Lars Anderson promoted to Boston

Sources have confirmed that the Red Sox will purchase the contract of first baseman Lars Anderson from Pawtucket today and add him to the active major league roster. Anderson, 22, has played in 130 games between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket this season, putting up a combined line of .274/.349/.461 with 15 home runs in the process. He was promoted to Pawtucket on April 29 after leading the Eastern League in slugging percentage for the first month of the minor league season. Following that promotion, Anderson had an adjustment period for two months in Pawtucket - hitting just .233 through the Triple-A All-Star break - but he has hit .296 with an .829 OPS since the break. Today is the final game of the season for the PawSox, and word is that Anderson was informed of his promotion following Sunday night's loss to Syracuse.

Boston drafted Anderson in the 18th round of the 2006 draft out of Jesuit High School in Fair Oaks, California. The slugger had slipped in the draft due to a strong commitment to UC-Berkeley, but the Red Sox front office enticed him to turn pro with an $825,000 signing bonus. He impressed early in his professional career, putting up an .828 OPS with the Low-A Greenville Drive in 2007 at the age of 19, and then proceeded to put up a .928 OPS in 87 games spread over two seasons with High-A Lancaster. He ended the 2008 season billed as the top prospect in the Red Sox system after putting up a .316/.436/.526 line in 41 games with Portland. But he had a sub-par season in a return stint with Portland in 2009, hitting just .233 in 119 games for the Sea Dogs, partly due to a back injury and partially because he just failed to get into the right groove.

After impressing the Red Sox brass during minor league spring training this season, Anderson got off to a hot start in Double-A, putting up a .355/.408/.677 line in 17 games with Portland before earning a promotion to Triple-A.

Even if he was not added to the active roster this season, it was expected that Anderson would have been added to Boston's 40-man roster this November to avoid being eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this off-season. With yesterday's addition of Robert Coello, this move will bring Boston's 40-man roster to its limit at 40 players.

Photo by Kelly O'Connor

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