 

The Wade Miley references in nearly every pitching related thread is almost comical at this point, and I mean that not because I'm against the Brewers reuniting with with Miley, but because it's as if nobody can think of a single other pitcher the Brewers could possibly be interested that might provide the same under the radar value.

[markedman5]

$5 million plus incentives on a 1 year deal for a LHP Starter who had a 3.89 ERA last year...

 

I don’t see why this is not a great signing....

 

Did Stearns come out and announce that the Brewers 2020 rotation is now in place, and I missed it? Is it Feb 13th? Because I’m pretty sure my calendar says Dec 13th...

 

He didn't say it from this comment kind of seems that's what they are leaning

 

[Thurston Fluff]

Nice signing. I really don't care if they get anyone better than this level of starter. I'm ok with it if they do but I just don't know how necessary it is given they way they use starters. They get 4-5 innings out of them and are happy. Spending to get someone that doesn't fit the way they use starters just doesn't seem like a wise use of money.

 

Last season the staff started out pretty horrible yet the team itself did quite well at the same time. That indicates to me that high end starting pitching isn't nearly as important as traditionally thought for the way this team operates. Given the way Stearns has gone about acquiring starting pitching throughout his tenure here I expect he thinks the cost benefit ratio of average at best starters is better than high end starters. Obviously when a #1 or 2 comes up from the farm it can only help but I just wouldn't expect them it takes to get one in free agency or trade.

[MrTPlush]

It's a big IF but IF Anderson has a healthy 2020 he could easily be the Brewers #2 behind Woodruff. For $5 million plus incentives, I'm not going to complain about this signing. I'm also not going to say "job done, let's head to camp" either.

 

#2?

 

We must really be in rebuild mode if he is the second best pitcher we got. Lol

[SRB]

I don't really intend to get in a tit for tat, but i'm sorry making a wild card game is not "making the playoffs." It's precisely what it says it is contrary to what MLB sells it as...a play in game. Was a fun time until Mr. Butterfinger ruined our actual playoff hopes, but oh well.

 

There's alot of emotion in free agency, and while I like this for a depth signing quite a bit, this rotation is still pretty unacceptable from my personal view. We spent a butt load of capital signing Lorenzo Cain, and spent a butt load of prospect (on paper) capital acquiring Christian Yelich, and if Brent Suter is what we're thinking of trotting out there every 5th day in the back end we wasted a bunch of money IMO.

 

Sign a starter with the talent of a Ryu and you won't hear any more complaining about signings like Brett Anderson or Lindblom.

 

Yeah if only we had a "real" pitcher at the end of that "non playoff game" (2018 did not happen of course) instead of... Josh Hader?

[Ennder]

Nice little depth move. I don't understand why people were so gung ho that last year's staff was going to be a strength of the team and are worried about this seasons. The floor on this one so far looks higher. Just like last year though, I hope they still sign a more stable depth guy to slot in the middle. Someone not coming out of another league or off of 3 years of injuries. Just to have more stability for innings.

 

Also the Wild Card is a playoff game. This isn't one of those points up for discussion. They pay the umps playoff wages, you use playoff rosters, you play by playoff rules and the league calls it a playoff. There is no reasonable way to say it isn't a playoff game other than just personal stubbornness.

[RollieTime]

Responding only after reading the first handful of posts... The man has a career FIP under 4. If we had 5 guys like that last year, we would of had the 8th best starting rotation in the MLB. Let that sink in.

 

He doesn’t walk a ton of people and he doesn’t give up a ton of home runs either. He might give up some hits and doesn’t strike a ton of guys out, but he’s an effective number 3 or 4 pitcher. We could of done much worse here.

[brewerhuman]

I'm not terribly enthused or bummed out by this move. Big names excite me for obvious reasons, I admit that. If these kind of signings leave more room in the budget for a medium-to-high level impact bat or two via FA or trade, I'll be really happy with the total puzzle.

[SRB]

It's a big IF but IF Anderson has a healthy 2020 he could easily be the Brewers #2 behind Woodruff. For $5 million plus incentives, I'm not going to complain about this signing. I'm also not going to say "job done, let's head to camp" either.

 

#2?

 

We must really be in rebuild mode if he is the second best pitcher we got. Lol

 

Hate to overuse the Moneyball analogy but I think it's pretty clear by this point that Stearns has successfully ignore the "old school" wisdom about what a starting rotation needs to look like. I think Anderson is another guy that can reliably give you 5.0 IP and then pass it over to the bullpen. Maximizing value rather than going all in on 1-2 star pitchers.

[bill hAll Star]

We were a diving Chris Taylor catch away from a good shot at the World Series with, who, maybe Jhoulys Chacin as technically our "#2 starter" that year? Miley once he got going maybe?

[Roderick]

It's a big IF but IF Anderson has a healthy 2020 he could easily be the Brewers #2 behind Woodruff. For $5 million plus incentives, I'm not going to complain about this signing. I'm also not going to say "job done, let's head to camp" either.

 

#2?

 

We must really be in rebuild mode if he is the second best pitcher we got. Lol

 

Hate to overuse the Moneyball analogy but I think it's pretty clear by this point that Stearns has successfully ignore the "old school" wisdom about what a starting rotation needs to look like. I think Anderson is another guy that can reliably give you 5.0 IP and then pass it over to the bullpen. Maximizing value rather than going all in on 1-2 star pitchers.

 

I don't know if they are going to have the pitcher option flexibility in the pen to shuttle guys up and down as they have in years past. Plus the stay is now 15 days instead of 10, right? So better have less extra inning games this year.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

It's upsetting because it's a waste of a 40 man roster spot that should be going to a better player.

 

They have like 34 guys on the 40 man.

 

It should be going to a better player though. I want at least like 24 Trouts.

[et bbal]

11 year veteran, 8 years with an era under 4.5. Three of which are sub 3.00 and 2 more below 4.00. I think if he stays healthy throughout his career he is likely a pretty big name. Also, playing most of his career on the west coast (Athletics, Dodgers, and Rockies) tends to minimize the name recognition. I am a bit surprised his strikeout numbers are so low, but all in all I am actually very happy with this signing. When healthy he is a very good pitcher.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

It's a big IF but IF Anderson has a healthy 2020 he could easily be the Brewers #2 behind Woodruff. For $5 million plus incentives, I'm not going to complain about this signing. I'm also not going to say "job done, let's head to camp" either.

 

#2?

 

We must really be in rebuild mode if he is the second best pitcher we got. Lol

 

You have a tendency to skip over key words so I'll post my comment again and highlight the one you seem to be missing...

 

It's a big IF but IF Anderson has a healthy 2020 he could easily be the Brewers #2 behind Woodruff. For $5 million plus incentives, I'm not going to complain about this signing. I'm also not going to say "job done, let's head to camp" either.

 

And that's not some outlandish statement considering Anderson's WAR last year (2.7) would have ranked, you guessed it, 2nd on the Brewers pitching staff last year behind Brandon Woodruff (2.9).

[brewmann04]

I still like to see David ink Dallas to a deal.

[JohnBriggs12]

I'm fine with the signing. He's had recent success on a winning team Market under values pitch to contact guys. I'm more worried about corner infield spots. Defense at 3B now a bigger priority.

[patrickgpe]

It's upsetting because it's a waste of a 40 man roster spot that should be going to a better player.

I could easily come up with bigger wastes on the 40 (Deolis Guerra is the most obvious choice). I disagree though that he is a waste of a roster spot.

[brewerfan82]

It's a big IF but IF Anderson has a healthy 2020 he could easily be the Brewers #2 behind Woodruff. For $5 million plus incentives, I'm not going to complain about this signing. I'm also not going to say "job done, let's head to camp" either.

 

#2?

 

We must really be in rebuild mode if he is the second best pitcher we got. Lol

Well he would have been last year, so doesn't seem like a huge stretch... at least according to fWAR.

 

 

And btw, Lauer would have came in 2nd with a 2.3 WAR as well. I guess this also shows how little we've actually lost in terms of starters so far this offseason / how bad the rotation was last year yet still got them to the Wild Card game. So in comparison to last year, this rotation is shaping up to be "good enough" already. Obviously I wouldn't mind a Keuchel/Ryu to solidify things a bit and 1B/3B still need to be shored up, but there's a lot of time and money still available to get things done. I think we're in a very good, David Stearns-y spot to be in right now.