WEDNESDAY, 7:38am: The A's received $45K for Miller, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
TUESDAY, 1:06pm: The Orioles acquired outfielder Jai Miller from the Athletics for cash considerations, according to a press release. Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said in a statement, "Jai Miller has the power, speed, base stealing skills and good athletic ability to be an asset in our outfield as he competes for a spot on our ballclub this spring." With the Orioles' trade of Brandon Snyder to the Rangers, their 40-man roster remains full.
Miller, 26, hit .276/.368/.588 with 32 home runs in 475 Triple-A plate appearances this year, his fourth stint at the level. He spent most of his time in center and right field.
Miller was originally drafted by the Marlins in the fourth round in 2003. He was designated for assignment in April of 2010, claimed a few days later by the A's, designated again that same month, claimed by the Royals a few days later, and outrighted in November of 2010, at which point he signed back with the A's as a free agent. The A's then designated Miller for assignment in late December of 2011 after trading Gio Gonzalez.
unless this is a precursor to jones being moved, meh
I like it
I like it
179 K’s in 110 games…at AAA.
Yeah he’s no big leaguer. O’s get their AAA CF next year.
On a brighter note he hit 32 Homeruns and 88 RBIs?
Pete, can he glove though, Jai Miller?
Coco Crisp can still glove, he just never had any arm.
I still would have taken him (Crisp)!
As for the O’s do have Reimold can hit, but his defense leaves a lot to be desired.
PS I think Duquette is a “Fool”!
Miller’s got glove, but 175 K’s in 110 AAA games = 300+ K’s in the bigs/
But, but, but! Look at all those home runs!
it’s about as useful as looking at strikeouts. miller walked at an 11% clip last year and posted a wOBA over .400
yay!!! so miller and reynolds can share strikeout secrets
I would love to see someone K 300 times in a season. Would that be a record? Between Reynolds and Miller…wow! Now all they would need to add is Brian Bixler with a K every 2 AB’s.
haahaha brian bixler i had the misfortune of watching the poor guy last year
If he’s not a big leaguer, than he is definitely making the O’s Roster
179 K’s in 110 games…at AAA.
Yeah he’s no big leaguer. O’s get their AAA CF next year.
Would have preferred Coco
Coco is resigning with A’s
Would have preferred Coco
There’s our outfielder! Woohoo!
OK . Are the O’s pulling a Rockies move by loading up with OFers to make a trade we haven’t heard of yet but has already been rumored ?
All this trade does is prove the Orioles still exist.
Says the Toronto fan with the 4th place team?
Yep. To the fan with the 5th place team.
Just sayin’, man. It’s kind of too easy to gang up on the O’s these days, but if you’re going to, at least be a fan of a winning team yourself.
Just poking fun dude. Gotta grow some tougher skin.
By the way, the Jays have only had 1 losing record in the last 6 seasons.
Eh, fair enough, I’m just bitter. I would trade for the Jays’ situation any day. ha
And just as many playoff berths as the Os. Also the Jays are in a much worst playoff drought than the Os are.
I don’t really get why Jays fans act this way to Os fans. Shouldn’t we be combining our forces against the real evil(s) in the division?
Unfortunately I think if we combined teams we’d still have a terrible rotation. .
offense would be pretty good though.
Our payroll would still be less combined than Red Sox or Yankees alone (even if we added in the Rays).
I don’t really get why Jays fans act this way to Os fans.
Because it makes me feel better!
Putting the jokes aside, the Orioles really do need to have a fire sale with whatever they’ve got, and start over. Their farm is average at best, and the team’s core has done little.
The Jays are pretty good..I like Joey Bats
Sensitive?
Lol.. yes. Yes I am. You’d think I’d be numb after 14 years.
the poor guy lived thru the albert belle years….as a fellow marylander i say be nice to the guy
An outfield consisting of Miller, Jones and Markakis would be an exciting one. Add that to an infield including Reynolds, Hardy and Davis, you’ve got 6 potential power threats and a top young catcher in Wieters. They need to work on their pitching quite a bit though. The Orioles would be on top of a division like the NL West, but unfortunately they’ve gotta deal with four of the best teams in baseball (currently). They’re on the right track though, just don’t trade Jones unless you get Hanson in return.
The Orioles would most definitely not win the NL West.
Correct, that’s why I said NL West…
Whoops. don’t know why I said AL. But I don’t think they would win the NL West
They probably wouldn’t be better than the D-Backs, and the Giants’ pitching can carry them a long way, but I could easily see the Orioles in third and pushing for second when all is said and done. Their pitching is the problem, more so than anything else.
Yeah, you’ve got 6 guys there that could combine for about 800 or more K’s. Maybe if they try really hard, they can get 1000!
800 Ks with decent avg., great OBP, 160 homers, 80 stolen bases, etc. It’s all hypothetical but I think it’s worth the tradeoff. Strikeouts are often overrated for a hitter when they can still bat .260 avg .350 obp and 40 hr think Reynolds, Dunn..
Talk about boring. I’d hate to be a fan of that team.
Earl Weaver baseball for sure
I like this move for the Orioles. Jai Miller has serious glove, can steal a few bases, and has shown he does have SOME power (although PCL numbers are very inflated). There’s a lot of tools there if he can cut down on the strikeouts. A big if, but for (I’m guessing) moderate cash, this is a low-risk move that could have some upside. Plus he’s only 26
Yeah and the way I see it the O’s are going to use the cash they get for Snyder to pay for Miller. I can’t wait to see this guy hit.
Jai will be 27 in two weeks.
And there aren’t any ifs. A 27-year-old with a 35% K-rate across nine minor league seasons (and 38% in AAA last season) isn’t going to cut down on the strikeouts.
Make sure you go to five or six games. He might get one hit somewhere in there amidst all of the strikeouts.
I am not saying he will, but this kid could prove you wrong. In baseball, for a lot of players 27 is the new 24.
With a few exceptions of course, that’s sort of the opposite of the trend of the past few years.
Baseball is a young man’s game these days. Look at the top 50 in OPS in 2011. Sure you’ve got late blooming exceptions like Bautista and Ortiz, but the rest of those guys were MLB studs by age 24 or so.
When you’re three years from 30 and you’re still a prospect, things aren’t looking so great. Especially if you just posted a 38% K-rate in AAA.
The strikeout rate is troubling but he is toolsy and tools (particularly power) always play. I am not advocating he will be great or anything, but I will say that he is intriguing.
Willy Mo Pena is toolsy.
No he’s not.
The K rate is definitely scary, but the BB% isn’t too bad and it looks like the last couple of years he learned to maintain a decent batting average too, which means his OBPs have been pretty good. Add some power and speed and he’s worth a gamble, particularly for cash.
It’s definitely worth the gamble, especially since the O’s probably aren’t paying more than a couple hundred grand.
When it comes down to it though, I just don’t see Miller as anything more than minor league filler.
(And yes, I did mean for that to rhyme.)
Strictly looking at the numbers, I could see him being what Jack Cust was to the A’s. Not a great player, but a useful power bat with a ton of strikeouts. Jai’s got a glove, but Cust has a higher propensity to get on base.
Its a low risk move, maybe catch lightning in a bottle. The likelihood that he turns into much of a difference maker is slim, but you never know.
I actually liked jai, oh well. Rumors that coco is resigning with A’s and this just reassure it.
If you can hit 270 with a 350 obp, and hit 25-30hrs, with some speed, and decent defense you can play for a long time. Looks like he loss the 2009 season to probally injury and then last 2 years he floated between A’s and Royals. Has some pop potential, but never given a chance.
Jai Ho!
a friend told me jai retired after learning he was going to be an oriole
strictly Amateurism…YOU!
Imagine getting traded for $45k? That’s the price of a new car.
For those of you drinking the cool aid and believing Miller could be a viable player:
Since 2006 in the PCL there have only been 8 players who posted a a K% north of 30% over the coarse of a full season. Jai is one. The other 7 players are B Katin, J Koshansky, G Halman, D Mcpherson, V Diaz, C Jimerson and J Nelson. Combined these players haven’t even seen 50PA in the ML since the years they posted those numbers.
Its a low risk move, perhaps catch lightning in a bottle. The likelihood that they turns in to much of a difference maker is slim, but you never know.
Lots of fans don’t remember the teams that Duquette built with the Red Sox. The O’s aren’t finished wheeling & dealing yet. There is a method to his madness…remember he’s dealing with Peter Angelos, one of the tightest owners in Baseball. Duquette is very imaginative & skilled & many will be surprised with the Final make-up of this team, not to mention the players he’ll do it with. Remember he’s doing what he can under a huge financial constraint. O’s 83-79 this year.
are you taking action on that??? ill give you 2to1 odds that WILL NOT happen!!!
83-79? Umm…. Jays only went 81-81 with a much better team than the orioles. Are you expecting breakout seasons from your whole 25-man roster?
No the Jays weren’t much better…match the batting stats up. The Jays did have much better pitching though & that’s enough for a difference maker!