July 16: Anderson has elected free agency, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com.
July 15: The Braves announced that infielder/outfielder Brian Anderson has been sent outright to Triple-A Gwinnett. There wasn’t any previous reporting to suggest he was on waivers but it appears he was quietly passed through without being claimed in recent days. No corresponding move was announced so Atlanta will have an open spot on the active roster to be filled after the All-Star break. Their 40-man roster count drops to 39.
Anderson, 31, started the year with the Mariners on a minor league deal but opted out at the start of June. He then landed a major league deal with Atlanta shortly after Ronald Acuña Jr. suffered a season-ending ACL tear and Austin Riley missed a couple of weeks with a side injury.
Since Anderson has split his time between third base and the outfield in his career, he was a natural fill-in under those circumstances. Shortly thereafter, Michael Harris II suffered a left hamstring strain, further thinning Atlanta’s outfield depth.
Despite the need, the club never really used Anderson. He appeared in just three games from June 5 to 12 and then landed on the IL June 25, retroactive to the 22nd, due to a bacterial infection. He was reinstated on Wednesday last week but didn’t get into any of the club’s most recent games.
Anderson is a veteran with more than enough service time to reject this outright assignment and elect free agency, though it’s not yet clear whether he will choose to do so. Roster shakeup should be high in the coming weeks with the July 30 trade deadline just over the horizon. Perhaps that will open up some opportunities for him elsewhere if he decides to head to the open market.
He had a solid three-year run with the Marlins from 2018 to 2020. Over those campaigns, he hit .266/.350/.436 for a 115 wRC+ while providing solid defense at the hot corner and in the outfield. Since then, his results have tapered off with injuries playing a significant role. His line from 2021 to the present is .229/.316/.360, 87 wRC+, not hitting the 100-game plateau in any of those seasons with shoulder and oblique injuries holding him back.