The Cardinals announced Friday that they had signed right-hander Nick Anderson to a minor league contract and invited him to major league spring training. Anderson, a client of Gaeta Sports Management, recently worked out for major league scouts to demonstrate his preparedness following an injury-plagued 2024 season. According to Ari Alexander of KPRC-2, Anderson’s major league salary would be $1.1 million. His contract has an upward mobility clause, which allows another team to sign him to their Opening Day roster if he does not break camp with the Cardinals.
Anderson also ended the 2023 season on the injured list owing to a shoulder ailment. He missed the first half of the 2022 season while recovering from an internal brace procedure the previous year, and his season was cut short due to plantar fasciitis. Anderson has missed time with a back strain and a forearm ailment during his injury-plagued major league career.
Anderson has suffered numerous ailments, but when healthy, he has typically performed admirably. Since his MLB debut in 2019, he has tossed 158 1/3 innings with a 3.18 earned run average. Anderson has 39 holds and 10 saves in his career, and his rate metrics are impressive: 31.6% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate, and a staggering 15.4% swinging strike rate.
If he can stay healthy, the 34-year-old Anderson gives the Cardinals an intriguing late-inning option. He hasn’t done it over the course of a complete season since 2019, but the Cardinals have nothing to lose by looking. A healthy Anderson would be a help to the bullpen, and he’s been throwing effectively this summer, making him a perfect trade asset as St. Louis attempts to rebuild its farm system. Anderson has 5.094 years of big league experience, so there’s no extra club control here. With another 78 days in the majors, he’ll have six years of big league service, and he’s almost certainly going to be a free agency at the end of the season.
The Cardinals’ bullpen, like the rest of their squad, remains mostly intact moving into 2025. Despite taking a break to focus on player development, the club reportedly turned down interest in top closer (and pending free agent) Ryan Helsley. Manager Oli Marmol has several more alternatives, including JoJo Romero, Ryan Fernandez, Matthew Liberatore, and John King. If Anderson joins the club, it appears that he will be involved in setup duties and may even have a chance to close games if Helsley is traded or injured.
