Braves trade righty reliever Nick Anderson to the Kansas City Royals

Alex Anthopoulos and the Atlanta Braves have been active in the last 12 hours. The team completed a trade where they sent 5 players to the White Sox in exchange for southpaw reliever, Aaron Bummer.

That trade sent two fan-favorites, Michael Soroka and Nicky Lopez, to Chicago who were likely going to be non-tendered anyway. So, sending them to a team where they will get a chance to play was best best-case scenario. Also included in the trade were Jared Shuster, Braden Shewmake, and prospect Riley Gowens.

On Friday, the Braves made an exchange with the Kansas City Royals. Reliever Nick Anderson was traded and in return, Atlanta will receive cash considerations. Kansas City had been linked to Anderson last offseason.

Anderson was a good piece for Atlanta early on in 2023 but suffered a shoulder injury in July which prevented him from returning for the remainder of the season. He finished his season with a 3.06 ERA through 35.1 innings with a 25.5% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate. 

The expectation was that the Braves were going to non-tender Anderson on Friday despite his rather reasonable expected contract value of $1.6 million. So, the swap allowed them to get something in return rather than just non-tendering him with zero benefits other than clearing salary space and a roster spot.

Atlanta also has 7 relievers ready to go for 2024 including their new acquisition of Aaron Bummer. Anderson became expendable but luckily he found himself being traded to an organization that needed his services. Hopefully, Anderson is able to remain healthy and get back to pitching well.

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