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Anderson is the son of Oklahoma State baseball coach Frank Anderson. Before he became head coach, Frank had long been one of college baseball's most respected pitching coaches.
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In 2006, Brett's senior year at Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, he committed to Oklahoma State.
- In 2006, Anderson got drafted by the D-backs (see Transactions below).
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In 2007, Baseball America rated Brett as 11th-best prospect in the Diamondbacks' organization. Before 2008 spring training, they had Anderson as the #3 prospect in the Arizona farm system, behind only OF Carlos Gonzalez and P Jarrod Parker.
Then, in 2009, they moved Anderson up to the #1 prospect in the Oakland A's organization.
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Brett's Dad is pretty intense, but Brett is not. He is low-key.
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Anderson needs to take his conditioning more seriously. He has a soft body. But he lost over 30 pounds before 2012 spring training, mostly because he gave up Coca-Cola, starting in August 2011.
Brett was in the middle of his rehab back from Tommy John surgery, which caused him to miss the first half of the 2012 season. He upped his conditioning efforts and running an average of two to three miles multiple times a week.
"It's not my favorite thing ever," he said. "Running just to run, I don't think too many people like that, but it's part of the deal and it gets you in shape. I might as well take advantage of this time and get in the best shape of possible. It's frustrating it takes something like this for that to happen, but you have to make the best of it to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."
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Asked what kind of pre-game ritual or superstitions he might have, Brett said, "I don't really have a pre-game ritual. I am really superstitious, however, from putting Chapstick on a certain way, to my uniform number."
Anderson reportedly arranges his lip balms in meticulous order in his locker stall, and clings to multiple routines during games that dictate how and when he'll grab a cup of drinking water.
Brett confesses to having a "full-fledged" case of obsessive compulsive disorder.
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In August 2008, Anderson was a member of Team USA baseball in the Beijing Olympics.
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In April 2009, when Brett and teammate Trevor Cahill went apartment hunting in Oakland, they were turned down several times.
"We couldn't get a place in Walnut Creek because they said we were too young and baseball players," Anderson said. "We tried to get two apartments, a house, and a condo. We would've been their best tenants ever. We had a steady income and were there only half the time."
Having been turned down in the East Bay, the pitchers went elsewhere, finding a place in San Francisco, right across the street from the Giants' ballpark.
"That was our deal, our time to talk about everything," Frank said. "School, life, whatever was going on. I told him, 'I guess you're old enough now. I can teach you how to throw a breaking ball.'
"I asked him, 'You got any idea how to throw one?' " Brett told his Dad he'd try one out. You know, just to see. So he did—and it broke perfectly. "It's basically the same slider that he's throwing right now," Frank said.
Turns out that 14-year-old kid had been messing around with a slider for a while. Anderson now features some of the best breaking stuff in the Majors, along with a mid-90s fastball.
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Bret's father's résumé spans more than 30 years of coaching experience at the college level. And perhaps no one has learned more from him during that time than his son, who also happens to be his best friend.
"I was a field rat," Brett said. "It seems like a coach's kid can go one of two ways. They can embrace that life or despise it. I was all in. I was climbing on batting cages, pestering college kids. I was playing catch with anyone who would play catch with me. I'm just a baseball nerd."
The ballpark was Brett's daycare center. Frank and his wife, Sandra, hired a student-athlete at Texas Tech to babysit Brett, which simply meant taking him to the field every day and locking the gate behind her as he raced off to the diamond during practices.
Frank formed a deal with each of his employers before he took a job. It was non-negotiable. Brett would be in the dugout during every game.
It was in one of those dugouts where Brett watched A's draftee Huston Street close out the national championship game for the Longhorns. He watched Street closely, pitcher J.P. Howell, too. And that's how he learned how to throw a baseball.
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At Stillwater High School in Oklahoma, Brett made the varsity team as a freshman. He remembers his first game well, pitching six shutout innings while also going 3-for-4 with a home run. His parents, Frank and Sandra, were there.
Brett carried a 4.0 GPA and finished eighth in his high school class—en route to scholarship offers from Stanford and Oklahoma State, where Frank was coaching at the time. But the Diamondbacks had a different plan for him; they took him in the second round of the 2006 draft. And Brett signed.
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Injuries derailed Anderson's first year in Colorado. But the circumstances of the latest -- a broken index finger on his throwing hand -- put him squarely in the category of a hard-luck player.
"I wouldn't say it's kind of normal at this point, but it is kind of normal because of the last handful of years," Anderson said. "But people who have been around the game, who probably have 100 years of experience -- trainers, coaches and stuff -- hadn't seen anything like my injury before, where a guy just hits one off the end of the bat -- most of the time, it stings right away and it goes away.
"Next thing you know, I have pins in my fingers."
It was a good time to call his father. Brett is the son of Frank Anderson, a longtime college pitching coach at the University of Houston. But Brett leans on his father for who he is, not what he does.
Dad was there for his son, who pitched for the Athletics from 2009-2012, after Brett underwent Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow in 2011, limiting him to 13 starts that year. In 2012, Anderson made only six starts late in the year before suffering a right oblique injury that ended his season on Sept. 19. In 2013, Brett had his father around when foot and ankle injuries limited him to 16 appearances (five starts), forcing him into a relief role by season's end.
But as hard as the injury bug has bitten Brett, Frank has been there to help with perspective. Frank said players deal with less anxiety directly related to the injury because of modern medicine. But they're still human. They still need their dads to remind them to approach the comeback the right way.
"There are very few career-ending things, and that's the only way to approach it," Frank said. "There's a lot of hard work to be done, whether it's Tommy John or a shoulder surgery or anything like the one he has. But I tell him, if you don't look back, if you take a positive approach, you've got a chance."
"He's been around the game long enough where he's dealt with people who have had injuries," Brett said. "If I have a bad day or whatever, I can call him. He's my best friend, too. We can talk about anything, whether it be baseball or life or whatever. It's always good to have that fallback. We talk about what my sister is doing, finishing up her freshman year of high school. Just take your mind off. He's my best friend, so we talk about whatever is going on."
Rehab can be long and lonely, and Brett said his father helps him lighten up during the heavy moments.
"He said to stay positive, go out there and do rehab, do what you need to get yourself back as soon as possible, and don't get too down, because there are a lot worse things in the world," Brett said. "At the end of the day, it's not too bad. At the end of the day, a lot of people have it worse than me." (Thomas Harding - MLB.com - 6/13/2014)
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April 27, 2019: Brett Anderson is 31, so he’s not that old.
But he made his Major League debut in 2009 at age 21, and has pitched for four different teams. So he has faced his fair amount of batters.
Recently, when he started against the Blue Jays for the Oakland Athletics, Anderson had the distinct honor of being the first pitcher to face both Vladimir Guerrero and his son, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who had recently made his much-anticipated big league debut.
The elder Guerrero retired from the league in 2011. (Yahoo Sports)
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Anderson's childhood nickname was "Noon."
TRANSACTIONS
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June 2006: The D'Backs chose Anderson in the second round, out of Stillwater High School in Oklahoma.
September 7, 2006: Anderson finally signed, turning pro rather than go play for his father at Oklahoma State. His bonus was $950,000, with Joe Robinson being the scout who signed him.
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December 14, 2007: The A's sent pitchers Dan Haren and Connor Robertson to the Diamondbacks; acquiring Anderson, pitchers Dana Eveland and Greg Smith, outfielders Aaron Cunningham and Carlos Gonzalez, and infielder Chris Carter.
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April 16, 2010: The A's and Anderson agreed to a four-year, $12.5 million guaranteed contract. The max, including the two option years, could bring it to $31 million.
Brett got a $1 million signing bonus and salaries of $500,000 in 2010, $1 million in 2011, $3 million in 2012, and $5.5 million in 2013. The club option for 2014 is for $8 million and $12 million for 2015. If the A's don't exercise either option, they'd pay a $1.5 million buyout.
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November 1, 2013, the A's exercised their $8 million option on Anderson for 2014.
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December 10, 2013: The Rockies sent LHP Drew Pomeranz and Chris Jensen to the A's, acquiring Anderson and $2 million.
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November 1, 2014: The Rockies declined Anderson's $12 million option for 2015, instead paying a $1.5 million buyout.
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December 31, 2014: Brett and the Dodgers agreed on a one-year, $10 million contract for 2015.
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November 13, 2015: Anderson accepted the Dodgers qualifying offer of $15.8 million, becoming the third player in 2015 to accept it. All 34 qualifying offers were turned down in the first three years of baseball's current collective bargaining agreement. When a player lets the deadline pass to test the market, his former team receives an additional high selection in the June draft if he signs somewhere else.
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Nov 3, 2016: Brett chose free agency.
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January 24, 2017: Anderson signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Cubs.
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July 31, 2017: The Cubs released Anderson.
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August 15, 2017: The Blue Jays signed Anderson to a minor league contract.
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Nov 2, 2017: Anderson elected free agency.
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March 20, 2018: The Athletics signed Anderson to a minor league contract.
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Oct 29, 2018: Brett chose free agency.
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Feb. 11, 2019: The A's signed Anderson.
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Oct 31, 2019: Brett chose free agency.
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Dec 13, 2019: The Brewers finalized a one-year deal for Brett Anderson. Anderson will earn $5 million, with a chance to make $2 million more in incentives.
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Oct 28, 2020: Brett elected free agency.
- Feb 16, 2021: The Brewers signed free agent Anderson to a one-year contract for $2.5 million.
- Nov 3, 2021: Brett chose free agency.