tireball.com

I guess I’m a bit late to the party but I’ll go ahead and note that Josh Anderson signed a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Reds two days ago.

Anderson receives an invite to spring training. The former Astros prospect hit .240/.276/.304 in 118 games for the Tigers and Royals last season. He can play all three outfield positions and will have a decent chance of cracking Cincinnati’s roster out of spring training.– Rotoworld

Best of luck to Josh. You can bet he’ll be my non roster invitee pick to make the majors for the Reds this season.

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Josh Anderson remains a free agent. The dynamic outfielder with amazing speed on the base paths spent last season split between the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals.

Anderson entered spring training with the Atlanta Braves but after the team opted to go with Jordan Schafer in center field traded the outfielder to Detroit for reliever Rudy Darlow.

While receiving the most playing time of his career, Anderson easily set career highs with 283 at-bats, 24 RBI,13 walks and 25 stolen bases in 30 attempts but in finishing the season with a .240/.276/.304 line things are looking down. In fact it’s fair to say Anderson took a big step back as in 2008 he finished the year with a .294/.338/.426 line in 136 at-bats with the Braves.

It’s quite certain that Anderson will receive a contract offer from someone and for all we know there could be genuine interest from teams looking to add Anderson. Anderson figures to just receive an invite to spring training with no guaranteed money on the table so the wait likely has more to do with finding the team that offers him the best chance at playing time.

Below is Anderson’s season average for a full season of play.

Considering he’s not going to get an everyday gig  Anderson would appear to be a solid outfield option for most teams as a fifth outfielder who can play all three positions. His speed on the base paths would be of use to many teams.

Of course the knock on Anderson is he’s a bit stretched in center and isn’t much of a source for power or walks.

Whether Anderson is a major league option will be decided during spring training as it’s hard to believe anyone would sign Anderson with the intent of using him on the 25 man roster all season without him first proving himself this spring.

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