Rangers release Drew Anderson

The Texas Rangers have released pitcher Drew Anderson, according to the MLB.com transactions page. The Rangers apparently released Anderson on October 29 — last Friday — but John Blake hasn’t tweeted about it, and I don’t think an official announcement has gone out.

Anderson was signed to a minor league deal in January, and spent the first half of the season in the Round Rock rotation. When the Rangers needed reinforcements for the major league pitching staff after dealing Joely Rodriguez, Ian Kennedy and Kyle Gibson at the trade deadline, Anderson was brought up, and had four major league appearances before landing on the COVID-19 injured list as part of the Boston outbreak.

Anderson returned to the major league roster in the middle of September and was part of the bullpen the rest of the way. The 27 year old put up a 3.06 ERA in 70.2 IP for Round Rock, and a 3.27 ERA in 22 innings in the big leagues.

Anderson’s release was expected, as the Rangers clear out spots on the 40 man roster in advance of the start of the offseason. The Rangers’ 40 man roster (including players on the 60 day injured list) now stands at 45. Jordan Lyles, Charlie Culberson, Brock Holt, and (maybe) Spencer Patton will be free agents after the World Series, which means the Rangers will still need to drop one (or two) players in the next week or so.

UPDATE — John Blake says Anderson was released so he could pursue an opportunity with a team in Asia.