Prior to Zack Greinke opting out of the remaining three years and $71 million on his contract, and the club declining 2016 options on Bronson Arroyo, Joel Peralta and Chase Utley, the Los Angeles Dodgers had three players hit free agency.
The trio consisted of Brett Anderson, Howie Kendrick and Jimmy Rollins. Anderson and Kendrick were extended qualifying offers, and so too was Greinke.
Unsurprisingly, there’s been little to suggest Rollins will return with the club next season given Corey Seager’s presence.
As for Anderson, who was one of a record 20 players to be extended a qualifying offer this offseason, he has elected to accept the one-year deal, per ESPN’s Buster Olney:
Brett Anderson accepted the Dodgers' qualifying offer.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) November 13, 2015
The deadline for players to formally accept or reject a qualifying offer was Friday at 2 p.m. PT. Houston Astros outfielder Colby Rasmus was the first reported player in MLB history to agree to the one-year contract.
Coming off a season in which he earned a base salary of $10 million and an additional $2.4 million in performance bonuses, Anderson re-signs with the Dodgers for a $15.8 million salary in 2016.
The value of the qualifying offer changes yearly and is determined by averaging the top 125 player salaries from the previous season.
Fortunately for the Dodgers, Anderson remained healthy during a season in which the rotation he joined as a fifth starter lost Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu to season-ending surgeries by May 21.
Anderson went 10-9 over 31 starts with a 3.69 ERA, 3.94 FIP, 3.51 xFIP, 1.33 WHIP and an MLB-best 66.3 ground ball percentage. He set new career highs in starts (31) and innings pitched (180.1).
Unlike Anderson, albeit to no surprise, Kendrick and Greinke both rejected the qualifying offer from the Dodgers.
