St. Louis Cardinals: asked to “adapt or die,” Brad Miller Adapted

The St Louis Cardinals have signed utility man Brad Miller to a $2M deal. Miller just turned in one of his best years ever, leaving a reason for excitement.

In the movie ‘Moneyball’, there is a scene where Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane is being degraded having a discussion with a scout about listening to “Google Boy” over experienced scout. Beane famously tells the scout “adapt or die” which the scout didn’t necessarily appreciate.

The newest member of the St Louis Cardinals Utility Player Brad Miller had the same “adapt or die” scenario in front of him after not posting a good season since 2016. Well dammit, Miller adapted and then some on his way to his best season in years with the Indians and Phillies as a utility player.

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Miller slashed a strong .260/.329/.565 good for a 126 wRC+ which was the best mark of his career (better than when he hit 30 bombs). Miller was also all over the field defensively with +3 DRS playing 2B, SS, 3B, LF, and RF. All told, Miller totaled 1.2 fWAR in just 79 games, his first WAR total above 1 since 2016.

The St Louis Cardinals have rewarded Miller for his 2019 season with an MLB deal that will pay him free agent in February money. Miller will assume a flexible bench role where he can be a lefty power bat, platoon option, and play anywhere on defense (assuming your tolerance for sometimes bad defense is high).

“Excitement” probably isn’t the word to use when talking about bench players or Brad Miller. That being said, he just posted the best exit velocities of his career at 91.6 MPH. He also dramatically changed his batted ball profile and launch angle which means his changes are sustainable long-term. Miller increased his fly-ball rate to a career-high 47%. His launch angle had been in the 10-11 degree range ballooned up to an optimal 16.8 degrees.

Brad Miller hadn’t been a good player but made the changes necessary to stay in the MLB and be successful. The St Louis Cardinals are getting a valuable bench player who can fill a variety of needs.

The premier superstar free agents are off the board but the Cardinals just found a premier bench piece that will help them win games all season long.