Arizona Diamondbacks: Trading for Shelby Miller Proving to be a Costly Error
When the Arizona Diamondbacks traded for Shelby Miller they thought they were getting an All-Star caliber starter. Instead, they lost the future face of their franchise, and have a guy who can’t win in the Arizona heat.
Imagine buying a brand new house: two-stories, big backyard, nice neighborhood, and granite countertops like you’ve never seen before. But then you realize the plumbing is old, the AC never works, and your next door neighbor is a convicted felon.
Welcome to the sad reality that is the Arizona Diamondbacks. Much similar to the situation above, they are in major buyer’s remorse. Except it’s not a house they are regretting, it’s the Shelby Miller trade.
Miller was an extremely hot trade commodity for the Atlanta Braves this past off-season. There were many clubs in the mix for the 25-year-old All-Star, but many front-offices scoffed at the lopsided deal Atlanta was asking for…and for good reason.
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Yes, Shelby Miller put together a good…repeat GOOD 2015 campaign. He didn’t win many games, but not to his fault. He did however pitch over 200 innings, had a 3.02 ERA, and a WAR of 3.6. This could be considered a good season, but by no means a great one. And by no means, one that justifies what the D-Backs did.
After being turned down twice by Atlanta, Arizona decided to go all-in. They sent the 2015 #1 overall pick Dansby Swanson, fan-favorite outfielder Ender Inciarte, and pitching prospect Aaron Blair to Atlanta for just Shelby Miller and pitching prospect Gabe Speier.
Forget three of the five names on that list and just focus on Dansby Swanson. He is a 22-year-old rising prospect who has the opportunity to be the face of the Braves. He started the season in Class A advanced, but was quickly promoted to the Braves AA affiliate in less than a month from the start of the season.
In his time with the Mississippi Braves he’s hitting .280 with 5 home runs, 28 RBI’s, and an impressive .357 OBP.
On top of that he’s MLB.com’s 6th best prospect. A D-Backs prospect doesn’t appear on that list until 59…with a pitcher.
Now take a look back at Miller, the man who was worth trading the future face of the franchise for. He’s yet to win a game at Chase Field, is sitting at 2-8 with a 6.85 ERA, and hasn’t been able to pitch past the sixth in one start this year. Hitters have enjoyed hitting off of Miller as they are averaging a .311 batting percentage against him.
It’s not just Miller’s woes that make the remorse even worse. The offense has been inconsistent…especially at Swanson’s future position. Nick Ahmed has done a poor job at filling in for outfield-transitioned Chris Owings. His slash line is an abysmal .227/.270/.319, and has coughed up nine errors at short this season.
The future doesn’t get much brighter at the position either. The closest prospect they have is still two to three years away in Domingo Leyba, who is a better fit at second base. And don’t look to free agency to fix the issue. With Alcides Escobar most likely staying put in Kansas City, that leaves just Erick Aybar, Alexei Ramirez, and Ruben Tejada on the market in 2017.
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The Diamondbacks did something worse than buying a beat-up car or a faulty house; they sold themselves on a player who could drastically undermine the team’s progress in the future, while giving away the new era of Arizona baseball.