All eyes were on New York Yankees closer Andrew Miller as the team teetered on the edge of contention ahead of Monday's non-waiver trade deadline, and the Bronx Bombers pulled the trigger on a deal that shipped the dynamic reliever to the Cleveland Indians on Sunday.
Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal and ESPN's Buster Olney weighed in on the deal:
The Miller trade came shortly after Rosenthal announced the Indians traded for All-Star catcher Jonathan Lucroy from the Milwaukee Brewers. However, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt reported on Sunday that "Lucroy has exercised his no-trade clause and vetoed [the] trade."
The Yankees signed Miller to a four-year, $36 million deal prior to the 2015 season, and his $9 million annual salary now looks like peanuts following a superb campaign.
Although the Yankees disappointed last year when the Houston Astros bounced them from the postseason in an American League wild-card showdown, Miller finished his first season in pinstripes with 36 saves and a 2.04 ERA.
Miller's 36 saves ranked third among AL closers, and the 31-year-old's 2.3 wins above replacement were the second-most among AL relievers with at least 20 saves, per ESPN.com. As a result, Miller captured the 2015 Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award, despite dealing with a forearm strain that forced him to miss a month.
"To be associated with anything with Mariano's name on it, probably more than I deserve," Miller said in October, according to NJ Advance Media's Ryan Hatch. "Nobody has a better reputation, and especially off the field, than him. It's something I'll cherish."
In 44 appearances in 2016, Miller has posted a 1.39 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 77 strikeouts and seven walks.
Trading Miller on a team-friendly deal after shipping fireballer Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs is a bold move, but it represents a chance to bolster the team's asset stockpile.
It's also a vote of confidence in rising star Dellin Betances. The 28-year-old earned his third straight All-Star nod in 2016, and he thrived in a setup role before Chapman came aboard this season and shook up the structure of New York's bullpen.
As the Yankees' go-to eighth-inning arm in 2015, Betances recorded a 1.50 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP and 131 strikeouts while tying his career high with a 3.7 WAR. So far this season, Betances has posted a 2.50 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP with 89 strikeouts. Betances is also a more cost-effective option since he's under team control through 2019.
Considering the Yankees' World Series aspirations for 2016 have morphed into a pipe dream, selling high on Miller is a prudent long-term move.
All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless noted otherwise. Salary information courtesy of Spotrac.com.
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