ORLANDO, Fla. — The Detroit Tigers officially announced the signing of veteran right-hander Drew Anderson on Monday night.
Anderson will earn $7 million in 2026, and the Tigers will hold a $10 million option for 2027.
Scott Harris, the Tigers’ president of baseball operations, said he views Anderson as a starter.
The Tigers know him well. They signed Anderson to a minor-league contract and invited him to spring training in 2024. He fell short of an Opening Day roster spot and began the season with Triple-A Toledo before quickly finding another opportunity in Asia. The Tigers agreed to transfer his rights to SSG Landers in Korea for cash considerations.
It was the second stint overseas for Anderson, who had spent two seasons in Japan before signing with Detroit.
“He made a really good impression with us in his spring of 2024,” Harris said. “I thought he worked really well with our pitching group. I thought he accessed some additional velocity and fastball quality that he carried with him to Korea. Over there, he was able to hold his velocity across a pretty big workload for a starter. He also added a kick change that became a real swing-and-miss weapon for him. He still has the curveball. We feel like with the added swing-and-miss secondary pitch and the familiarity and the foundation of innings, he can be a real addition to our team.”
Anderson has played in parts of five big-league seasons for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers, but has never appeared in more than nine games.
At the age of 31, he’ll be getting his first extended big-league opportunity with the Tigers.
He’s coming off the best season of his career after making 30 starts and throwing 171 2/3 innings for Landers. He struck out 245 with a 2.25 ERA.
“The thing that really sticks out with Drew is not just the foundation of innings, it’s also the performance,” Harris said. “The bats he was able to miss in Korea were pretty staggering. He and (Cody) Ponce were competing for both the strikeout crown and the all-time record in the league. It’s pretty hard to do what those guys did. So we think the performance, but also the shapes of the pitches and the ability to hold the power and command them, will translate to Major League Baseball again.”
Anderson joins a rotation mix that includes Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize, Reese Olson, Troy Melton, Keider Montero, Sawyer Gipson-Long and perhaps others.
“In the modern era, you need to attack (pitching) by quality and volume,” Harris said. “You can’t just choose between the two. So at this point in December, generally we’re just trying to add as much pitching as we possibly can, trusting that we’re going to be able to figure it out in partnership with (manager A.J. Hinch).”
TIGERS’ 40-MAN ROSTER (40)
Left-handed pitchers (6): Tyler Holton, Bailey Horn, Brant Hurter, Jake Miller, Tarik Skubal, Drew Sommers.
Right-handed pitchers (14): Drew Anderson, Beau Brieske, Jack Flaherty, Sawyer Gipson-Long, Brenan Hanifee, Jackson Jobe, Chase Lee, Ty Madden, Troy Melton, Casey Mize, Keider Montero, Reese Olson, Dylan Smith, Will Vest.
Catchers (4): Dillon Dingler, Thayron Liranzo, Jake Rogers, Eduardo Valencia.
Infielders (9): Javier Báez, Trei Cruz, Jace Jung, Colt Keith, Hao-Yu Lee, Zach McKinstry, Trey Sweeney, Spencer Torkelson, Gleyber Torres.
Outfielders (7): Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene, Jahmai Jones, Justyn-Henry Malloy, Parker Meadows, Wenceel Pérez, Matt Vierling.