For a team built on starting pitching, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation came apart at the seams this season, with Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu undergoing respective season-ending surgeries.
That vaulted Brett Anderson up to the club’s third starter. Signed to a one-year contract, Anderson overcame a history of injury troubles and was a source of some stability.
Now again entering the offseason as a free agent, Anderson is expected to receive the one-year, qualifying offer from the Dodgers, according to ESPN’s Mark Saxon:
The #Dodgers planned on giving Brett Anderson a qualifying offer for a while. Will be interesting to see if he takes it. Would be first ever
— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) October 16, 2015
As Saxon notes, no player in Major League Baseball history has accepted the one-year qualifying offer. Should Anderson become the first, he’ll earn $15.8 million next season. The Dodgers must extend the qualifying offer by 2 p.m. PT on the fifth day after the World Series.
Anderson would then have until 2 p.m. PT on the 12th day following the World Series to accept or decline the offer. If he declines and signs elsewhere, the Dodgers would receive a compensatory pick between the first and second rounds of the 2016 draft; as they did when Hanley Ramirez signed with the Boston Red Sox last year.
Anderson signed with the Dodgers for $10 million prior to the 2015 season, $5 million of which was a signing bonus. The 27-year-old left-hander earned an additional $2.4 million for reaching 180 innings pitched this season. He set new career highs with 180.1 innings pitched and 31 starts.
Anderson will officially become a free agent on the morning after the World Series concludes. Making the earliest possible date that can be the case Sunday, Nov. 1.
