Pittsburgh Pirates Rumors: Tyler Anderson Unlikely to Make Next Start

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been one of the most active in making trades already.  Could there be more?

It has long been assumed that the Pittsburgh Pirates would utilize Tyler Anderson as a trade piece at this year’s deadline.  In fact, this has been the goal since signing him this past offseason.  Anderson was brought in with one year of control.  If he could perform he would be a nice rental piece for a deadline buyer.

Well apparently, the Pittsburgh Pirates could be looking to move Anderson sooner rather than later.  Anderson is scheduled to pitch tonight for the Bucs, but it seems unlikely at this point.  It seems trade talks are picking up specifically with the Mets.  Jon Heyman tweeted:

The Mets make a lot of sense. Even with acquiring Rich Hill last week, the Mets are still looking for rental starters.   They are in dire need of pitchers to eat some innings.  Anderson would make a great stop-gap to fill in until Jacob deGrom returns from injury.  There is no reason that Tyler Anderson should start tonight even if a deal is not reached. Starting him is not worth the risk if there is a market forming.

This has worked out perfectly for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Anderson has put together a solid 2021 campaign, pitching the whole season and eating innings.  On the year he owns a respectable 4.35 ERA while accumulating 1.3 WAR.  Now why it is is respectable is because Anderson has had a few starts that have really affected his numbers.

He had two starts this season where he gave up 15 combined earned runs over 11 innings.  Teams know what they are getting in Tyler Anderson. He is a solid lefty who will eat innings and give more good outings than bad.  He is a back end of the rotation arm, nothing more.  Still, with the way the pitching market seems to be this deadline, the Bucs should get an intriguing return for the veteran lefty.