The Indians announced Wednesday evening that they have come to an agreement with right-hander Cody Anderson for the 2019 season, avoiding arbitration.
According to a report from MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, the deal is for $641,250.
Anderson, 28, has missed the last two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in March 2017. In 2015, the righty started 15 games and went 7-3 with a 3.05 ERA in 91 1/3 innings. In 2016, he made 19 appearances, including nine starts, with a 6.68 ERA.
After his long stretch away from the Major Leagues, Anderson could spend some time in Cleveland's bullpen in 2019. At the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas last week, Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said a focus this offseason would be adding to the bullpen, but the team could use some players returning from injuries to fill that role.
"It's definitely on the list of things we'd like to do," Antonetti said regarding bolstering the bullpen. "At the same time, we do feel that we have a number of alternatives that are coming back that we expect will either be better than what they were in 2018 or, in some cases, guys returning from injuries that weren't available to us in 2018. We've run through that list of guys. Everybody from Cody Anderson to Nicholas Goody, Danny Salazar, there's a variety of different guys that could fill that role."