Brett Anderson said he rejected multiyear deals to return to Dodgers

By accepting a qualifying offer from the Dodgers last week, Brett Anderson essentially settled for a one-year deal worth $15.8 million.

In doing so, the left-hander said he rejected multiyear contract proposals from other teams.

“There were some multiyear offers, but my situation was a little unique and I just kind of wanted to bet on myself,” Anderson said Monday in a conference call.

Anderson has positioned himself to reenter the free-agent market next winter at the age of 28. If the upcoming season unfolds as he imagines it will, he will be another year removed from a string of physical issues that labeled him as injury prone.

“Hopefully, get the stigma of a bad health record off my back, I can go into next year and see what happens,” he said.

The process of restoring his reputation started this season, when he made a career-high 31 starts and pitched 180 1/3 innings. The last time he pitched more than 100 innings was in 2010.

The free-agent class next year is expected to be significantly weaker in starting pitching, which could further improve Anderson’s chances of landing a more lucrative contract. The current free-agent class includes frontline starters such as Zack Greinke, David Price, Johnny Cueto and Jordan Zimmermann, as well as a strong group of second- and third-tier pitchers.

“Obviously, it’s kind of a record-setting year this year, with not only the numbers but the talent that’s going to be out there,” Anderson said.

Anderson said he spoke to the Dodgers “a little bit” about the possibility of a multiyear deal.

“They’ve obviously got a lot on their plate right now,” he said. “It might be one of those things you talk at a later date. As of right now, it’s just kind of go with this qualifying offer and see where that takes us.”

Anderson, who was 10-9 with a 3.69 earned-run average this year, said he also thinks he can improve his performance.

At this time last year, Anderson was recovering from a back operation. This year, he is expecting to have a “pseudo-normal” off-season.

“I think the biggest thing this off-season is doing more strength training and trying to stay strong for 30-plus starts rather than just trying to get my body able to get through the 30-plus starts,” he said.

He is hopeful the extra strength work will result in increased fastball and slider velocity, which, in turn, could result in more strikeouts.