Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
In an offseason that surely will see many candidates, Tyler Anderson is leading the Giants in transactions.
The lefty starting pitcher was claimed Oct. 30 from Colorado, was non-tendered Monday as San Francisco ducked arbitration that would have pegged him to be worth around $2.625 million, and now has agreed to a one-year deal for 2020.
The Giants and Anderson agreed to a pact Tuesday that, while the price tag is not yet known, is less than what the fifth-year starter would have made. The trend throughout the industry has been to avoid arbitration, as teams have become better at maneuvering around the hearings and agree to lesser deals with players. None of the arbitration-eligible Giants saw arbitration this offseason, as Donovan Solano, Alex Dickerson and Wandy Peralta agreed to one-year deals, while Kevin Pillar, Joey Rickard, Rico Garcia and Anderson were non-tendered.
Anderson, 30 this month, had a standout rookie season in 2016, posting a 3.54 ERA (and 3.59 FIP) in 114 1/3 innings with Colorado. Much of his 2017 campaign was lost to knee surgery, his 2018 was marred by allowing a league-leading 30 home runs — Coors Field was not kind to him — and last season he made just five major league starts before knee surgery.
Anderson isn’t expected to be ready at the start of spring training, but if his knee heals completely, he would be well-positioned to contend for a rotation spot on a staff that only would guarantee spots to Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto. Madison Bumgarner is not likely to return — and less likely after Pillar was let go — while Tyler Beede, Logan Webb, Dereck Rodriguez, Shaun Anderson and Conner Menez will compete with Tyler Anderson to fill out the rotation.