Pittsburgh Pirates: Two Hypothetical Tyler Anderson Trade Proposals

Tyler Anderson could be one of the more valuable rental starting pitchers at the trade deadline. So let’s take a look at two hypothetical trades the Pittsburgh Pirates could swing involving Anderson.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are currently in a rebuilding state. They’ve been in this state since the 2019-2020 offseason and made many more moves to further this process this past winter. They traded a handful of their worthwhile veterans like Josh Bell, Joe Musgrove and Jameson Taillon for some nice packages of prospects.

One thing many rebuilding clubs do is sign veteran free agents to cheap one year deals in the hopes they can build up some value throughout the season and potentially be a trade piece for the team. The Pittsburgh Pirates and general manager Ben Cherington has done this a few times already, and could do it again this year with left-handed starting pitcher Tyler Anderson.

Anderson was signed to a one-year deal by the Pittsburgh after they traded Musgrove and Taillon. To say it’s been a steal so far would be an understatement. Anderson has tossed 46.1 innings while posting a 3.50 ERA, 3.54 FIP and 1.10 WHIP. Anderson has put up a solid 23.5% strikeout rate and strong 7.5% walk rate, leading to a K/BB ratio just over 3.00. Plus he’s only allowed home runs at a 0.97 per-9 rate.

He’s been about average when it comes to hard hit and batted balls. He currently sits with an 89 MPH exit velocity and 38% hard hit rate. The former ranks in the 46th percentile while the ladder is in the 52nd percentile. Overall, he has some solid ERA estimators. This includes a 3.92 xFIP, 3.96 xERA, 4.02 SIERA and 3.99 DRA.

Anderson has been quite a durable arm as well. He’s yet failed to go at least 5 innings in each of his 8 starts this season. The most runs he’s given up in any of his games has been 4. So not only is he able to give his team a handful of innings in each of his outings, he’s also able to keep his team in the game. However, he is a rental at this point. By the time a team trades for him, he’ll only have a few months left on his contract. Overall, he could bring back a prospect in the 40-40+ FV range. In terms of Pittsburgh Pirates prospects, that’s around where prospects like Nick Garcia and Canaan Smith-Njigba, and Mason Martin currently sit at for reference.

Today we will take a look at two potential trade ideas the Pittsburgh Pirates should explore with two National League East teams. Anderson should be one of the more interesting names to be on the move this summer, so let’s get into my first proposal.