Bold headline: Tigers take a calculated risk with Drew Anderson, betting on a bounce-back season as a potential rotation fixture.
The Tigers have agreed to sign right-hander Drew Anderson to a one-year contract with a club option for 2027, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Details on the salary haven’t been publicly disclosed yet. Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic notes that Detroit envisions Anderson as a starting pitcher, a role he has filled in Korea over the last couple of years. The club also has a vacant on their 40-man roster, so no corresponding move is required at this time.
Anderson, who will turn 32 in March, has circled a long and varied path through the majors. He appeared in the big leagues in five consecutive seasons from 2017–2021, with the Phillies, White Sox, and Rangers, totaling 44 1/3 innings and posting a 6.50 ERA across those stints.
His professional journey took him overseas in 2022 to Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, where he pitched for the Hiroshima Carp and posted a solid two-year run with a 3.05 ERA. That performance helped him earn another look in North America, and the Tigers signed him to a minor-league deal in January 2024. He didn’t break camp with Detroit and spent April on the SSG Landers’ roster in the Korea Baseball Organization.
In Korea, Anderson’s first season was respectable: 115 2/3 innings across 24 starts, a 3.89 ERA, a walk rate of 10.7%, a strikeout rate of 31.9%, and a ground-ball rate around 46%. The Landers re-signed him for 2025, and he improved further in the just-completed year, delivering 171 2/3 innings over 30 starts with a 2.25 ERA, a 35.3% strikeout rate, a 7.3% walk rate, and a 45.9% ground-ball rate.
Recently, several clubs have begun formalizing agreements with players returning from overseas assignments. The Astros reached a one-year, $2.6 million deal with Ryan Weiss, who had pitched in Korea. Anthony Kay, who spent time in Japan, secured a two-year, $12 million contract with the White Sox. The Blue Jays also pulled off a notable move, agreeing to a three-year, $30 million deal with Cody Ponce.
When comparing Anderson to a recent overseas alumnus, Cody Ponce, the numbers show a few parallels but also notable gaps. Ponce posted a 36.2% strikeout rate and a 5.9% walk rate, with a ground-ball rate of 45.7% and an ERA of 1.89, edging out Anderson in several categories.
Despite those metrics, industry sentiment leans toward Ponce being the clearer top option, thanks to present stuff and control. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen and James Fegan, in a piece scouting players returning from Asia, pegged Ponce as a potential number-four starter for a quality club and projected a two-year deal in the $20–25 million range—roughly what was eventually agreed upon. Opinions on Anderson were more varied: one writer saw him as a capable back-end starter, while another imagined he could end up in a reliever role.
The Tigers’ spending is still a work in progress, but the club is clearly taking a chance that Anderson can function as a legitimate big-league starter. Detroit’s rotation is expected to be led by Tarik Skubal, with Reese Olson and Casey Mize in the mix, and Jack Flaherty in the fold to fill out the top three spots. Anderson is likely competing for the club’s fifth starter job during spring training, alongside Keider Montero, Troy Melton, Ty Madden, and Sawyer Gipson-Long.
Detroit has also been linked to other high-profile free-agent targets, including Zac Gallen, Ranger Suárez, and Michael King, leaving open the possibility that the pitching staff could undergo further evolution before camp opens.
Photo courtesy of Junfu Han, Imagn Images
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