Infielders Brian Anderson and Michael Chavis have both opted out of their minor league deals with the Mariners, according to Tacoma Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto on X. Both players now figure to return to the open market as free agents.
Anderson, 31, is the more established big leaguer of the two. The Marlins’s third-round pick in the 2014 draft, Anderson made his big league debut with the club back in 2017 and hit a decent .262/.337/.369 in 25 games for the club that year. That cup of coffee was enough to earn Anderson a more regular role in Miami, and he quickly established himself as one of the more reliable bats in a Marlins lineup lacking in thump. From 2018 to 2020, Anderson slashed .266/.350/.436 with 42 home runs and 74 doubles in 341 games while splitting time between third base and right field with the Marlins. That performance was worth a wRC+ of 115, which was good for 11th among all qualified third baseman during that three year period while his 7.2 fWAR ranked 12th.
Unfortunately, Anderson would find his career derailed by injuries in 2021 as he missed nearly four month with oblique and shoulder issues. While he managed to appear in 67 games in between stints on the injured list, Anderson posted pedestrian numbers when he was healthy enough to take the field, hitting .249/.337/.378 with just 7 home runs and 9 doubles in 264 trips to the plate. His injuries woes continued in 2022, as he missed two months of time across three trips to the injured list for shoulder and back issues while posting a career-worst .222/.311/.346 slash line in 98 games with the club.
The back-to-back campaigns filled with injuries and ineffectiveness were enough for the Marlins to decide to non-tender Anderson during the 2022-23 offseason, making him a free agent for the first time in his career. The infielder landed on his feet with a one-year deal with the Brewers that winter, though a .226/.310/.368 slash line in 361 trips to the plate with the club last year did little to re-establish him as a big league regular. Anderson found himself designated for assignment before the 2023 season came to a close and lingered on the free agent market into Spring Training before eventually joining the Mariners.
As for Chavis, the 28-year-old was once a first-round pick by the Red Sox back in 2014 and was a consensus top-100 prospect in baseball prior to his big league debut. His career hasn’t lived up to that potential to this point, however, as after a decent rookie season where he slashed a roughly league average .254/.322/.444 in 95 games, he’s posted a slash line of just .231/.265/.382 over the past four seasons split between the Red Sox, Pirates, and Nationals. Chavis was outrighted off of Washington’s 40-man roster back in October and elected free agency as a result, eventually landing with the Mariners on a minor league deal in January.
Since joining the Mariners, both Anderson and Chavis have posted solid numbers at the Triple-A level for the club. Anderson has slashed .270/.358/.439 in 176 trips to the plate, while Chavis has impressed with a .290/.367/.485 line in 191 trips to the plate. Unfortunately for the pair, an excellent performance from Dylan Moore as the club’s right-handed utility infielder has left either without an obvious path to big league playing time with the Mariners, particularly after Luis Urias was optioned to the minors to act as depth already on the 40-man roster.
In addition to their solid slash lines at the Triple-A level this year, both veterans can offer solid versatility. The duo split time at both first and third base for the Rainiers during their time in Tacoma, and Anderson has past experience in right field while Chavis has played not only the outfield corners but also second base throughout his career. Looking ahead, it’s fairly easy to imagine in need of infield depth jumping at the chance to sign either player on a minor league deal. Even so, it seems unlikely that interested clubs would be confident enough in the 2024 performances of either player to offer a big league pact given the inflated offensive environment of the Pacific Coast League.
Surprised they didn’t say what their ops+ was in relation to the rest of the PCL. MLBTR usually mentions that caveat when players are in the PCL.
Those numbers aren’t that great considering they were in the PCL.
Numbers this far in the season have been nearly Mandoza Line. Guys like Daniel Vogelbach, Rowdy Tellez, Randy Arozarena, and others hitting half of what Chavis or Anderson is hitting at AAA. The art of hitting is lost at the moment. It’s baffling that guys are keeping jobs when they are hitting between .150-.190.
*cough* Mitch garver and Corbin Carroll *cough*
Remember going to tampa to see the gcl sox play gcl yanks year he was with them. Thought he might have a chance, his 1st yr after being drafted and was the gcl playoffs. then, after cpl years it became more appareant he was another will middlebrooks, that is swung at everything and no plate discipline at all.
So many modern players refuse to take pitches/walks. Why is that? Believe that was Chavis downfall. he never saw a pitch wouldn’t want to swing at, despite not being a bad defender at multiple positions and having decent power, just couldn’t help himself from swinging at anything thrown.
I wanted to see Brian make it with the mariners, I thought that he would be better than urias at 3rd
Anderson would have an MLB job if he could hit LHP. He hasn’t done that in his career. Bit of a surprise.
Chavis could work in Detroit if and when Torkelson is sent back to AAA. Carpenter is out for a couple months. Vierling is now an every day player.
There goes the Rainiers chance at winning the PCL West title. Maybe the people of Tacoma start a Go Fund Me to keep one or both of them.
Maybe not.
They might have brought up one of them instead they chose to look at Bliss. They hold all the answers.