Pitcher Tyler Anderson turns down Dodgers’ offer, will sign with Angels

Tyler Anderson is staying in the Southland, but it won’t be with the Dodgers.

Instead of accepting the Dodgers’ qualifying offer of one year and $19.65 million on Tuesday, the left-handed pitcher agreed to a three-year contract with the Angels worth around $39 million, according to multiple media reports.

The news broke just before a 1 p.m. PST deadline Tuesday for Anderson to accept his qualifying offer from the Dodgers. The Dodgers will get draft compensation in return.

Star shortstop Trea Turner also reportedly declined his qualifying offer from the Dodgers and instead remains a free agent, where he is likely to receive one of the biggest contracts of any available player this winter.

That news had been expected.

Anderson’s crosstown move, on the other hand, came as a late surprise.

The 32-year-old journeyman had a breakout 2022 season with the Dodgers, who needed him to take on a far more prominent role than originally expected when he signed a one-year, $8-million deal in the spring.

After starting the season in the bullpen as a long reliever, Anderson was forced into the rotation because of injuries, and he quickly flourished with a reworked pitching arsenal centered around a devastating changeup.

In 30 appearances (28 starts), Anderson went 15-5 with a 2.57 ERA. He earned his first career nod to the All-Star Game. He also had the best performance of any of the Dodgers’ starters during their brief postseason run, pitching five scoreless innings in Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres.

Entering the offseason, it wasn’t certain that Anderson would get a qualifying offer from the team, as the nearly $20-million salary was expected to surpass the annual value he’d get in a longer-term contract on the open market.

However, the club decided before last Thursday’s deadline to extend it.

Anderson took up until Tuesday’s deadline to make his decision. According to one person with knowledge of the situation, he had remained undecided through Monday night and into Tuesday afternoon.

In the end, though, he got the security of a multi-year contract from the Angels.

This is a developing story and will be updated.