Cubs roster move: Brett Anderson activated from DL, designated for assignment

Brett Anderson made six starts for the Cubs. Three of them were decent, the other three were awful, and he has been on the disabled list since early May.

Brett, we hardly knew ye:

No one should be surprised with this move, especially after the acquisition of Jose Quintana made Anderson expendable. The Cubs paid him a $3.5 million base salary. There were some incentives based on starts made which are unlikely to be met, so at this point maybe $1 million remains on his salary for the year. Overall Anderson had an 8.18 ERA and 2.091 WHIP in 22 innings, and someday when his career is mentioned, people will say, “He pitched for the Cubs?”

Designating him for assignment instead of simply releasing him gives the Cubs 10 days to maybe trade him somewhere and pick up a lottery-ticket prospect, though I’d have to say the chances of that are pretty small, especially considering he did not throw well at Double-A in six rehab outings: 4.61 ERA and 1.573 WHIP.

It was a worthwhile chance. It didn’t work out. The Cubs move on.

Procedural note: Since Anderson was on the 60-day DL, this move does not open up a spot on the 40-man roster, since 60-day DL players do not count against the 40-man limit.