Dodgers News: Mark Prior on the Loss of Tyler Anderson in Free Agency
Tyler Anderson led the Dodgers in innings pitched in 2022 and finished fifth in the National League in ERA, bringing an unexpected steadiness to a starting rotation that had a lot more volatility than they might have expected. Only Anderson and Julio Urias remained healthy all season, with Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, and Andrew Heaney all missing significant time with injuries.
On Tuesday, instead of accepting L.A.’s qualifying offer of $19.65 million for 2023, Anderson chose to sign with the Orange County Angels of the Greater Tustin Area for three years and $39 million. For a guy who had only made about $17 million in his entire career thus far, it’s a huge, well-deserved payday for the breakout star.
On Wednesday, Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior talked with Christopher “Angry Puppy” Russo about what Anderson brought to the team and how much they’ll miss him.
“I mean he was a guy who had 180 innings for us. He was another stabilizing force who could eat innings when we needed to when we were in a pinch. And we were always in every game except I think one or two games, and even in those games he picked us up and went deep into a game to save our bullpen to give us a chance to win games down the line. …
“I think all of us at the Dodgers are really excited and happy for him but it’s a big loss for us and our pitching staff.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1TxWKl406M
It is definitely a big loss for Los Angeles, but luckily it comes early in the offseason so they can make other plans for 2023. Anderson was a lot more popular than you might expect for a guy who rarely showed emotion of any kind, but something about his demeanor makes you just want to root for him. It will be harder with him playing down the road in Villa Park or wherever, but we can still root for him to have success. And if nothing else, he got his big payday, so kudos for that.
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Ok, so why no counteroffer, or find your deal and get back to us. I don’t understand having a guy that pans out and effectively wound up as the #2 starter in value. And you let him walk so easy, when all the high buck guys have injury histories, limited recent success, old, or a combination of all of the above.
I just wonder if the way Roberts often times mis manages the pitching staff has something to do with Anderson leaving besides the obvious 3 year $39 million he got from the Angels. Not only that but perhaps Roberts and his handling of the pitching may, just may keep other starters away and from wanting to pitch here…
You don’t know that there wasn’t a counteroffer because the numbers between a 1-year deal and a 3-year deal weren’t that far apart. When it comes to assessing pitching talent, I trust in the Dodgers coaching staff. My guess is that they weren’t prepared to commit to a 3-year deal for a 32-year-old pitcher who has had just one good year. Plus, they’ve got a bunch of young studs who they may feel are about ready for prime time. Time will tell.
This is beyond my understanding, I can’t believe they weren’t ready to pay a little more on a counter offer to keep Tyler , he is an underrated pitcher and played a huge part in many of our wins not to mention he didn’t sit out injured for half the season, Dodgers dropped the ball on this one big time, they must of missed the memo on buying some starting pitchers not letting them walk for low prices,
Tyler wanted a 3 year contract and the Dodgers did not trust in that long of an investment.
I’m sure he finalized his decision to walk when Roberts insulted him for the last time by skipping him in favor of the rehabbing Tony Gonsolin for game 3 of the NLDS.
He left because of Fraudberts. I hope that he gets heavilly booed all season long next year so that we can show him how much he deserves to be fired.
He’ll have to pitch like Verlander if he wants to earn that contract with the Orange County Angels. I’m glad he got his payday but lack of run support will doom him to a lackluster record in Anaheim…
The Dodgers know his value better than anyone and they let him walk. That’s good enough for me.