He's one of baseball's best young pitchers.
And today the A's signed Brett Anderson to an extension that could keep the 22-year-old in Oakland through the 2015 season. The extension is through the 2013 season, but there are club options for both 2014 and 2015.
The first four years are worth $12.5 million while the total deal could reach a maximum of $31 million if Oakland exercises their option in both years.
The 2015 season would have been Anderson's first year of free agency.
"Let's face it, it's not only having him for that length of time, but also, given his talent, it provides us with some cost control," A's general manager Billy Beane said, per MLB.com. "Premium starting pitchers, guys who can pitch in that No. 1 slot, which we think Brett will be doing very shortly, become very expensive very quickly. We think Brett's a pretty unique talent. The more we saw of him and the longer we waited, the more expensive it was going to become. We jumped early."
In his final 17 starts in 2009, Anderson finished with an 8-4 record and 2.96 ERA. So far this year, Anderson has pitched 12 scoreless innings and struck out ten batters.
In the American League, the only young pitcher (under 25 years old) better than Anderson is Seattle's Felix Hernandez. This is a great move for the A's to lock up their future ace at a reasonable cost.
