12:39pm: The Blue Jays and Brewers have formally announced the trade.
10:40am: The Blue Jays are sending minor league first baseman Chad Spanberger to Milwaukee to complete the deal, TSN’s Scott Mitchell tweets.
10:23am: The Blue Jays are set to acquire right-hander Chase Anderson from the Brewers, Robert Murray reports via Twitter. Anderson is under control through the 2021 season via a pair of club options, and the decision on that first option (valued at $8.5MM) is due today. The pitching-needy Blue Jays figure to pick that option up and plug Anderson into the rotation. Toronto will also have a $9.5MM option on Anderson in 2021 (with a $500K buyout).
Anderson, who’ll turn 32 later this month, has been a staple on the Milwaukee staff for the past four seasons, averaging 30 appearances and 28 starts per season in that time. The Brewers have become increasingly aggressive in limiting their starters’ innings in recent seasons, which suppressed Anderson’s innings total in 2019 in particular. Five of Anderson’s 2019 appearances came in relief, but even in his 27 starts, he averaged just over 4 2/3 innings per outing (with a 4.29 ERA).
In all, over the past four seasons, Anderson has given the Brewers 590 innings of 3.83 ERA ball while averaging 7.7 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 1.45 HR/9 to go along with a 36.1 percent ground-ball rate. He doesn’t stand out in terms of spin rate on his fastball or curve, but Anderson’s 93.4 mph average heater in 2019 was a career-best. Anderson has also generally been well above-average in terms of limiting hard contact and opponents’ exit velocity, ranking in the 76th and 83rd percentiles, respectively, among pitchers in 2019.
Today’s trade surely signals that the Brewers weren’t sold on retaining Anderson at that $8.5MM rate. They could’ve bought him out and retained him via arbitration — Anderson has not yet reached six years of MLB service but will in 2020 — but MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected an even heftier salary in arbitration ($10.3MM) than he’d earn on this option. Anderson may not be given the green light to turn an opponent’s lineup over for a third time with too much frequency next year, but he’ll presumably have a longer leash on a start-to-start basis than he did with the Brewers.
The Blue Jays entered the offseason needing to add several pitchers to a beleaguered rotation that lacked even a modicum of clarity heading into 2020. Right-handers Trenth Thornton and Jacob Waguespack were the de facto members of the starting staff prior to today’s trade, but Thornton struggled to keep his ERA south of 5.00 while Waguespack threw just 65 1/3 Major League innings (4.13 ERA, 4.81 FIP). Toronto will also likely have veteran righty Matt Shoemaker back in 2020, but he’s a bit of an unknown coming off surgery to repair a torn ACL suffered early in the 2019 campaign. Righties T.J. Zeuch and Sean Reid-Foley also received auditions in 2019, as did southpaw Anthony Kay. That trio will be in the mix once again next season, as well.
Even with Anderson now on board, the Jays will surely be in the market for additional help on the starting staff — likely some higher-ed names than Anderson, who’ll be more of a back-of-the-rotation stabilizer. Toronto general manager Ross Atkins stressed at his end-of-season press conference that the Blue Jays need to find “pitching we can count on,” emphasizing that merely stockpiling depth wouldn’t be good enough. “We need to have guys that can contribute in significant ways,” he said at the time.
As for the Brewers, they’ll save themselves a $500K buyout on Anderson and turn the final two seasons of his contractual into the 24-year-old Spanberger, who was selected by the Rockies in the sixth round of the 2017 draft. Toronto had previously acquired him in the trade that sent reliever Seunghwan Oh to the Rockies. Spanberger drew praise for his 70-grade raw power over at FanGraphs prior to the season, although he didn’t post especially impressive numbers in the pitcher-friendly Eastern League, where he hit .237/.308/.399 with 13 homers and 29 doubles (108 wRC+). He spent more time in right field than at first base in 2019 and could eventually give the Brewers some bat-first corner depth.
Brewers cutting payroll to make a run at a top SP?
Getting rid of dead weight.
Exactly. We’re talking about a 4 or 5 inning “opener” type of pitcher.
if he’s dead weight then so is the entire brewers rotation except for woodruff
and somehow that dead weight pitching got us to the postseason last year over the mighty cubbies who had another September meltdown lol.
There’s a reason why they have so many bullpen games. Their starting pitching is why they have not been able to get over the hump these past two years. They fix that, and they’re in the World Series.
Yep. Getting Wheeler
Buy low!
Not a huge fan of him but hopefully he can be like the last time they picked up a bottom of the rotation Brewers starter.
Estrada. Yes indeed.
Brewer fans are happy in this moment. Long ball chase is finally gone! Make a run at Wheeler/Odorizzi
You mean to tell me that you’re not going to miss a mediocre 4-inning “opener” type? It isn’t like mediocre 4-inning pitchers grow on trees. There are only like hundreds of those all over MLB, International Ball, AAA, and free agency.
an a Marlins fan would know!
Their big league club has basically been a AAA team over the last couple years !
Odd move for a team that needs starting pitching.
Anderson/Gio were not going to get this team to a championship. While Anderson may be a serviceable starter, hes not a difference maker for the money hes making.
Not nearly as odd as paying him $8.5 million in 2020.
I’d much rather throw that money at one of the guys who pitched for them last year who are now looking for offers…
Yeah, it’s going to be really hard to replace a 4-inning mediocre pitcher. $8.5 million was a bargain for that guy.
If I’m expecting the Blue Jays to contend in 2020 I’d say this is a waste of time. But this is perfect for a team looking to move the ball forward a few yards rather than go for the long bomb. If Anderson is eaten alive in the AL East, the Jays can decline the 2021 option. If he succeeds he can be traded.
As of today Chase Anderson is the Blue Jays #1 or #2 starter on-paper. And if the Jays traded Grichuk for Anderson I’d say it’s the best deal Atkins has made since Francisco Liriano.
Hard to believe a trade for a non elite rental middle reliever is still giving. Two months of Oh turned into an actual legit relief prospect, and decent former first rounder, and now a MLB starting pitcher. Not bad.
Yep. Baker should have been in Buffalo much sooner than he was in 2019. Forrest Wall might get a call midseason IF he performs in Buffalo. Giles would net a much stronger return, obviously.
Pretty good deal for both teams here in my opinion
Better deal for the Brewers.
the fact that we saved 8.5 million is the real win. Any prospect added is just gravy
We only saved 500k.
No we saved 8.5M. Blue Jays are picking up his option.
No 500K as the Brewers don’t pick up his option they only owed him 500K and did not owe him $8 million so Brewers saved only 500K as he was not getting his option pciked up otherwise with the Brewers.
Wow, underwhelming news.
Jay’s trying to find that Shoemaker magic again… He’ll get a good look in 2020 and is decent enough and cheap enough to keep them competitive while the young arms mature in the minors.
With regard to this trade and the big winners…I’d like to congratulate the Brewers, Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox fans on Anderson being traded to the Blue Jays. There is plenty to love in this trade for those four fan bases.
What an incomprehensibly stupid take. And you repeated your moronic take a dozen times. $8.5 million actually is a lot to the garbage franchises in Florida, but for owners that actually spend a little on their teams, this is a great pickup for a starting pitching-poor team. 🙂
You’re all over these comments. Chase take your girl?
Toronto must feel the lower tier starters will get more than $8.5 million AAV. Or they feel Anderson has some untapped upside.
I have a feeling they are wrong on the first part. No idea on the second.
They can always decline the option, and pay him 500k or so, right? Not sure how the market is, but those numbers seem in line with previous years for this type of pitchers.
Does this put Brent Suter into a better position to contend for a starting spot, or is he stuck in the pen?
I say dont mess with it. He had terrific success out of the pen, and i think he needs to stay where he is. He is not a guy that can go through the lineup 2-3 times. Hes a great guy for the 5/6th in case of a short start–and the Brewers tend to have many of those. I think he gets shelled in the rotation.
Also, the Brewers screwed up Corbin Burnes by flipping him from pen-starter, pen-starter. Leave the guys where they are when they are having success.
Agreed, leave him in the pen. He was lights out
doesnt get you deep into games, but gives you 5 strong, which is more tham can be said about most pitchers these days. seems like a puzzling move for the Brewers.
Now the brewers have Corey spangenberg and Chad soanberger
I believe corey is now a fa..dont quote me though.
This is a solid move for the Jays I guess.. They gave up nothing to get a starter, but what future does he have with the club? He’s just another stop gap, and if he is, how many of those guys you want on the team?.. Shoemaker who’s a question mark going into next season, and now Chase Anderson. I don’t know.. Atkins should be acquiring real core players on this pitching staff, even if he has to use some of the better prospects to do so. Considering what they gave up, it’s an alright deal, but the Jays wont compete next season, so what really was the point to this? Other then to just be better for next year?.. I don’t know.. If Shoemaker bounces back next season from his injury, then I like this move, if not, then acquiring Anderson will be just to have an adequate arm in the rotation next year, in a throw away season.. It’s a solid move, they got him for free pretty much, but I doubt he has any real future with the Jays.. Atkins needs to acquire young controllable rotation arms, not stop gap guys on throw away seasons coming up..
My guess is to let him have 1 season and drop him if he gets lit up in the AL. Similar build and stuff as Sean Reid-Foley, maybe he mentors him? A definite trade candidate if he bounces back to 2017-18 levels.
I hear what you are saying; Blue Jays could go after Strasburg and Cole, throw huge money and still have some left to spend. The younger, controllable guys will cost them prospects they are not prepared to deal. I see 2020 as a lost season and a “who will step their game up” year. There are so many questions with the current crop. I say hold off on the big risk/reward until the team answers those questions with the current crop of guys trying to solidify their place on the team.
Mario, what you said. I like your take.
They didn’t get him for free. True, the players that were sent back were not exactly Trout or Cole, but the Jays still have to pay $8.5mm or so for him next year.
Free as in what we gave up.. A prospect that will most likely never see the big leagues, and the 8.5 million dollar club option is probably more of a reason the Jays shouldn’t have made this move. What they gave up, it’s a free acquisition, but to pay him 8.5 million for a stop gap starter, the Jays are probably expecting Anderson to perform well next season.. I don’t know what to make of this move at all… If it wasnt for the 8.5 million dollar contract, I’d say it’s a very solid move, but on that contract, I don’t know what to make of it. I’m sure they coulda got someone much cheaper with similiar stats off of last season, but the Jays may have had to give up more.. For the Brewers this was a salary dump, for the Jays they got him for free considering what they gave up.. The salary though, is the issue, but considering where the Jays are financially it’s a gamble they could afford.
Valid points Mario. If Milwaukee was expected to hit the half-million buyout the Jays could have signed him to a lesser amount I suppose. You nailed it with your last line.
I agree.. I doubt someone would’ve given him 8.5 on the open market. Max I could’ve seen a 1 year 7 million dollar deal, seem’s much more reasonable, probably realistic as well. Guessing Atkins and Shapiro really like this guy, see more upside than what he showed last season. That has to be it.. We’ll see… Plenty of question marks for me with this move.
I think this trade fills a huge hole for the Jays. Their rotation needs all the help it can get. If he gets out the gate like Shoemaker consider him dealt by the July deadline. This was the prospect we got for Oh given to the Brewers here. It’s worth the risk.
Remember this front office paid more to Jaime Garcia years ago and we saw how that turned out. I really hope this doesn’t turn out worse….
The perfect small market/big market learning opportunity. Anderson’s not bad, and was very valuable to a team like the Brewers as long as he was (relatively) cheap.
But then Auntie Arbitration came along, and made the Anderson-s of the world affordable only to teams with loads of revenue, which the Brewers simply don’t have. The return isn’t much of anything, but it saves the embarrassment of non-tendering Anderson.
The Brewers aren’t like a lot of small market teams; they operate on pretty much the cusp of payroll possibility. For that, they deserve some credit.
It wasn’t a matter of the “embarrassment of non-tendering Anderson.” The Brewers had a team option decision this season and next for his contract, which they extended in 2017. They must have figured they could pay his elevated salaries if needed because they signed him to the extension.
I’m unable to gauge 1B Chad Spanberger. Offensively, he’s a LH hitter with speed, power and poor plate discipline. Defensively, his play around 1B is not improving at all.
A 24-year old AA first baseman who struggled offensively in 2019. Will probably repeat AA next year. Most likely a late bloomer if a Brewers minor league coach can unlock something that’s holding him back. Otherwise he will do nothing in the big leagues.
There’s your scouting report.
Look strangely like a scouting report in these pages when the jays traded for him. Spanberger might have a sniff at the big leagues but that’s it.
Wheeler and Mad Bum from Georgia, so I would think the Braves have a leg up!
What Mario said above plus this is a glowing first example of the desire not to build or win at the Blue Jays major league level.
Yes it is a lost year. Spanberger is a non MLB prospect so they converted a bad prospect into a trade piece. But it doesn’t really help winning In The ALEast.
Unless the Jays follow up by acquiring some real talent, We now know that Shapiro’s words at the end of 2019 season were garbage. Surprise.
Anderson will likely be a flip at the deadline if healthy and performing.
Nonsense, complete and utter nonsnse! wait for the middle of Free agency to arrive before saying peoples words are garbage! Jeez FA has yet to officially begin
JaysFan you’ve had over 40 years to figure out what Jimmer is saying is true; Blue Jays aren’t looking to acquire big time talent. No way, no how. That said, They could snag Cole and Strasburg, sign Rendon, move Vlad to RF/DH, trade Grichuk for JA Happ, sign Didi, move Bo to 2B, move Biggio to LF, move Gurriel to 1B, deal Tellez and Alford for Marte and still not win 90 games.
But what Jimmer said is not nonsense.
Those 40 years include two World Series championships where the Jays had the highest payroll in baseball. You know that, right?
And what have they done the last 25 years Terry? How about the last 20 years under Rogers ownership? Are you brushing that aside? Don’t answer, that’s an emphatic yes. Thank you for bringing nothing to the table once again. Well, maybe sheer anger on your part.
Easy their Jimmer, It’s like 5 minutes into the off season.. its a start. er!
But Jimmertree saw all this 40 years ago! He has been right about every Jays move yo these many decades — just ask him! — so how can he be wrong now???
QED
Deep breath. Deep breath. Shapiro and Atkins are not fools, Shapiro and Atkins are not fools……….
LMAO…… your going to hurt yourself chanting that over and over. Your tongue is going to snap off at the roller. Lay down and close your eyes and dream of a better time when we had people who knew baseball running the Jays.
Is Anderson going to be the savior absolutely not but he’s got 6 years in the majors with and winning record each year and he gets you about 150 innings per season. He is a stop gap. The Jays need pitchers who can pitch and keep them in games, at least until the rookies have some time to develop, He’s a vast improvement over the likes of Jackson, and Norris that they signed last season.
Hey congrads to Freddy Galvis the Reds picked up his option.
8.5 mil for 1.2 war. Could be worse. Jays are desperate for starting pitching. I expect this to be the first small move to upgrade the rotation and depth but won’t be the move we want: Strasburg or Cole.