Mariners acquire LHP Tyler Anderson from Pittsburgh Pirates

After taking the good vibes from last night and short-circuiting them by dropping them in a vat of Astros-colored Gatorade, Jerry Dipoto appears to be making good part of his “more moves yet to come” promise, as reportedly the Seattle Mariners are in talks to acquire LHP Tyler Anderson from the Pirates. The Pirates and Phillies were supposedly to have agreed to a deal earlier today, but that apparently fell through after there was a medical issue with one of the players headed back in the return to Pittsburgh, offering Dipoto an opportunity to pounce.

Here’s what you need to know about Anderson: this is strictly a rental, as the 31-year-old Anderson signed a one-year, $2.5M deal this offseason with the non-contending Pirates, who were only hoping he’d pitch well enough to keep butts in seats at PNC Park and maybe emerge as a solid trade chip at the deadline. Anderson did just that, maintaining his strong production from 2020 with the Giants, who non-tendered him, posting his best numbers since his rookie campaign. Mind you, those numbers aren’t impressive, but Anderson’s ERA, FIP, xERA and xFIP are all wildly consistent, pointing to the kind of inning-eating, low-strikeout but also low-walk, contact manager Anderson has been since he began his career in Coors Field.

8-9 starts from a contact manager won’t thrill the fanbase, but it also shouldn’t cost too much in a return; Mariners twitter was quick to note that C Carter Bins was pulled from his game in Double-A Arkansas tonight, with Bobby Honeyman pinch-hitting for him for his final at-bat in Arkansas’ 4-0 win. Bins, the Mariners’ 11th-rounder in 2019, has been struggling in a brief sample size at Double-A, but was tearing up High-A Everett before his promotion, with a 151 wRC+. Pittsburgh’s system is entirely devoid of catchers beyond 2021’s first overall pick, Louisville C Henry Davis, so Bins—a defense-first catcher with big power but also big strikeout concerns—profiles as a solid stopgap and eventual backup to Davis.

Update: According to Ryan Divish, Bins is indeed part of the return; one other player is headed over from Seattle in the trade. We don’t know who that is yet but using the blueprint of the Philly deal, it’s likely a low-level pitching prospect or someone who isn’t a Top 30 prospect, at least.

Update: The secondary prospect was indeed a low-level pitching prospect, and it is official!

RHP Joaquin Tejada is an 18 year old out of Panama who made his professional debut this year in the DSL. He’s been in the low-90s with his fastball and has some promise, having signed for $200k in 2019 as an international amateur, but is both quite distance and not regarded as a high level prospect for Seattle.

To make space on the 40-man roster for Anderson, INF Jake Hager was designated for assignment.