OPINION: Angels Signing Tyler Anderson to $39 Million Contract is a Steal

The Los Angeles Angels signed free agent Tyler Anderson to a three-year, $39 million contract Tuesday afternoon. The signing has the potential to be the club's best acquisition since the Angels signed Shohei Ohtani before the 2018 Major League Baseball season.

The first of twelve players that rejected a qualifying offer found a new home Tuesday afternoon, and the Los Angeles Angels may have made their best offseason transaction since they signed Shohei Ohtani five years ago.

Mark Feinsand reports that left-handed pitcher Tyler Anderson has agreed to a three-year, $39 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels.

Tyler Anderson's deal with the Angels is three years and $39 million, per source.

— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) November 15, 2022

Anderson, 32, enjoyed the best season of his career in 2022, after he signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, posting a 15-5 record, 2.57 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over 28 starts and 178.2 innings pitched.

Anderson had to compete for a spot in the Dodgers rotation, which he earned, and ended the season as one of the National League's best pitchers in 2022.

Anderson, the 20th overall pick in the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft, has always had good stuff, but in 2022, something finally clicked for the southpaw. Anderson, like Kevin Gausman — who was selected fourth overall in the 2012 Draft — is a late bloomer that could emerge as one of the game's best pitchers in his early 30s.

At the rate of three years and $39 million, Anderson will be paid like a back-end of the rotation arm. If 2022 was an outlier, and Anderson pitches the way he did from 2017 through 2021 (4.86 ERA, 1.32 WHIP), the Angels won't take a big loss. If he is in fact just scratching the surface of his potential, the Angels may have acquired a legitimate number two or number three starter, at the rate of a number five starter.

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