With the MLB trade deadline fast approaching, every transaction is magnified as every move could have an impact on the outcome of the season. While teams attempt to build the best possible roster for a playoff push and postseason run, potentially impactful players can find themselves casualties of the inevitable churn.
Pitcher Nick Anderson is one such player. After the Kansas City Royals released the reliever, Anderson cleared waivers and is now a free agent, per MLB insider Bob Nightengale on X.
Anderson was designated for assignment by the Royals on July 14. However, the fifth-year veteran opted against a trip to the minors so Kansas City released him.
Anderson showed promise early in his career. In his rookie season in 2019 he posted a 3.32 ERA and 1.077 WHIP in 68 appearances, racking up a whopping 110 strikeouts in 65 innings pitched. He was also named to the All-MLB first team in 2020.
Unfortunately, injuries derailed much of the next three years – he missed the entire 2022 season. In fact, his 37 appearances and 35.2 innings pitched for the Royals in 2024 are the second best totals he’s managed in his career.
Still, he’s been effective when healthy. Last year with the Atlanta Braves Anderson had a 3.06 ERA, a 9.2 K/9 and an excellent ERA+ of 145. However, Anderson has struggled this year, posting a 4.04 ERA, 1.402 WHIP and 0.3 WAR while his K/9 dropped and his 3.8 BB/9 is the worst of his career.
And yet, with no fewer than nine teams openly seeking bullpen help at the trade deadline, it likely won’t take Anderson too long to find a new home. Now that he’s cleared waivers, Anderson can be signed for the $740K league minimum salary. Even more enticing, his new team would only have to pay the amount remaining on the league minimum from whenever he is signed.
Ex-Royals relief pitcher Nick Anderson is a free agent
Such a minor financial commitment for a proven reliever at a time when teams are scrambling to reinforce their bullpens for a second-half push all but guarantees Anderson will be pitching again soon. He could even impact the American League playoff race if the Yankees or Red Sox take a flier on the 33-year-old veteran.
The Royals would probably prefer to see Anderson land in the National League, where the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and San Diego Padres, among other teams, are all interested in adding to their bullpen depth.
Kansas City is still very much in the playoff hunt. The Royals are seven games behind the first-place Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central but the team is just one game out of a Wild Card berth and boasts the sixth best record in the American League.
In an effort to bolster their shaky bullpen, the Royals struck a deal with the Washington Nationals to bring in reliever Hunter Harvey. Kansas City sent the organization’s second overall prospect Cayden Wallace and a draft pick to the Nationals to land Harvey. To make room for the new reliever the Royals designated Anderson for assignment.
Harvey hasn’t fared much better than Anderson in 2024. The 29-year-old righty is sporting a 4.20 ERA and a 1.222 WHIP with 0.2 WAR in 45 innings pitched. Although he has produced better K/9, BB/9 and HR/9 rates than Anderson has for the Royals this season. And Harvey is tied for the major league lead in holds this year with 26 at the All-Star break.
Harvey is making $2.35 million this season, compared to Anderson’s $1.575 million salary, and is under team control until 2026. According to Royals’ GM J.J. Picollo, the team had its sights on Harvey “for a number of years,” per MLB.com’s Anne Rogers. Speaking of the trade, Picollo said, “I’d like to think we have a better bullpen today than we had earlier [Saturday] going into the game, and we’re excited to get Hunter in a Royals uniform.”
Some pitching-needy team will likely soon be excited to add Anderson to their bullpen as cost-effective relief pitchers with past success at the major league level are particularly appealing at this point in the season.
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