Angels News: Pundit Pegs Tyler Anderson Deal as One of Offseason’s Best

The Angels signed Tyler Anderson in November to what looked like a fair deal, but considering what the market has done since, it looks like a huge bargain.

This offseason has been crazy, with some of the longest contracts and highest-dollar deals in baseball history being handed out just in the last couple months. But not all the important deals have been huge.

Tyler Anderson was one of the first free agents to sign this winter, inking a three-year, $39 million deal with the Angels early in the offseason. As MLB insider Jon Heyman writes in the New York Post, Anderson's deal was the best under-the-radar signing this winter.

With the qualifying offer, it’s understandable Anderson grabbed this deal before taking the $19M Q.O. bid from the cross-freeway Dodgers. Once Chris Bassitt, Taijuan Walker and Jameson Taillon got their deals north of $60M, this one looked pretty good. No doubt it looked good to Anderson, too, as he’d been mostly a journeyman before 2022. 

As Heyman notes, Bassitt, Walker, and Taillon all got significantly bigger deals than Anderson. Something else all three have in common: They weren't nearly as good as Anderson was last year. You could make a case that Bassitt and Walker have a longer track record of being good than Anderson does, but not nearly enough longer to justify the difference in contract. And Taillon ... well, like I always say, if you don't have something nice to write about a contract, don't write anything at all.

Anderson had no way of knowing when he signed with the Angels that the market would explode. At the time he signed, it seemed like a good, fair deal for both sides. Now, in light of what has happened since, Anderson is easily the best bargain of the winter — and we've been saying that for over six weeks.