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New York Yankees Rumors: Interest In Shelby Miller

By Kenneth Teape

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New York Yankees Rumors: Are the Yankees in the running for Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Shelby Miller?

The New York Yankees are fully enthralled in an MLB Hot Stove that is beginning to really heat up. In addition to the rumors surrounding their own players in Brett Gardner and Andrew Miller, the Yankees are also on the hunt for some controllable starting pitching.

One of those players they supposedly have interest in is Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Shelby Miller. Despite having a 6-17 record, Miller is one of the most sought after commodities on the trade market as most of his struggles can be attributed to getting virtually no run production, not him pitching poorly.

Miller will be entering only his fourth full season in the majors, so it will not be cheap to acquire him. With the amount of teams inquiring about him, you can be sure that the price will be high as well as teams will bid against one another. There have been as many as 20 teams checking in on Miller with the Braves, and for good reason.

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Despite the poor record, Miller was strong in other areas. He had a good ERA of 3.02 and WHIP of 1.25. He pitched a career-high 205 ⅓ innings, striking out 171 batters and walking 73, which is the same amount he had in 2014 but in 22 ⅓ less innings. His groundball rate was also at a career-low in 2015, coming in at 47.7 percent.

Because of that, the asking price from the Braves is obviously high. They traded Andrelton Simmons earlier in the year and received the top two prospects the Los Angeles Angels had, in addition to Erick Aybar. For Cameron Maybin they received Gabe Speier and Ian Krol from the Detroit Tigers. For Miller, they are aiming for prospects and young, controllable MLB talent.

From the Marlins, the Braves wanted Marcell Ozuna and other pieces. When talking with the Diamondbacks, the Braves asked for A.J. Pollock. Those talks obviously didn’t get far, and neither should the ones with the Yankees. According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Braves inquired about the availability of Luis Severino in a deal for Shelby Miller.

If that is where talks are beginning, that should also be where they end for the Yankees. It makes little sense to deal Severino, whom is under team control until 2022, for a player in Miller who is under team control until 2019. It would probably cost the Yankees more than Severino as well, as the Braves are looking for a king’s ransom in return for a player they do not have to move any time at all.

It would go against the Yankees plan of adding more controllable pitching by giving away their most controllable asset. While Miller may have a longer track record than Severino, Severino pitched well for the Yankees right in the midst of a playoff push despite being in Double-A to start the 2015 season.

While it makes sense for the Braves to ask for the moon in return for one of their better assets, it makes no sense for the Yankees to trade Severino for him. It wouldn’t move the needle much for the team, and they would be trading away a player that they could control for three seasons longer than Miller.

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If the Yankees are going to improve their pitching staff and find the controllable pitchers they seek, they may have to look elsewhere for in smaller deals, like when they acquired Didi Gregorius and Nathan Eovaldi last season.

While Miller would undoubtedly look nice in pinstripes, it is not worth the price of Severino and possibly other prospects to land him.

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