Diamondbacks Reportedly Ready To Dump Shelby Miller
Shelby Miller may go down as one of the biggest trade busts in Major League Baseball history. The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired Miller in December at a premium price, and less than eight months later they are ready to dump him. Jeff Passan is reporting that Arizona has put Miller on the trade block in the hope that someone will take him off the team’s hands.
Sources: The Diamondbacks have let teams know Shelby Miller is available in a trade. Price isn't nearly what it cost them eight months ago.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 24, 2016
To acquire Miller, the Diamondbacks sent top prospect Dansby Swanson, Ender Inciarte and Aaron Blair to the Atlanta Braves. A few months earlier Arizona made Swanson the No. 1 pick in the 2015 MLB Draft, and he’s currently ranked as the No. 6 prospect in baseball by MLB.com, while he sits at No. 7 on Baseball America’s list. Blair and Inciarte haven’t done much in Atlanta, but Swanson looks like a future franchise cornerstone at shortstop.
Meanwhile, Miller’s 2016 season has been an abject disaster. The 25-year-old is 2-9 with a 7.14 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. He has allowed 55 earned runs, 87 hits and 34 walks, while striking out just 50 in 69.1 innings. His WAR is a dismal -0.3 per Fangraphs.
The Diamondbacks sent Miller to Triple-A Reno on July 14 to see if he could get himself right. In one start for the Aces, Miller went 6.2 innings and allowed three earned runs. It wasn’t an inspiring performance.
Now Arizona has to pray someone is willing to surrender anything of value in return for Miller. He’s only making $4.35 million this season and is under team control for two more years before hitting free agency in 2019.
There are a few contenders in need of starting pitching – the Dodgers, Royals, Rangers and Marlins come to mind – and the market this summer is fairly thin as far as top arms go. If a team is confident it can turn Miller around it might be willing to take on the risk he clearly poses.
The big story here is that Diamondbacks general manager Dave Stewart is clearly raising the white flag on the Miller deal. He’s admitting to a horrific defeat, and what looks like one of the most lopsided deals we’ve seen in recent years.