photo: Nick Anderson (USA TODAY Sports)
As spring camps are opening across baseball next week, fringe players hoping for a major league contract are lowering their requirements to find a home for 2025.
So it is for the St. Louis Cardinals, who continue to add players to the outer fringe of their roster and just beyond. The latest came on Friday, February 7, with the signing of right-handed relief pitcher Nick Anderson to a minor league contract with a non-roster invitation to Spring Training.
Anderson will receive $1.1 million if he makes the Cardinals opening day roster. His contract includes a clause that allows another team to add him their Opening Day roster if he doesn’t make St. Louis’. (This seems unlikely to happen, in my opinion.) These details were reported by Ari Anderson.
Anderson has appeared in 165 MLB games across five seasons for Miami, Tampa Bay, Atlanta and most recently Kansas City. When healthy, the 2012 32nd round draft pick by the Brewers has been excellent.
In 158 1/3 major league innings, the 6-foot-4, 205-pounder posed a 3.18 ERA and logged 39 holds and 10 saves. Anderson has strong career peripherals, with a 31.6% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate.
However, his healthy time has been very limited. The 34-year-old has a long injury history, having been unable to throw more than 36 innings in any season since his 2019 MLB debut. Anderson’s list of maladies include a shoulder strain, internal brace procedure (instead of Tommy John surgery), plantar fasciitis, back strain and forearm discomfort.
If Anderson can break the pattern and pitch regularly, he could give the Cardinals another set up weapon, perhaps helping to cover for the loss of 2024 standout Andrew Kittredge.
Yet, even if Anderson makes the St. Louis roster at some point and contributes in 2025, he looks to be a one-and-done player. With well more than five years of service time, he will likely return to free agency in the fall.
At The Cardinal Nation, Anderson has been placed on the Triple-A Memphis roster.
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