Coming off his most productive season in years, Brett Anderson has decided to stick with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
According to ESPN's Buster Olney, Anderson has accepted the Dodgers' qualifying offer. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports confirmed that Anderson would be taking the one-year guarantee.
Under terms of the qualifying-offer system, per Doug Miller of MLB.com, players who accept will make $15.8 million in 2016.
Anderson has been one of the biggest cautionary tales in MLB for years. The left-hander has always shown great ability when healthy, but injuries had prevented him from making 20 starts in a season for five consecutive years before 2015.
Last year, starting a career-high 31 games for the Dodgers, Anderson proved that he has a lot left in the tank.
Even though Anderson doesn't miss bats the way he used to, he has always generated a lot of ground balls, and last season was his best year in that regard. His 66.3 percent rate in 2015 was nearly 5 percent better than any other starting pitcher in the majors, per FanGraphs.
Speaking to Mark Saxon of ESPN.com in March, Anderson talked about why his ability to keep the ball on the ground is such a critical part of his game.
“When I was younger and throwing harder, I’d strike more people out. Obviously, you have to evolve,” Anderson said. “As I’ve gotten older and had some of the injuries, I don’t throw quite as hard, but that’s part of pitching and part of being in the big leagues for a little while now.”
The Dodgers put Anderson in a situation where he doesn't have to lead the rotation like he did in Oakland and Colorado because Clayton Kershaw is the staff ace. The team faces uncertainty behind Kershaw next season, with Zack Greinke opting out of his deal and Brandon McCarthy set to miss the start of 2016 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The 27-year-old Anderson will continue to be a volatile pitcher until he builds a track record of staying healthy, but the Dodgers can expect another solid season after his work in 2015, securing much-needed rotation depth.
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