TODAY: The Pirates have agreed to release Anderson, Alexander reports (via X), and the veteran righty is now free to sign with any team.
MARCH 22: Right-hander Chase Anderson is expected to trigger an out clause in his minor league contract with the Pirates, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2 (on X). If the Bucs don’t add him to the MLB roster, he’d become a free agent.
Anderson is among a host of veterans who faced opt-out decisions on Friday. He’s one of 31 players who had an automatic opt-out right in a minor league deal. That’s a CBA provision for Article XX(B) free agents — typically those with over six years of service time who finished the preceding season in the majors — who sign a non-roster pact more than 10 days before the start of the season. Anderson closed last season with the Rockies before inking a minor league deal with Pittsburgh in February.
The 36-year-old had been competing for a spot at the back of the rotation or as a long reliever. Pittsburgh called him out of the bullpen for three of his four outings this spring. Anderson has fared reasonably well, tossing 11 innings of three-run ball with nine strikeouts and three walks. However, the Bucs have a number of players competing for similar jobs.
Eric Lauer, Domingo Germán, Wily Peralta and Michael Plassmeyer all inked deals with non-roster invites to camp. Prospect Jared Jones might have pitched his way to the top of that group, while the Bucs have a few out-of-options arms (e.g. Roansy Contreras, Bailey Falter, Josh Fleming) who could block the path to middle relief reps.
Anderson tossed 86 1/3 innings at the major league level last season, his highest workload since 2019. Most of that came in Colorado, where he held a rotation spot for the second half. Anderson allowed a 5.75 ERA with a middling 17.5% strikeout rate while pitching his home games at Coors Field.