Chase Anderson, a starting pitcher with eight years of MLB experience, waited for his opportunity in 2022.
Amid several injuries, the Detroit Tigers turned to Beau Brieske, Alex Faedo, Rony García, Elvin Rodriguez, Garrett Hill, Joey Wentz and Drew Hutchison to cover innings in the rotation.
Anderson never received a promotion, so the 34-year-old on Saturday opted out of his minor-league contract with the Tigers, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
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He had three opt-out clauses in his contract, with this being his final chance to find a new team this season. He could have opted out May 15 and June 15 but decided to stay with Triple-A Toledo.
A big-league promotion with the Tigers would have netted him $2 million.
The Tigers — instead of picking up Anderson’s tab — elected to stick with Hutchison, a fellow veteran right-hander and the 2015 Opening Day starter for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Hutchison, 31, has been designated for assignment twice this season, on May 11 and June 20. Both times, the Tigers re-signed him to a minor-league contract after he passed through waivers and later called him to the majors.
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For Triple-A Toledo, Anderson posted a 4.63 ERA with 27 walks and 62 strikeouts across 70 innings in 17 games (15 starts).
He had a 2.52 ERA with five walks and 24 strikeouts in his last five games. As Friday’s starter for the Mud Hens, he tossed six innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts.
Anderson, before joining the Tigers in March, pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks (2014-15), Milwaukee Brewers (2016-19), Toronto Blue Jays (2020) and Philadelphia Phillies (2021). He logged a career 4.20 ERA in 938⅔ innings.
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