Michael Trzinski

@Jim Goulart, love your spot-on analysis and deadpan humor. Keep up the good work!!

Interesting, but why not? Could work...

Michael Brooks Kieschnick was born in Robstown, Texas, a western suburb of Corpus Christi. Kieschnick was a two-way star at Mary Carroll High School, playing first base while not pitching. Batting left and throwing right, Kieschnick was named the All-South Texas Player of the Year, going 12-0 on the mound with an ERA of 0.62. He also batted .466 and hit nine home runs. After verbally committing to Mississippi State University, he instead elected to attend the University of Texas. There, he won the Dick Howser Award for best collegiate baseball player two consecutive seasons, the only player to ever accomplish that feat. In three years in Texas, Kieschnick went 34-8 on the mound with a 3.05 ERA and hit 43 homers while batting .360. Kieschnick was picked tenth overall in the first round of the 1993 MLB Amateur Draft by the Chicago Cubs. Kieschnick spent four years in the minors for the Cubs, playing mostly at first or in the outfield. He began the 1996 season in Chicago, but after appearing only as a pinch-hitter the first two weeks, was sent down to Triple-A Iowa to make room on the Cubs roster for Dave Magadan. Kieschnick returned to Chicago later that summer and performed well in limited action, slashing .345/.406/.517 across 29 at-bats, including his first major league home run. In 1997, Kieschnick once again broke camp with Chicago and had a couple big games, including a pair of two-hit games and one monster game against the Montreal Expos, going 3-for-4 with two HRs and six RBIs in late April. After going 1-for-26 in May, he was demoted once again to Iowa, where he hit 21 HRs in 360 at-bats before a September call-up. After the season, he was selected in the 1997 Expansion Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The next four seasons, Kieschnick bounced around, playing mostly in the minors for Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, and Colorado. He did play in the bigs for the Reds (2000) and Rockies (2001) but only appeared in a combined 49 games. After playing in the White Sox organization in 2002, he was signed by the Brewers as a free agent. Kieschnick spent two years in Milwaukee, playing three games in the outfield while appearing in 74 games on the mound, pitching to an ERA+ of 95 and a FIP of 4.13, which wasn’t bad, considering he had only amassed a total of 48 professional innings prior to his arrival in Milwaukee. Milwaukee released Kieschnick in early 2005. He hooked up with the Houston Astros and played in the minors for them but then decided to retire prior to the 2006 season. View full player

Thanks, Jake!!

Taylor Heath Jungmann was born in Temple, Texas and attended Rogers High School before transferring to Georgetown High School for his senior year. Jungmann starred in both basketball and baseball. The Los Angeles Angels selected the right-handed pitcher in the 24th round of the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft, but he elected to attend the University of Texas instead. After three seasons at the U of T, he was picked 12th overall in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Brewers. Jungmann won the Dick Howser Award as the best collegiate baseball player in 2011. Jungmann spent three full seasons in the minors before getting called up to the Brewers in June 2015. He won his first game, pitching seven innings (three hits, one run) in a 4-1 win at Pittsburgh. It was his best season, as Jungmann won nine games and pitched to an ERA+ of 105 and a FIP of 3.92 in 21 starts. He started the 2016 season in Milwaukee, but after losing four of his first five starts, was sent down to Triple-A Colorado Springs. After struggling in eight starts (.9.87 ERA), he was reassigned to Double-A Biloxi, where he regained his form with a 2.51 ERA in 13 starts. He returned to Milwaukee in September where he pitched two perfect innings in relief before losing in a start toward the end of the season. The lanky (6-foot-6, 210-pound) Jungmann pitched in his final big-league game in April 2017, facing six batters and giving up two hits, a hit batsman, and a walk in a 6-1 mop-up win over Colorado. Jungmann was optioned to Biloxi and later pitched with Colorado Springs to finish the season. He was given his release by the Brewers in January 2018. Jungmann pitched in Japan in 2018 and 2019, winning a combined 19 games. He was signed to a minor league contract by the Texas Rangers but was released during the Covid pandemic in June 2020. View full player

Jim Abbott played only one year in Milwaukee and didn’t have a great year, but all things considered, Abbott was successful during his 10-year major league career. In addition to his college career at the University of Michigan and his time with the 1988 USA Olympic baseball team, he had a celebrated tenure in baseball. All this with only one hand. Image courtesy of John Zich/AFP/Getty Images James Anthony Abbott was born in Flint, Michigan, and had a deformed right arm that ended at the wrist, with no hand. Despite his handicap, he became a star pitcher in Little League, throwing a no-hitter in the first game he pitched. In high school at Flint Central, Jim Abbott played first base and outfield while also pitching and batted .427 with seven home runs as a senior and winning 10 of 13 games with an ERA of 0.76. He averaged two strikeouts per inning pitched. Abbott was the backup quarterback on the football field until the last three games of his senior year. In those three games, he threw for 600 yards and six touchdowns. Abbott was also the team’s punter. Abbott was drafted in the 36th round of the 1985 MLB Amateur Draft but chose to attend the University of Michigan. He pitched three years as a Wolverine, was the first baseball player to be named Big Ten Conference Player of the Year, and beat Japan in the 1988 Olympics, tossing a complete-game 5-3 victory. The USA won the gold medal in what was at that time a ‘demonstration sport.’ The California Angels tabbed Abbott in the first round of the 1988 draft, signing the Michigan product for $207,000. He went directly to the major leagues in 1989 and finished fifth in the American League ROY voting, winning 12 games. After a solid 1990 season, Abbott had a breakthrough in 1991, winning a career-high 18 games with an ERA+ of 142 and a FIP of 3.27. He finished third in the AL Cy Young Award voting. Abbott pitched one more season for the Angels and was traded to the New York Yankees after the 1992 campaign. In two years with the Yankees, he won a combined 20 games across 56 starts with an ERA+ of 98. Abbott pitched a no-hitter over the Cleveland Indians on September 4, 1993. A week after his gem, Abbott was blasted by New York owner George Steinbrenner, who questioned the pitcher’s courage. Not surprisingly, he became a free agent after the 1994 season and was signed by the Chicago White Sox. After just 17 starts for the Chisox, he was traded back to the Angels. The pitcher won five games in 13 starts for the Halos in 1995 but struggled in 1996, losing an AL-high 18 games. The Angels released Abbott before the 1997 season, and the pitcher sat out the year, spending time with his wife and newborn daughter. Abbott attempted to make a comeback with the White Sox in 1998, pitching at four stops in the minor league system before getting called to Chicago in September. He won all five starts and pitched to an ERA+ of 101 and FIP of 4.31. However, the White Sox didn’t re-sign Abbott after the season. He became a free agent and signed with the Brewers prior to the 1999 season. Unfortunately, Abbott didn’t have a great season. After only 20 games (15 starts), he was given his release as he had an ERA+ of 66 and a FIP of 6.06. However, he did have a highlight as he became the first one-handed player to bang out a base hit since Pete Gray collected 51 hits for the St. Louis Browns in 1945. Abbott retired after the season with 87 wins, an ERA+ of 99, and a FIP of 4.25. View full article

William Derrick Bates was born in Houston, Texas. The 5-foot-7, 155-pounder was a three-sport star at Aldine High School in Houston. Although he was told he was too small to succeed in baseball, he was drafted in the eighth round of the 1982 MLB Amateur Draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. He chose not to sign, instead attending the University of Texas. The Longhorns won the College World Series in his freshman year in 1983. The next two seasons, Bates was named to the College Baseball All-America team. After his junior year, Bates was selected in the fourth round of the 1985 MLB draft by the Brewers. Bates steadily moved up the ladder, but it took him five seasons to make it to the big leagues. His best season was in 1987 at Triple-A Denver when he slashed .316/.397/.403 with 51 stolen bases. The Brewers called up the southpaw swinging second baseman in August when Jim Gantner went on the disabled list with an MCL tear in his left knee. Bates played in four games before going on the DL himself as he suffered a separated right shoulder when he slipped on the wet infield grass during a rainy game in Baltimore. Bates returned to Milwaukee a month later and played in three games. During his truncated season, Bates had a slash line trifecta of .214/.214/.214 across 14 at-bats with a pair of pilfered bases. With Gantner still on the mend from the previous season, Bates won the starting second baseman job in 1990. After starting nine of the team’s first 11 games, Bates was relegated to a pinch-running/defensive replacement role the last week of April as he struggled during a 3-for-29 (.103) start. He was sent back down to Denver for a month. In early June, Bates and outfielder Glenn Braggs were traded to the Cincinnati Reds for pitchers Ron Robinson and Bob Sebra. Bates stayed in the American Association but moved to the Reds club in Nashville. In mid-September, the Reds called Bates up during a pennant race in the National League West. Bates played in two NLCS games as a pinch-runner. In the World Series against the Oakland Athletics, Bates pinch-hit for Rob Dibble in the bottom of tenth inning of a 4-4 game. He beat out an infield chopper off relief ace Dennis Eckersley and later moved to second on a single. Bates scored the winning run when Joe Oliver banged a single down the third baseline. Bates spent the next two years in the minors but never played in another big-league game. View full player

Remember the scene in the movie ‘Major League’ when the Cleveland Indians fans were learning about the teams’ players before the season? The guy in the diner says, “Ricky Vaughn? Willie Hayes? Mitchell Friedman?” Then they cut to the construction guy who says, “Who are these bleeping guys?” That describes the 2002 Milwaukee Brewers. As the Brewers began their second season in Miller Park, the Opening Day lineup included players like Alex Sanchez, Tyler Houston, and Raúl Casanova. Alex Ochoa and Paul Bako also played key roles. But I am willing to bet that only the most hardcore Brewers fan recognizes any of these names. The team stumbled to a franchise-worst 56-106 record, finishing 41 games behind the National League Central-winning St. Louis Cardinals. And the fans stayed away in droves, as the final turnstile totals showed an attendance of 1,969,153. It was only one of three times the Brewers have drawn less than two million fans to Miller Park/Am Fam Field in a season. The season started brightly as the Brewers beat the Houston Astros 9-3 to win the road opener and dispatched the reigning World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2 in the home opener at Miller Park before a crowd of 43,005. Little else went right in early April, and as the Brewers stumbled to a 3-12 record after two weeks, manager Davey Lopes was canned, and his former Los Angeles Dodgers teammate (and good friend) Jerry Royster was brought on board to right the sinking ship. General Manager Dean Taylor said, “We feel that with some different direction and different leadership in the clubhouse and on the field, this club will play better.” Seemingly buoyed by the change, the Brewers won the first four games of the Royster regime. Then the good ship sprung some leaks and foundered over the next fortnight, with the team losing 13 of 15 games. The Brewers were mimicking the ‘Team Streak’ season of 1987, but unfortunately, they had many more losing streaks than winning streaks. Milwaukee had one five-game winning streak, three four-game streaks, and one three-game winning streak. That’s it! On the negative side of the ledger, Milwaukee had a nine-game losing skein, a pair of seven-game streaks, a six-game streak, and one five-game losing streak. The Brewers never had a winning month during the season. Their best month was June when they went 11-16, a winning percentage of .407. Home cooking was a little better than playing on the road, as Milwaukee won 31 games at Miller Park and only 25 in the ‘unfriendly confines’ of visiting parks. The Brewers had winning records against a pair of teams: 5-1 against the San Diego Padres and 10-7 while playing the NL Central rival Chicago Cubs. The aforementioned Alex Sanchez was ninth in the NL ROY balloting but would only play 185 games for the Brewers between 2001-2003. First baseman Richie Sexson led the team with 29 home runs and made the All-Star team, as did shortstop Jose Hernandez, who cracked 24 homers while striking out an NL-leading 188 times. Ben Sheets (11) and Glendon Rusch (10) were the only pitchers to earn double-digit victory totals. Closer Mike DeJean saved 27 games, which ranked 13th in the NL. Under Royster, the Brewers went 53-94 the rest of the year. He was fired three days after the season ended. Also dismissed in the end-of-year shakeup was team president Wendy Selig-Prieb and GM Dean Taylor. New GM Doug Melvin chose former Brewer Ned Yost to fill the manager position at the end of October. Yost would go on to lead the Brewers for six years, including most of the 2008 season, before he was sacked in late September, as Dale Sveum took over the reins with less than 10 games to go. That team was the first to make the playoffs since the 1982 Brewers. The last few years have been the best of times for Milwaukee baseball. That 2002 was the worst of times, but the hiring of Doug Melvin put the team on the right path. Since 2018, the Brewers have been one of MLB’s best teams. Sometimes, you must hit rock bottom before rising to the top. View full article

Jim Abbott played only one year in Milwaukee and didn’t have a great year, but all things considered, Abbott was successful during his 10-year major league career. Add to that his college career at the University of Michigan and his time with the 1988 USA Olympic baseball team and he had a celebrated tenure in baseball. And he did all of that with only one hand. James Anthony Abbott was born in Flint, Michigan and had a deformed right arm that ended at the wrist, with no hand. Despite his handicap, he became a star pitcher in Little League, throwing a no-hitter in the first game he pitched. In high school at Flint Central, Abbott played first base and outfield while not pitching and batted .427 with seven home runs as a senior in addition to winning 10 of 13 games with an ERA of 0.76. He averaged two strikeouts per inning pitched. On the football field, Abbott was the back-up quarterback until the last three games of his senior year. In those three games, he threw for 600 yards and six touchdowns. Abbott was also the team’s punter. Abbott was drafted in the 36th round of the 1985 MLB Amateur Draft but chose to attend the University of Michigan. He pitched three years as a Wolverine, was the first baseball player to be named Big Ten Conference Player of the Year, and beat Japan in the 1988 Olympics, tossing a complete-game 5-3 victory. The USA won the gold medal in what was at that time a ‘demonstration sport.’ The California Angels tabbed Abbott in the first round of the 1988 draft, signing the Michigan product for $207,000. He went directly to the major leagues in 1989 and finished fifth in the American League ROY voting, winning 12 games. After a solid 1990 season, Abbott had a breakthrough year in 1991, winning a career-high 18 games with an ERA+ of 142 and a FIP of 3.27. He finished third in the AL Cy Young Award voting. Abbott pitched one more season for the Angels and was traded to the New York Yankees after the 1992 campaign. In two years with the Yankees, he won a combined 20 games across 56 starts with an ERA+ of 98. Abbott pitched a no-hitter over the Cleveland Indians on September 4, 1993. A week after his gem, Abbott was blasted by New York owner George Steinbrenner, who questioned the pitcher’s courage. Not surprisingly, he became a free agent after the 1994 season and was signed by the Chicago White Sox. After just 17 starts for the Chisox, he was traded back to the Angels. The pitcher won five games in 13 starts for the Halos in 1995, but struggled in 1996, losing an AL-high 18 games. The Angels released Abbott before the 1997 season and the pitcher sat out the year, spending time with his wife and newborn daughter. Abbott attempted to make a comeback with the White Sox in 1998, pitching at four stops in the minor league system before getting called up to Chicago in September. He won all five of his starts and pitched to an ERA+ of 101 and FIP of 4.31. However, the White Sox didn’t re-sign Abbott after the season. He became a free agent and signed with the Brewers prior to the 1999 season. Unfortunately, Abbott didn’t have a great season in Brew City. After only 20 games (15 starts) he was given his release as he had an ERA+ of 66 and a FIP of 6.06. He did have a highlight, though, as he became the first one-handed player to bang out a base hit since outfielder Pete Gray collected 51 hits for the St. Louis Browns in 1945. Abbott retired after the season with 87 wins, an ERA+ of 99, and a FIP of 4.25. View full player

If money didn't matter, and Bichette was willing to sign a 3 or 4-year deal, I would trade Black and Baez for him 100 times out of a 100. But unfortunately, money does matter, so it puts the kibosh on that...

Major League baseball returned to Milwaukee in 1970 as the Seattle Pilots became the Milwaukee Brewers. The team had two solid players, both named Ted. Second baseman Ted Kubiak and outfielder Ted Savage were good players on the first-year team. Another player was not that good, but he would play on a pair of World Championship teams down the road. His name was Fred Stanley. What is the Players Project? It's a community-driven, wiki-style project that focuses on Brewers players of all stripes. It's open to all Brewer Fanatic users and we've had contributions for current players, past players, and players who never even made the major leagues but played in the Brewers farm system. Create your favorite player today! Ted Savage played a major part with the 1970 Brewers. His five triples ranked second on the team, as did his 10 stolen bases. His 12 home runs and 50 RBIs ranked fourth, and his OPS+ of 144 was second behind that of Tommy Harper. Savage had a solid slash line of .279/.402/.482 across 276 at-bats. The following year, Savage struggled, going just 3-for-17 in the first month before being traded to Kansas City. Ted Kubiak played in 158 games during the 1970 season and set career highs of 136 hits, nine doubles, four home runs, 41 RBIs, and 72 walks. Kubiak played for the Brewers until late July 1971, when he was traded in a controversial swap of players to the St. Louis Cardinals involving Jose Cardenal. The Cardinal outfielder was reluctant to report to Milwaukee because he felt the ‘Cardinals got nothing in exchange for me.’ Eventually, the trade went through. Fred ‘Chicken’ Stanley played in only six games for the Brewers in 1970 after playing in 17 games in 1969 for the Seattle Pilots. Ironically, Stanley scored the only run of his Brewer career when he got knocked in from second base on a single by Ted Kubiak. Stanley would go on to play for the New York Yankees for eight years and would be a part of the 1977 and 1978 World Series teams. Milwaukee lacked a major league team for four years in the late 1960s. The early editions of the Milwaukee Brewers were not always good, but the players of the 1970 team were a part of the beginning of a team that brought baseball back to the Brew City. View full article

Orlando Jesus Arcia was born in Anaco, Venezuela. The shortstop signed as an international free agent with the Brewers in October 2010. After a season in the DSL in 2011, Arcia missed all of 2012 with a broken ankle that he suffered in spring training. Arcia spent four years working his way through the Brewers organization before getting called up to Milwaukee in August 2016 as management decided to move Jonathan Villar from short to third base. Arcia played 55 games and slashed .219/.273/.358 across 201 at-bats. The shortstop had a solid 2017, slashing .277/.324/.407 with 15 homers and a career-high 14 stolen bases. The following year, Arcia was batting just .197 when he was sent down to Triple-A Colorado Springs for a month and returned in late July. Over the rest of the season, Arcia hit .290 (42-for-145) to finish at .236/.268/.307 over 348 at-bats. Arcia played full seasons in 2019 and the Covid year of 2020, but hit only .232/.292/.367 over that period in 211 games. After playing just four games to begin the 2021 campaign, Arcia was traded to the Atlanta Braves. The Braves sent Arcia to Triple-A Gwinnett after acquisition and he played only 32 games for Atlanta that season. In 2022, Arcia played mostly at second base and was a part-time player. He injured his left hamstring in August and missed a month at the tail end of the season. Arcia returned to his normal shortstop position in 2023 and was named to the All-Star team for the first time, slashing .264/.321/.420 with career highs with 17 home runs and 65 RBIs. In 2024, Arcia played in 157 games, but his batting line slipped to .218/.271/.354, although he did continue his power surge with 17 homers across 551 at-bats. In six years with the Brewers, Arcia slashed .244/.293/.364 with 42 home runs and 39 steals. View full player

Frederick Blair Stanley was born in Farnhamville, Iowa. After graduating from Monte Vista High School in Spring Valley, California, he was picked in the eighth round of the 1966 MLB Amateur Draft by the Houston Astros. Stanley played almost four seasons in the Astros organization before being traded to the Seattle Pilots in September 1969. Stanley made a splash (literally) in his second game, going 3-for-3 with a double and a walk in a 1-1 tie with the California Angels on September 12. The game was rained out in the 11th inning in Seattle’s Sick’s Stadium, but all statistics counted. He finished the year with a slash line of .279/.319/.372 across 43 at-bats. The following season, the team became the Milwaukee Brewers. The infielder began the 1970 season with Triple-A Portland and was called up to Milwaukee in September. The player known as ‘Chicken’ played only six games for the Brewers. In his first game, he entered the contest as a pinch-runner for Phil Roof, who had doubled. Ted Kubiak singled to score Stanley one batter later. His stats for the year? One run scored. In 1971 and 1972, Stanley played a total of 105 games for Cleveland and San Diego. His slash line of .212/.337/270 was low, but his BB rate of 15% was impressive. Just before Thanksgiving, Stanley was traded to the New York Yankees. Stanley became a fixture as a backup in the infield for the Yankees for the next eight seasons. Filling in behind players like Gene Michael, Horace Clarke, Sandy Alomar, Jim Mason, Graig Nettles, Bucky Dent, and Willie Randolph, Stanley played in 521 games for the Yankees. He played in 17 post-season games across the 1976-1978 seasons, going 8-for-31 with four doubles and one RBI. Stanley went 3-for-4 in the opening game of the 1976 ALCS against the Kansas City Royals with a double and a run scored in the 4-1 win over the Royals. The Yankees were World Champions in 1977 and 1978. After the 1980 season, Stanley was traded to the Oakland Athletics. He played in 167 games during the 1981-1982 seasons but had a batting line of only .193/.280.239. In the 1981 post-season for the A’s, he played in five games and went 1-for-9. Stanley retired after the 1982 season and worked in the Giants organization for many years as a manager and director of player development. View full player

Chase Anderson wasn't as successful as his Texas high school contemporary Clayton Kershaw. Sure, both were named to the Texas 4A All-State First Team as seniors, but the comparison ends there. Kershaw has accumulated 212 wins through the 2024 season and has gathered some hardware as well: three Cy Young awards and one National League MVP trophy. Anderson won 59 games in his 11-year MLB career through 2024. But for a four-year period from 2016-2019, Anderson was a reliable part of the Brewers rotation, making 112 starts as a trustworthy mid-rotation member who could show up every five days and eat up innings for a team that made it to the playoffs twice during that timeframe. Image courtesy of Benny Sieu, USA Today Sports Images Robert Chase Anderson was born in 1987 in Wichita Falls, Texas. After graduating from Rider High School, he elected not to sign with the Minnesota Twins, who picked the right-handed pitcher in the 42nd round of the 2006 MLB Amateur Draft. After a year at North Central Texas College (Gainesville), the Twins again selected Anderson, this time in the 40th round. He again chose not to sign, playing one more year at NCTC before transferring to the University of Oklahoma. The Arizona Diamondbacks picked Anderson in the 9th round of the 2009 draft, signing him for a reported $85,000. Anderson started surprisingly low in the minors for a college pitcher. He began his professional career at Missoula (Montana) in the Rookie Pioneer League and spent five seasons in the minors before being promoted to the big leagues in 2014. After making six starts at Double-A Mobile in the Southern League, Anderson made his big-league debut on May 11, earning a win against the Chicago White Sox. He won his first five decisions before a losing skein of four games dropped his record to 5-4. He pitched well the rest of the season, ending with a record of 9-7, a FIP of 4.22, and an ERA+ of 93. He finished 10th in the NL ROY voting. Anderson had a similar season in 2015 for Arizona but was traded to the Brewers in January 2016. Although his nine wins in 2016 placed him second on the team behind Zach Davies, his 5.09 FIP and 97 ERA+ were rather pedestrian. That would change in 2017, as he won 12 games against four losses, had a 3.58 FIP, and had an ERA+ of 160. His 4.2 bWAR was the best on the team, and his 133 strikeouts were a career high. In the next two seasons for Milwaukee, he appeared in 62 games (57 starts), won a combined 17 games, and had a decent ERA+ of 105. His 5.04 FIP left something to be desired, though. Rather than exercise an option for $8.5 million after the 2019 season, the Brewers traded Anderson to the Toronto Blue Jays for power-hitting prospect Chad Spanberger. Unfortunately for the Brewers, Spanberger never made it past Triple-A, playing only four games at that level before retiring. Anderson posted the worst numbers of his career in the Covid year of 2020, with an ERA+ of 61 and FIP of 6.16. Granted his free agency after the season, Anderson signed with the Philadelphia Phillies for the 2021 season, had similar numbers to the previous year, and was released in late August. Over the next year, Anderson bounced from organization to organization, playing in the minors for the Rangers, Tigers, and Rays before signing with the Cincinnati Reds for the final month of the 2022 campaign. He mostly struggled in nine appearances (seven starts) with a FIP of 5.07 and an ERA+ of 69. In 2023, the Reds re-signed Anderson, and after pitching five games at Triple-A Louisville, he was purchased by the Tampa Bay Rays. Anderson pitched decently in two appearances over a seven-day span (five innings, two hits, one walk, two strikeouts, and a save) but was waived by the Rays. The Colorado Rockies picked up Anderson in mid-May and gave him 17 starts, in which he pitched to a FIP of 5.89 and ERA+ of 86. After the season, he was granted free agency and scooped up by the Pittsburgh Pirates, who signed him to a minor league deal. Anderson pitched well in the spring for the Buccos (2-0 record, 2.45 ERA, 0.73 WHIP), but the pitcher opted out of his contract and signed a major league deal with the Boston Red Sox instead. Anderson started well for Boston, earning a pair of three-inning saves in his first two appearances. In early August, he was released by the Bosox and signed with the Texas Rangers, returning to his home state. He was called up to the bigs after making four starts at Triple-A Round Rock (Texas). He made two appearances in early September and got lit up, allowing nine hits, seven earned runs, and two walks in 6.1 innings. He was released a few days later. The Texan pitched well in his four years with Milwaukee, winning 38 games with an ERA+ of 112. His FIP was 4.70, while his ERA was 3.83 across 118 games, 112 of them starts. As of Christmas 2024, Anderson is a free agent, awaiting a possible deal for 2025. View full article

A very fascinating look at the world of baseball transactions. As a side note, I 'own' Lucas Erceg in a computer league (Diamond Mind Baseball) and his 'card' makes him a solid set-up man for my team. Congrats to Lucas on a great, but unexpected journey to the bigs! Nice job, Jim!!