With the American League champion Indians set for their first World Series appearance since 1997, team president Chris Antonetti revisited the crucial July trade that brought ace reliever Andrew Miller to Cleveland.
On acquiring the left-hander from the Yankees, Antonetti told Andrew Marchand of ESPN.com, “There is excitement about coming to terms for a guy that we targeted. At the same time, there was a pit in your stomach because we knew we were trading really good players. That is a hard thing for us to do. There is that dichotomy.”
The Indians faced serious leaguewide competition for Miller’s services, but they ultimately landed him after agreeing to part with a package that included outfielder Clint Frazier and southpaw Justus Sheffield – two highly regarded prospects. The negotiation for Miller was “excruciating,” said Antonetti, who engaged in 100-plus conversations and texts with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman from late June until the deal went through July 31.
“We felt a unique circumstance with Andrew; with all the elements he brought to the table, it was worth paying a very steep price,” commented Antonetti.
Miller has been worth the price so far, having carried his regular-season brilliance into the playoffs. The 31-year-old won ALCS MVP honors after throwing seven shutout innings and striking out 14 without issuing a walk in the Indians’ five-game elimination of the Blue Jays. Previously, in Cleveland’s three-game ALDS sweep over Boston, Miller tossed four scoreless frames with seven strikeouts and two walks. Miller has recorded between four and eight outs in each of his six playoff appearances this year, which is what the Indians had in mind when they were attempting to acquire him.
“We envisioned using him like we are,” revealed manager Terry Francona, who discussed how the team would deploy Miller with Antonetti and pitching coach Mickey Callaway prior to the trade.
Before Cashman dealt Miller, he had to convince Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner that it was the right path to take. With the Yankees hanging around the wild-card race, Steinbrenner wasn’t on board with moving Miller after the club had already dealt closer Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs. That changed when the Rays swept the Yankees in a late-July series leading up to the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline, paving the way for the end of Miller’s year-plus run in the Bronx.
“Once the medicals cleared for both sides, then it was a pit in my stomach that I have the most difficult job of all in calling Andrew Miller,” said Cashman. “Andrew, he didn’t want to go anywhere. He loved playing here. Andrew was everything you want. Unfortunately, we had a lot of areas that need to be addressed, so unfortunately he was part of that type of solution.”
Given that Miller is under team control through 2018 at a reasonable $9MM per year, the Yankees “needed two twin firstborns” to deal him, Cashman quipped. For his part, Antonetti told Marchand he’s “confident that the guys we traded away will make a big impact with the Yankees.”
That may indeed prove true for Frazier and Sheffield. In the meantime, Miller has made an enormous mark on the Indians, who are four wins away from their first championship since 1948. Miller and the Tribe will face the Cubs and his former New York bullpen mate, Chapman, in a battle of franchises that own the majors’ longest championship droughts. If the Cubs are going to break through for the first time since 1908, their best bet is to jump on the Indians early in games and avoid Miller, the 2016 postseason’s most dominant force.
I was shocked the Yankees pulled the trigger on these deals. Having the privilege of watching betances , Miller and chapman together , I have to say Miller was the most consistent and the most dominant ace reliever.
In the case of Chapman, there was an earlier article stating that the Yankees are going to go hard in requiring him once he hits free agency. I hope that is the case, because he brings the fans to the stands. However, I was sad to see both go and have noticed that the Yankees have a laden of talent when it comes to left handed pitching throughout the farm system. They are cornering the market on it.
Agreed
“You can never have enough pitching”.
This is what makes Cashman so good. He played the trade deadline perfectly with both Chapman and Miller. While Miller had been tremendous in the postseason and could ultimately help the Indians to a WS win, the trade brought the Yankees back foundation pieces that could play a huge part in their future.
Exactly
Frazier projects as a corner OF’er with a decent bat. Sheffield’s ceiling is generally regarded as a mid rotation piece. In your opinion how do either project as a foundation piece? Miller is an elite BP arm in an era where teams are stockpiling BP arms.
Maybe “foundation piece” is a little lofty, but I think you’re downplaying both of them a little too much.
Frazier probably has the ability to stick in center, per most scouts. He often played the corner w/ Cleveland because he was alongside Zimmer (although yes, he will most likely end up in a corner). And his bat is decent, but he’s got plus-plus power and plus speed to go along with it. I know he’s not there yet, but a .275 hitter with 25-30+ HR and 10+ SB with a strong arm and good plate discipline is valuable even if he’s not in center.
And Baseball America has said that Sheffield’s ceiling is that of a number two starter (both before 2015 and 2016), and his stock increased even further this season (as seen on mid-season and end of the year prospect rerankings).
Don’t get me wrong, I’m the farthest thing from a Yankees fan, and I think many of their fans greatly overrate their farm system, but there’s no doubt that Frazier and Sheffield, plus two wild card relievers, could pay dividends in the future for New York.
crashman Is the worst GM in Yankees history, evidenced by tracing back 18 long years of wasteful, failing trades !!
~ 95 % of “Can’t Miss” Prospects, turn out to be merely Suspects !!
Crashman Is the worst GM in Yankees history, evidenced by tracing back his 18 long years of wasteful, failing trades !!
~ 95 % of “Can’t Miss” Prospects, turn out to be merely Suspects !!
I think the majority of cashman’ s tenure as Yankee gm was spent as a puppet for The Boss. I think we are finally seeing what cashman can do with the new front office in place. To say cashman is the worst is premature.
Cashman made the smartest move of all with Chapman. He bought low and sold high for young talent. Now if the club really wants him back, which I hope they do since he is so exciting to watch, they can reunite for money and keep the talent they got for him as well. Well played Brian Cashman!
Exactly. He gave up virtually nothing and got a great haul back in return. Genius.
Yes Cashman ran the table with Chapman. The Yankees obviously didn’t need to acquire him in the off-season, but if the 2016 Yankees somehow actually were a contender they would have been all set to go in the post-season. Of course that didn’t happen and Ashman was able to cash out on Chapman in July. If they re-sign Chapman for just money this off-season then they’re even further ahead on the whole turn of events.
Plus we can’t forget that Andrew Miller only cost the Yankees money to acquire, and the return on him from the Indians was excellent.
I wish we could have seen what Cashman would have extracted for Cano at the 2013 deadline. . .that would have been interesting.
good deal for all 3 teams but nyy will make out the best
Not necessarily. I think this year’s WS winner will (unless Chapman continues to struggle but the Cubs win regardless)
I hope the cubs resign chapman or they go after jansen
I like the make-up of Jansen better, and I like his cutter better than Chapman. Jansen will age better, Chapman throws hard but what happens when he starts to lose velocity. He can be squared up better than Jansen.
Good trades are good for both all teams involved. Cashman has stockpiled his farm with position players that should make the majors in the next 2 years. All have upside and have been successful in the minors so far. If he can move McCann and Gardner this winter for some pitching prospects he will have finished transformation of the team. Most of their big money contracts will be off the books by next year, at that point Cashman will start to upgrade the team with free agents. If he feels like there is a top game changing player he will move on it, if not he will stand pat. For now, the Yankees just sit back and watch their former closers compete agains;t each other, while the Sox do the same with Tito and Theo. This year has been great for baseball, both teams haven’t won for a long time.
Yankees gave these teams a chance to win the World Series, a ring that will be immortal in one of these team’s history books. The real winners are both Miller and Chapman because they will get to experience making it through the playoffs to reach this point of baseball. As a Yankee fan, my morale has been drained from watching this team after their yearly attempts to revive the old roster, but I’m finally content that they are in a mode of rebuilding, a stage that they should have gone through after the 2013 season.
The best kind of trade is the one that helps both teams. This one looks like it might. Miller was terrific for the Yankees, and I’m sorry to see him go, but the Yankees desperately needed youth and athleticism, and trading Miller was part of the way they reloaded. Let’s hope, five years from now, we can look back on the trade and see optimism confirmed.
The Yankees are astronomically better set up for the future because of their deadline maneuvering. It will look even better if they re-sign Chapman.