It didn’t take very long for ex-Royals relief pitcher Nick Anderson to find a new home. After being released by Kansas City and clearing waivers Anderson simply waited for a reliever-needy team to snap him up.
A few hours later, the Los Angeles Dodgers did just that, agreeing to terms with the 33-year-old righty, according to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman on X.
The Royals designated Anderson for assignment to create a spot for their newly acquired reliever Hunter Harvey. When Anderson, a veteran with five years of MLB service, turned down a trip to the minors, he was released and became a free agent after clearing waivers on July 20, per MLB insider Bob Nightengale.
Despite a lengthy injury history including a tear in his right elbow ligament that caused him to miss much of the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Anderson has been effective when healthy.
During his rookie season in 2019 he performed admirably, finishing with a 3.32 ERA, 1.077 WHIP and 110 strikeouts in 65 innings pitched. He followed that performance up by making the All-MLB first team in 2020. And after recovering from an elbow ailment, Anderson reminded everyone why he was so highly regarded early in his career with a return to form in 2023. Last season with the Atlanta Braves Anderson posted a 3.06 ERA, 9.2 K/9 and an ERA+ of 145.
Although he has struggled this season with an ERA over 4.00, a 1.402 WHIP and the worst BB/9 of his career, Anderson could be signed for the league minimum salary while the Royals are stuck paying the remainder of his $1.575 million contract.
Being extremely cost-effective and boasting some serious past success as a reliever made it inevitable that Anderson wouldn’t be on the market very long. Sure enough, the Dodgers snatched him on the very day he hit free agency. The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya clarified that Anderson signed with the Dodgers on a minor league deal, giving LA some bullpen flexibility and depth.
Dodgers sign ex-Royals reliever Nick Anderson
It’s been a tale of two halves for the Dodgers’ relievers. From the start of the season up to the end of June, Los Angeles boasted one of baseball’s best bullpens. In that span, Dodgers relief pitchers ranked second-best in MLB in ERA, WHIP and batting average against. LA’s bullpen ranked third in WPA and was top 10 in BB/9 and fWAR.
However, from June 30 through the All-Star break, the bullpen fell off drastically. As a group, Los Angeles relievers ranked 20th or worse in ERA and BB/9. And the Dodgers’ bullpen was especially bad during this period in batting average against (28th overall), WHIP (29th), WPA (29th) and fWAR (27th).
Clearly the Dodgers could use a little help in the bullpen. But the sky isn’t falling for Los Angeles. The team is a healthy 17 games above .500 with a seven game lead over the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West. They have the second-best chance of winning the World Series at 14.3 percent, according to FanGraphs.
Of course, the Dodgers are not simply going to rest on their laurels. The addition of Anderson is just the opening salvo as the team will be active at the trade deadline.
Los Angeles will almost certainly explore the reliever market further as the team is thought to have an interest in acquiring the Miami Marlins’ Tanner Scott. The Dodgers are also in the market for a starting pitcher and are expected to make a serious run at Chicago White Sox’s ace Garrett Crochet. The team has also been linked to White Sox’s center fielder Luis Robert Jr.
Those players are all considered the top-end talent likely to be available at the trade deadline and there will be serious competition for their services. But the Dodgers don’t shy away from headline-making deals. The team has the sixth-highest payroll in MLB and has made 11-consecutive postseason appearances.
Los Angeles is one of the few teams in baseball expected to compete for a title every year. However, despite three-straight 100+ win seasons, the Dodgers have been bounced from the playoffs after just one series in each of the past two years.
With the signing of megastar Shohei Ohtani to the largest contract in sports history – 10 years, $700 million – the Dodgers announced that they’re all in and will do whatever is necessary to win the franchise’s first non-Covid championship since 1988.
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