Chase Anderson File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI

The Milwaukee Brewers exercised club options for $8.5 million on pitcher Chase Anderson and $7.5 million on first baseman Eric Thames on Monday.  They traded Anderson to the Toronto Blue Jays for minor league 1B/OF Chad Spanberger.  They payed a $1 million buyout to Thames.

The Brewers also exercised an option on catcher Manny Pina for $1.85 million for 2020.

The moves clear around $15 million off the books for the coming season.

Anderson went 8-4 with a 4.21 ERA over 139 innings last season.  He spent four seasons with the Brewers, going 38-27 with a 3.83 ERA in 118 games (112 starts).

The 24-year-old Spanberger has hit 59 home runs in 305 minor-league games, including 13 homers and [Read more…]