An often-said proverb of Major League Baseball is this: It's hard to make it to the big leagues, but much harder to stay there.
Teams are only given 26 roster spots (28 at this time of year, technically), and have to spread out 162 games worth of playing time to those roster spots. That means if a player isn't productive, and doesn't have a clear role, teams will move on quickly.
A former Boston Red Sox pitcher has discovered that firsthand this season, as he found himself released by his second team in less than two months on Thursday.
36-year-old Chase Anderson, who signed with the Red Sox in Spring Training and spent most of the season in Boston, was designated for assignment by his latest team, the Texas Rangers, after just two outings with the defending World Series champions.
The Rangers had initially signed Anderson to a free-agent contract on Aug. 5, and called him up from Triple-A on Aug. 31. He threw 6 1/3 innings out of the bullpen for Texas over the ensuing two weeks.
But with top prospect Kumar Rocker making his MLB debut on Thursday, someone had to be dropped from the 40-man roster. Anderson was the one with the short stick in his hand.
Anderson was originally designated for assignment by Boston on July 28, helping make way for all the new players acquired at the trade deadline. His role on the Red Sox was an inglorious one, but he did help them maintain a fresh pitching staff.
Excluding his lone spot start in April, Anderson entered 26 games out of the bullpen for the Red Sox and finished 22 of them. He essentially ate 50 2/3 low-leverage innings for Boston and allowed manager Alex Cora to save his more talented arms for more important spots.
Including his time in Texas this season, however, Anderson has a 5.40 ERA and has allowed 12 home runs in just 58 1/3 innings. The Rangers made the understandable decision to give his roster spot to a pitcher they hope can be a more significant part of their future.
