Bad Day For Brians: Anderson, Bannister Cut

To nobody’s surprise, Brian Bannister and Brian Anderson were both cut from the Royals 40 man roster today to make room for David DeJesus and Jason Kendal, both of whom needed to be reinstated off the 60 day disabled list.  Anderson was designated for assignment, so he could still end up in Triple A to continue pitching, but Bannister refused assignment and became a free agent.

Bannister made $2.3 million in 2010 and was eligible for salary arbitration.  After posting a 6.34 ERA in 127.2 innings, the decision was easy to let him go.

Anderson signed last season as an outfielder, but after missing the cut out of spring training, opted to go through the minor leagues to convert to pitching which he’d done in college at Arizona. Some reports had him hitting the mid-90s with his fastball and his cumulative statistics look good.  Jumping from rookie league ball in Arizona to Low A Burlington to Triple A Omaha, Anderson logged 17.1 innings in 14 appearances, striking out 17 and walking just five.  He put up a 2.08 ERA altogether.

Bannister finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2007 after joining the Royals after a trade with the Mets. His 3.87 ERA in 165 innings was impressive but there were concerns about his strikeout rate and ability to maintain a low BABIP. Heading into 2008, Bannister tried to throw more strikeouts, but still only managed 5.6 K/9 while his walkrate increased. He also nearly doubled his HR/9 rate and gave up two more hits per nine innings on his way to a disappointing sophomore season and a 5.76 ERA.

He rebounded with a decent 2009 but still hadn’t managed to recapture the same magic that he’d had in 2007. By the end of 2010, Bannister had put up his 6.34 ERA and battled shoulder tendonitis in August, earning him a stint on the 15 day DL that kept him off the mound the rest of the year.

I’m sure some team will pick Bannister up as a long relief guy at least. He’s shown flashes of ability, but he’s wrung quite a lot of production out of his ordinary talents. Bannister’s been featured nationally for his avid sabermetric analysis in pitching preparation and I’d credit that for his ability to stick in the majors. I’d like to see him make it somewhere, but it’s going to be tough to convince teams to give him a shot and even tougher for him to consistently get batters out.

Brian Bannister‘s career stats:

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