Brian Anderson to Brewers!!!! Yes!!!

[MVP2110]

27 minutes ago, SRB said:

Anderson has great upside and a high floor at two positions of relative need (3B/RF), which is why he was one of my dream targets this off-season. Great signing by the Brewers at just $3.5 million guaranteed!

I never understand people who are disappointed by any signing that is not a guaranteed All Star. Between 2018-2020, Anderson was a 3-3.5 fWAR player per 162 games played. If he had not struggled with injuries the last couple years and was otherwise a free agent at 29 years old, he easily would have been looking at a $70+ million contract this season. A team like the Brewers has to bank on upside picks. Also weird to criticize this move on the assumption that this bumps Urias to 2B and Turang to a utility role to start. Yeah, Anderson is a question mark, but you have to be extremely optimistic to pencil in Turang for better offensive production straight out of the gate as a rookie than Anderson put up even during his down years.

I don't see how the Brewers are not a significantly better team now.

I am far from the type who dislikes every signing. I quite liked the Wade Miley signing, but this one just isn't it for me. If it was just to give him a chance to compete that'd be one thing, but to guarantee him at minimum 1-2 months worth of at bats just doesn't seem smart to me. He flat-out hasn't been good the last two seasons. MLB History is littered with players who popped up for a couple years then faded away to being bad players(ex. Travis Shaw). Maybe he turns into 2018-2020 Brian Anderson, or maybe he's just not that guy anymore, and I don't understand why we needed to give him a guaranteed contract to find out.

[Axman59]

The guy was non-tendered by a team that won 69 games last season. I find it hard to get excited about that kind of player...

[brewcrewdue80]

1 hour ago, Axman59 said:

The guy was non-tendered by a team that won 69 games last season. I find it hard to get excited about that kind of player...

They picked a young top 100 prospect in Jordan Groshans to play at 3b.  They also have a recently better Joey Wendle to be backup.  Unlike the Brewers they are committing to allow their young players play versus leaving a reason to keep them blocked.  Plus Anderson's past made him a bigger Arb projection than what his recent play is worth.

I'm not too excited since this precludes less playing time towards Turang, Urias, Brosseau, and potentially some of the big 4 OF prospects whomever they go with at the ML level.  I think the floor helps the depth among the infielders and those incentives must reward to a return to the non-injured version of Anderson prior to 2021 season. 

I think in the end they are better with Anderson if he's 26 on the 26man roster than previous #26 feelings who they would field.  Especially so should Urias have another typical IL stint when opening day arrives. 

 

 

[Redd Vencher]

2 hours ago, Axman59 said:

The guy was non-tendered by a team that won 69 games last season. I find it hard to get excited about that kind of player...

They had their 4th highest payroll in franchise history last year. Spending $6 M on a guy who's struggled with shoulder issues the last 2 seasons is tough to do with other raises.

[Robocaller]

On 1/17/2023 at 10:17 PM, wiguy94 said:

Brewers have managed to get their hands on another RHH with career reverse splits. We are just stacking up this team to destroy RHP again. 

He hit LHP pretty well in 2022.

 

[Robocaller]

20 hours ago, Ron Robinsons Beard said:

$5.5 million max deal for a solid bounceback candidate with a decent track record at the position of need. I would think that the chance of Anderson bouncing back at 29 years old is substantially higher than Mike Moustakas bouncing back at 34 ... even if Moose bounced a little bit higher at his peak. 

I think that's a bit of an overpay. I'd rather have a $3.5-5.5M late-inning reliever.

[Robocaller]

14 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

I feel like barring a super good spring training that Turang will be in the minors until the super 2 deadline. 

Definitely.

I think we'll have an INF mob with Rowdy and Adames pencilled in most games at 1B and SS respectively, but with Urias, Anderson, and whomever else breaks spring training on the 26 all playing multiple positions. If Adames gets injured, Turang will have to be brought up because the other guys shouldn't be playing SS except in an emergency.

It's really hard to know what we'll get from Anderson. 

I'm wondering what this means for Hiura, who already wasn't certain to make the roster, but has a guaranteed contract.

 

[Robocaller]

15 hours ago, sveumrules said:

Barring injury he'll be on the OD roster, but I don't think he's guaranteed a starting spot just yet. 

Brewers FO are big fans of depth/competition so I think BA and Turang will both make the OD roster and neither will be a "starter" in the traditional sense.

Maybe something like...

1B: Rowdy (122) Bross (40)
2B: Brice (112) Urias (50)
SS: Adames (150) Brice (12)
3B: Urias (80) Anderson (72)

Can give Anderson additional games in RF, or slide games back and forth between him and Brice based on match up, performance, injury, etc and still have plenty of PAs for everybody.

 

So Toro and Miller are sent down? And Brosseau becomes a 1b?  I'd be surprised as hell if it went down like you propose, though I think Urias will be playing both 2b and 3b. I can't see any way, barring injuries, that Turang is up before June.

[Robocaller]

14 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

Just like with Miley, I’m sure the Brewers have lots of offers on players in the bargain bin, and at this point those players are probably choosing which deal to take based on best guaranteed cash, best playing time, etc. 

Except this wasn't really much of a bargain.

[Robocaller]

9 hours ago, SRB said:

Anderson has great upside and a high floor at two positions of relative need (3B/RF), which is why he was one of my dream targets this off-season. Great signing by the Brewers at just $3.5 million guaranteed!

I never understand people who are disappointed by any signing that is not a guaranteed All Star. Between 2018-2020, Anderson was a 3-3.5 fWAR player per 162 games played. If he had not struggled with injuries the last couple years and was otherwise a free agent at 29 years old, he easily would have been looking at a $70+ million contract this season. A team like the Brewers has to bank on upside picks. Also weird to criticize this move on the assumption that this bumps Urias to 2B and Turang to a utility role to start. Yeah, Anderson is a question mark, but you have to be extremely optimistic to pencil in Turang for better offensive production straight out of the gate as a rookie than Anderson put up even during his down years.

I don't see how the Brewers are not a significantly better team now.

Significantly? I don't see it. I'm not all that high on Toro, but he might have more upside than Anderson.  Of course, I could be wrong and he goes back to an .800+ OPS.

 

[Jopal78]

1 hour ago, Robocaller said:

Except this wasn't really much of a bargain.

Look around at what other players have received this off season.

Tommy Pham got 6 million

Adam Duvall got 7 million

Mancini got 2/14 million

McCutchen got 5 million

 

 

[SF70]

If Anderson’s shoulder is finally healthy, this is a good signing, His regression/poor performance pretty much coincides with his shoulder injury.

I’m a develop the rookies guy, but Turang and Wiemer were always going to be kept down until the 3rd week of April at a minimum, now it’s looking like mid-June, unless Anderson sucks/injured again.

 

[Outlander]

2 hours ago, Robocaller said:

So Toro and Miller are sent down? And Brosseau becomes a 1b?  I'd be surprised as hell if it went down like you propose, though I think Urias will be playing both 2b and 3b. I can't see any way, barring injuries, that Turang is up before June.

They would be sent down in that scenario. However, it certainly is less likely Turang begins the year with the Brewers and they just go with a Toro/Miller/Perkins type player on opening day. If Anderson stinks/ constantly on IL again will be forced to bring up Turang.

[jay87shot]

I like this signing, with Miller and Toro having options it is fine. As a 4th OF and utility infielder he should be good. We have had good luck with Marlins players and when our players go there they are worse. Players have attributed the batters eye to the improvement. I would think.  At least early on I would think he gets a ton of playing time with Urias going to 2B at times and Taylor in CF. He probably can play 1B occasionally as well if given some time in camp.

[sveumrules]

4 hours ago, Robocaller said:

I think that's a bit of an overpay. I'd rather have a $3.5-5.5M late-inning reliever.

What kind of late inning reliever is signing for that kind of money on a one year deal?

Looking at the FA tracker for this offseason the only RPs to sign in that range are Mychal Givens, Pierce Johnson and Miguel Castro.

[jay87shot]

8 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

What kind of late inning reliever is signing for that kind of money on a one year deal?

Looking at the FA tracker for this offseason the only RPs to sign in that range are Mychal Givens, Pierce Johnson and Miguel Castro.

Agreed, the FA reliever market has been crazy. Anderson has enough upside with the bat and his versatility to be a big upgrade. Say he plays 3B vs lefties (Urias to 2B) and plays 2-3 times a week in the OF at least to start the year. Anderson can kind of work like Jace last year with Urias going to 2nd.

[Brock Beauchamp]

13 hours ago, SRB said:

Anderson has great upside and a high floor at two positions of relative need (3B/RF), which is why he was one of my dream targets this off-season. Great signing by the Brewers at just $3.5 million guaranteed!

I never understand people who are disappointed by any signing that is not a guaranteed All Star. Between 2018-2020, Anderson was a 3-3.5 fWAR player per 162 games played. If he had not struggled with injuries the last couple years and was otherwise a free agent at 29 years old, he easily would have been looking at a $70+ million contract this season. A team like the Brewers has to bank on upside picks. Also weird to criticize this move on the assumption that this bumps Urias to 2B and Turang to a utility role to start. Yeah, Anderson is a question mark, but you have to be extremely optimistic to pencil in Turang for better offensive production straight out of the gate as a rookie than Anderson put up even during his down years.

I don't see how the Brewers are not a significantly better team now.

I agree with all of this, literally my only complaint about Anderson is his reverse splits. Other than my (still present) desire for the Brewers to acquire another bat that can hit LHP, Anderson checks every box I wanted to see in an acquisition.

[Devinep]

3 hours ago, Jopal78 said:

Look around at what other players have received this off season.

Tommy Pham got 6 million

Adam Duvall got 7 million

Mancini got 2/14 million

McCutchen got 5 million

 

 

And Anderson isn’t much better (if at all) than the players you listed 

[brewerfan82]

4 minutes ago, Devinep said:

And Anderson isn’t much better (if at all) than the players you listed 

We're guaranteeing him practically half the amount of any of those guys... If he's even in the ballpark of being as good as any of them then the assertion that he's a decent deal for the current market seems to hold true.

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 minutes ago, brewerfan82 said:

We're guaranteeing him practically half the amount of any of those guys... If he's even in the ballpark of being as good as any of them then the assertion that he's a decent deal for the current market seems to hold true.

Yeah, if Anderson maxes out his deal to $5.5m, it will be a very good deal for the Brewers.

I still might have preferred Mancini but that's just me. Anderson was a fine pickup.

[wiguy94]

6 hours ago, Robocaller said:

He hit LHP pretty well in 2022.

 

He also had a 36% K-rate and a .366 BABIP against LHP, so I’m not sure thst production is super sustainable. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

3 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

He also had a 36% K-rate and a .366 BABIP against LHP, so I’m not sure thst production is super sustainable. 

Yikes.

[wiguy94]

4 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Yikes.

Looking at his year by year splits against LHP I was pretty hopeful. Outside of 2021 and his rookie year he never was below 95 wRC+ against LHP but 2021 was horrible and his K-rate has spiked against LHP the last two years with a near Hiura level 39% K-rate against them.

I really think this signing is all going to come down to his health. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 minute ago, wiguy94 said:

Looking at his year by year splits against LHP I was pretty hopeful. Outside of 2021 and his rookie year he never was below 95 wRC+ against LHP but 2021 was horrible and his K-rate has spiked against LHP the last two years with a near Hiura level 39% K-rate against them.

I really think this signing is all going to come down to his health. 

Good info. I scanned his YoY splits but didn't notice the spike in Ks against LHP. That's definitely a concerning trend.

[clancyphile]

Best case - Anderson hits well, but Wiemer/Owen Miller/Toro also do so well they make it easy for the Crew to flip Anderson at the deadline for a lottery ticket or two - even in a pennant race.

Middle case - Anderson hits well, holds down RF and/or 3B.

Worst case - Anderson slumps, Brewers DFA him.