Former Angels Reliever Signs Minor League Deal With American League Squad

An American League team firmly in rebuilding mode is taking a chance on a former Halos reliever whose career has been beset by injuries.

A rebuilding team in the American League is taking a chance on a former Halos reliever, inking him to a minor league contract.

The Kansas City Royals signed Justin Anderson to a minor league deal on Wednesday, per their transaction log at MLB.com, and assigned him to their Triple-A affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska.

For Anderson, it's an opportunity to get his career back on track.

He had a solid two-season stretch with the Angels upon making his MLB debut in 2018, logging a 4.75 ERA over 102 1/3 innings for the Halos bullpen.

He parlayed that performance into pitching in high leverage situations for the Angels, before a series of injuries stunted his career.

Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors detailed Anderson's injury difficulties, setbacks that curtailed his 2020 season and forced the Angels to shift their thinking on him moving forward.

"... a Grade 2 oblique strain early in camp in 2020 followed by a torn ligament in his pitching elbow when ramping up for the shortened 2020 season changed that outlook. Anderson underwent Tommy John surgery in late July of 2020, and the Halos non-tendered him in the offseason rather than giving him a raise in arbitration while knowing he’d likely miss the entire 2021 season." (via Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors)

 Now Anderson will get a chance to put those injuries behind him with the rebuilding Royals, and while he'll start in Triple-A and the timetable of when he could return to the majors is to be determined, the Kansas City Royals need all the help they can get.

As of Thursday, they're in last place in the AL Central with an 18-44 record -- the second worst record in all of MLB -- and have a bullpen that's the third worst in the majors, coming in with a ghastly 5.10 ERA.

It could be a long road back for the former Angels reliever, but if he can find his way back onto a major league mound, it could prove dividends for the Royals.