Brewers Re-Sign Brett Anderson To A One Year Contract

Brett Anderson is back in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform.

The Brewers starting rotation has a lot of talent, but was lacking in veteran leadership and experience heading into the 2021 season. Now that issue has been remedied.

Ken Rosenthal was the first to report the Brewers were close to a deal with Anderson and then Jeff Passan reported that the deal was done.

It’ll be another one year deal for Anderson with no club option for a second year, as was his first contract with the Crew last year.

The Brewers bring back Brett Anderson on a good deal with improved infield defense.

Anderson, 33, signed on to what is essentially a 50% pay cut from his salary last year. He signed a $5MM deal in 2020 and this year he’s on a $2.5MM deal.

But Anderson does have up to $1M in incentives he could earn, taking the maximum possible value up to $3.5MM.

Anderson is a ground ball pitcher, getting more than 50% of the balls in play against him on the ground, which is great for a pitcher that has half his games in the hitter friendly American Family Field. Last year, the Brewers infield defense wasn’t great, which hurt Anderson’s overall numbers.

This year, with back-to-back Gold Glove winner Kolten Wong at second base, the infield defense will be much improved, which should in turn lead to improved results from Anderson.

This is a signing that makes a lot of sense as both sides are familiar with each other and gives them an opportunity to see what Anderson can bring in a full, 162 game season.

What does the Brewers rotation picture now look like with Brett Anderson back?

The rotation picture now consists of Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes leading the way, followed by Anderson, Josh Lindblom, Adrian Houser, Eric Lauer, and Freddy Peralta. There are more quality options than initial jobs available. Some will have to start in the bullpen, should everyone be healthy.

Anderson and Lindblom are the veterans and are likely to get a rotation job, so the fifth starter spot will be a battle between Houser, Lauer, and Peralta.

The Brewers could’ve used a little more rotation depth and now they have it in Anderson. That picture should now be just about set in terms of a player acquisition standpoint.

They still could use a third base acquisition, and once that happens, they might be done with adding players.