Miami Marlins 2021 Position Preview: Third Base No Contest
When will Miami Marlins extend Brian Anderson?
To answer the question of when the Miami Marlins might extend Brian Anderson, it might be illustrative to go back in franchise history to the last time the Marlins had a player with his profile at this position.
You had to know a Mike Lowell comp was coming.
Lowell, a Gold Glove caliber defender at third that blossomed into a steady power threat, is only one of the most beloved players in Miami Marlins history. A Franchise Four member, the three time All-Star was the foundation upon which the 2003 World Champions were built. While he may have only put up superstar numbers for one Marlins season, he was a model of consistency his entire Marlins career. Even in his worst season at the plate, 2005, he still played 150 games of Gold Glove winning defense.
All things that even the cash strapped Miami Marlins valued. So much so that the team offered him a 3-year, $ 6.5 million deal in March 2001, buying out all but his last year of salary arbitration despite Lowell having less than two years of MLB service time to his name at that point. So much so that in 2003, the last year of that deal, the Marlins paid him a 4-year, $32 million extension. Buying out an arbitration year again in order to continue building around Lowell’s talent.
Which brings us back to Brian Anderson, the 2021 Miami Marlins, and the two most likely moments they will announce an Anderson extension.
Firstly, there is a strong case to be made that an extension will be announced any day. Or more to the point, within twenty-four hours of the Miami Marlins announcing the terms of their new television contract. Finally done with the worst television deal in baseball, reports are that Miami expects the new deal to bring in more than double what they were previously earning. There would be no cleaner and clearer way to demonstrate the significance of that to the fanbase than using some of that television windfall to lock up Anderson. Marlins history shows plenty of examples of those kinds of deals being issued at similar inflection points in franchise history.
On the other hand, this is not the same ownership, market, or front office. That last point, the arrival of Kim Ng as the new GM, warrants particular attention here. Every statement she has made since coming aboard has been about getting to know these players, this organization. There’s simply no reason not to believe she’s stone cold serious about that, and that perhaps that evaluation process might not take until July, if not the entire 2021 season.
Throw in the current market realities of baseball- Covid effects on 2020 revenue, Covid effects on 2021 revenue, the expiring CBA, take your pick- and it shouldn’t surprise any Marlins fan if an Anderson extension doesn’t happen until early 2022.