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Report: Cubs agree to 1-year, $3.5M deal with Brett Anderson

Harry How / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Chicago Cubs have reportedly agreed to a deal with oft-injured free-agent starter Brett Anderson, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

The one-year contract - which is contingent on Anderson passing his physical - is reportedly worth $3.5 million, and contains incentives that could raise its value to $10 million, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.

Earlier Monday, Anderson tweeted he was en route to the Windy City, leading to speculation about his possibly signing in the city.

If healthy, Anderson would add depth to an already excellent core of starters for the defending World Series champions. It's possible that he could claim the fifth starters' role and push southpaw Mike Montgomery back to the bullpen, head to the minors as depth, or even move into an unfamiliar relief role himself.

Health, of course, is the key for Anderson, a former top prospect in the Oakland Athletics' system. The soon-to-be 29-year-old has been effective when off the disabled list, but has made frequent trips to the injury ward in recent years. After making 62 starts over his first three big-league seasons, he's appeared in just 65 major-league contests over the last five years, and has pitched in over 16 games just once during that span due to a variety of ailments.

Anderson posted a 3.69 ERA, 1.331 WHIP, and 116 strikeouts over a career-high 31 starts and 180 1/3 innings in 2015, but couldn't stay off the DL this past year. A back injury suffered in spring training kept him off the field until August, and he then sprained his wrist in his season debut and missed another month. Overall, Anderson made just four appearances for the Los Angeles Dodgers last year, and posted a 11.91 ERA for his troubles.

Anderson earned $15.8 million in 2016 after accepting the Dodgers' qualifying offer last winter. He owns a career 3.86 ERA and 1.318 WHIP over 685 2/3 innings with the Dodgers, Athletics, and Colorado Rockies.

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