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Cubs To Sign LHP Brett Anderson To 1-Year Deal, Pending Physical

(CBS) The Cubs and left-hander Brett Anderson have agreed to a one-year deal, a source confirmed to 670 The Score's Bruce Levine. The deal is pending a physical.

Given Anderson's injury history, the physical isn't quite the formality it is for others. He only pitched in four games in 2016 with the Dodgers as he had surgery for a serious back injury and also dealt with a wrist injury. Anderson, who turns 29 in February, has only started 30 games twice in his career, over which he has a 3.86 ERA in 127 appearances. In 2015, he was 10-9 with a 3.69 ERA and 1.33 WHIP.

Assuming he's healthy, Anderson will be expected to compete for the No. 5 spot in the rotation that opened up after the Cubs let right-hander Jason Hammel walk in free agency. Left-hander Mike Montgomery is also a candidate to fill the last rotation spot, but the Cubs enjoy the luxury of having his versatility in the bullpen. Manager Joe Maddon had so much trust in Montgomery that he called on him to save Game 7 of the World Series last November.

Anderson's deal is worth $3.5 million, but it could reach $10 million with incentives, according to reports.

Anderson announced on Twitter late Monday that he was Chicago-bound.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports first reported the deal late Monday.

Just last week on the Spiegel and Parkins Show, Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer spoke to the importance of acquiring another starting pitcher and why that spot was most likely to be filled in free agency and not on the trade market.

"I've said it on your show too many times that you're probably tired of it, but depth is really underrated, and we're not looking to get rid of our depth just to add something that will help us this year," Hoyer said. "Making sure that we maintain that position-playing depth really allows us to have injuries and withstand that from a position-playing standpoint. We don't necessarily have the same luxury on the pitching side, and that's something we need to fix."

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