New York Yankees ‘seriously pursuing’ Andrew Miller
By Aaron Somers
Andrew Miller‘s market is rapidly picking up steam and the New York Yankees would appear to be the latest team to step up and show an interest. ESPN’s Buster Olney hears that the team is in “serious pursuit” of the left-hander, noting that given the amount of interest that’s been shown to date he is likely looking at a four year deal.
The Yankees are in serious pursuit of left-hander Andrew Miller. Given the parties in the bidding, he'll likely wind up with a 4-year deal.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 1, 2014
Miller entered the free agent market for the first time in his career this offseason and couldn’t have done so at a better time. He was the clear choice as the best left-handed reliever available and is coming off a stellar 2014 season. Miller made a career-high 73 appearances between the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles this past year while posting a 2.02 ERA, 0.802 WHIP, and 14.9 K/9 in 62.1 IP.
He’s also demonstrated that he can get out both right-handed and left-handed hitters in his career, adding some value beyond the traditional “lefty specialist” role. In fact, there has been some belief that Miller’s stuff could translate into a closer’s role without much hesitation even though he’s saved just one game in his career.
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With numerous teams interested in the 29 year old, most early projections had Miller landing a four year deal worth between $32-40 million – likely a record setting contract for a player of his makeup. Various reports over the past week suggest that he’s already received a handful of three year offers and his agent indicated over the weekend that a decision could be close.
While it remains to be seen what New York may be offering Miller, it’s clear their intent is to pair him at the back of the bullpen with Dellin Betances – forming a fairly formidable righty/lefty duo to close out games. Signing Miller would effectively also signal what many already believe in that the team is prepared to move on from David Robertson given his reported contract demands.