It appeared Pittsburgh Pirates lefty Tyler Anderson was on his way to the Philadelphia Phillies for two prospects on Tuesday afternoong. That trade hit a snag, however, and the Seattle Mariners have swooped in. The Mariners are close to finalizing a trade for Anderson, reports ESPN's Jeff Passan.
The trade would be the second in less than 24 hours for Mariners, who sent ace reliever Kendall Graveman to the Astros in a four-player swap that left Mariners players feeling "betrayed." Seattle came into Tuesday only one game behind the second wild card spot and yet they traded their best reliever to a division rival.
"(This) move we feel makes us a deeper team today, as well as moving forward," Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto said in a statement after the Graveman trade. "We are certain to be very active in the hours and days ahead as we remain committed to making moves that will enhance our chances over the season's final 60 games and hopefully beyond."
Anderson, 31, is a rental owed the remainder of his $2.5 million salary this year. He's pitched to a 4.35 ERA with 86 strikeouts and 25 walks in 18 starts and 103 1/3 innings. Anderson has long been a stathead favorite because of his ability to induce weak contact and the way he tunnels his pitches together.
The Pirates will receive two prospects in the trade, including catcher Carter Bins, reports Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The 22-year-old Bins is hitting .247/.400/.438 with eight home runs in 50 games split between High-A and Double-A this season. MLB.com does not rank him among Seattle's top 30 prospects.
The deal with the Phillies would've sent two prospects -- righty Cristian Hernandez and catcher Abrahan Gutierrez -- to the Pirates for Anderson. A medical issue with one of the prospects caused the snag, however, and although the two sides tried to work through it, they were unable to find common ground. That's when the Mariners jumped in.
Seattle currently has four starters on the injured list (Justin Dunn, Nick Margevicius, James Paxton, Justus Sheffield). Anderson will join Chris Flexen, Logan Gilbert, Marco Gonzales and All-Star Yusei Kikuchi in the rotation.
At 55-46, the Mariners were one game behind the Athletics for the second wild card spot coming into Tuesday.
