Mariners drop 'Little Unit'

SEATTLE -- When the Mariners drafted a Randy Johnson look-alike almost eight years ago, everyone in the organization dreamed of Ryan "The Little Unit" Anderson becoming a key part of the team's future starting rotation.

It'll never happen.

In a recent club release, the Mariners stated they had released Anderson, along with right-hander Rett Johnson.

"We talked it over as an organization and felt like we went as far as we could go with these guys," said Greg Hunter, the Mariners' director of minor league operations. "It was a tough decision, because there is an attachment to both players."

Anderson, a 6-foot-10 left-hander with great stuff, was the Mariners' first-round draft choice in 1997, the 19th player selected overall.

"He had unlimited potential," Mariners president Chuck Armstrong said. "Over the period of time he was here, especially early in his career, he had flashes of brilliance, as evidenced by some of his performances in Minor Leagues, the Futures Game and an exhibition game here against the Phillies (both in 2000). Unfortunately, he was unable transform those flashes of brilliance into sustained performance.

"This [release] is too bad, but we wish Ryan all the best in his future endeavors."

The overpowering southpaw left a trail of strikeout victims in his first couple of years as a professional, averaging 12.29 strikeouts every nine innings before the first of several injuries put him on the disabled list in 1998 while he was pitching for Class A Wisconsin.

He recovered, went to Double-A New Haven, continued to pile up strikeouts, led the Eastern League in 1999 with 162 in 134 innings, and earned a promotion to Triple-A Tacoma in 2000.

With Tacoma, Anderson made 20 starts, struck out 146 batters in 104 innings and seemed destined for MLB stardom.

But a torn rotator cuff forced him to miss the entire 2001 season, a torn labrum KOd him in '02, he spent the entire '03 season recuperating from the surgery, and he also didn't throw a pitch last season. Even so, the Mariners re-signed him, hoping that this would be the restart of a once-promising career.

"Ryan was a high-profile guy, and we had a lot of high hopes and money invested in him," Hunter said. "We had high expectations of him, and he had them as well. Unfortunately, he had a lot of back luck and kept breaking down."

Anderson finished his Mariners career with a 19-26 record and 3.94 ERA in 66 Minor League games, one shutout, one complete game, 460 strikeouts and 208 walks in 349 1/3 innings.

Hunter said several other MLB organizations have inquired about the 25-year-old Anderson, but as of Wednesday, he remains unemployed.

Johnson, 25, spent the past four seasons in the Mariners organization, climbing as high as Triple-A Tacoma two years ago when he had a 5-2 record and 2.15 ERA in 11 games -- 10 starts. He struck out 49 batters and walked only 18 in 71 innings with the Rainiers and was invited to Spring Training.

But he suddenly left camp for personal reasons, returned later in the summer and appeared in seven games with Class A Inland Empire (California League), posting a 0-2 record and 7.97 ERA.

Johnson was invited to camp a non-roster player this spring and pitched in two games before being cut.

The organization's eighth-round draft choice in 2000 compiled a 40-22 record in five Minor League seasons. He helped Double-A San Antonio win the Texas League title in 2002 with a 10-4 record and 3.62 ERA in 21 starts.