The 31-year-old infielder was designated for assignment on Wednesday and the Angels granted his release after he passed through waivers unclaimed. Anderson slashed a disappointing .205/.258/.241 with zero homers, three RBI and a 29/3 K/BB ratio over 90 plate appearances with the Halos. It’s possible this could be the end of the line for the two-time All-Star.

No real surprise here since Anderson has hit .205/.258/.241 with zero homers and one steal in 90 plate appearances over 31 games this season for the Angels. His days in Los Angeles were always going to be numbered after the club signed versatile veteran Chris Taylor earlier this week. He’ll most likely pass through waivers and end up on the free agent wire.

There wasn’t much reason for the Angels to give Anderson a shot in the first place, and there’s no point for keeping him on the roster now. He’s batting .200/.256/.238 with no homers and a 28/3 K/BB in 87 plate appearances. He has twice as many plate appearances as Kevin Newman, who has also been very bad this season but at least was decent recently. Anderson is nearing three years of being a major liability.

Coming off a year and a half run as one of the game’s very worst players, Anderson didn’t really do much of anything to earn a spot on the Angels this spring, and it’s hard to understand why he’s playing now. If the Angels don’t believe in Paris — which is justifiable, even if his batted ball numbers this year are still pretty good overall — Kevin Newman sure figures to be the better alternative going forward. Anderson is batting .176/.222/.196 through 54 plate appearances. He has a 27 OPS+ since the beginning of last year and a 49 OPS+ since the beginning of 2023.