The Major League Baseball Players Association announced today that retired left-hander Andrew Miller has been hired by the union to a new role with the title of special assistant, strategic initiatives.
“Throughout his playing career, Andrew Miller was respected across the game for his commitment, his leadership and his ability to connect with his peers regardless of age, service time or position,” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark says in a press release from the union. “We expect his experience and range of skills to translate well to this new role as he brings his own unique perspective to the Players Association.”
Miller, 39, had a 16-year career in the big leagues, beginning as a starter. His results there weren’t amazing but a move to the bullpen suited him well and he spent about a decade as a dominant reliever. He threw 395 innings as a starter with a 5.70 earned run average but had a tidy 2.95 ERA in 504 relief innings.
During that career, he became active with the MLBPA. He was a member of the union’s executive subcommittee during the 2021-22 lockout, even though he would announce his retirement just two weeks after a new collective bargaining agreement was reached. Shortly thereafter, he explained his involvement to the PA’s Jerry Crasnick.
“I got lucky in the sense that I got elected to be the team rep in Miami. Once that happens, you start to meet people and make connections and see the inner workings and appreciate how important the union is — what they can do for players even on things a lot of people probably think of as minor issues. They mean a lot to the individual player, and to be able to help guys through that helped me understand that side of the game. Once you get invested and get to know the people, it’s almost like a second team that you’re a part of.”
Miller was with the Marlins from 2008 to 2010 and he played through the 2021 season. Today’s announcement from the PA indeed highlights that he spent more than a decade in active leadership roles with the union.
The league and the union are likely to butt heads again when the current CBA expires after the 2026 campaign. The most recent offseason saw many clubs reduce spending while pointing to lower TV revenues as the RSN model collapses. This was seemingly a factor in many free agents lingering on the open market well into the new year and eventually settling for deals below projections.
The frustration appeared to boil over into a some union discord, though things have appeared to be settled for the past few months. Commissioner Rob Manfred has said he doesn’t plan to seek another term after his contract expires in January of 2029. Manfred has expressed a desire to pivot away from the RSN past into a streaming future and get the ball rolling on expansion before he leaves, so there should be plenty for Miller and the union to discuss with the league as the next CBA eventually comes into focus.
Expansion. That’s hilarious, Robby.
Jokes on you, sir. It’s gonna happen. And it would benefit the Reds as MLB will expand the playoffs again.
That is about 25 on the list they need to deal with if they want a healthy sport instead of one dying.
The last thing mlb needs is expansion. The talent is diluted. Every team has several AAAA players on the active mlb roster. MLB should eliminate a couple of teams to bring the level of completion back up.
That is ridiculous. The level of play is higher than it’s ever been, especially from pitchers.
Not even close to accurate. Pitching is a commodity that literally is the weakest in the history of MLB right now. The sheer number of TJ surgeries has diluted the pool of pitchers to the point that far too many less than adequate pitchers are being used at the major league level.
What you just said doesn’t disprove that ballplayers are better than ever; in fact, it supports that pitchers are throwing harder than ever, and thus suffering more injuries. Despite this, teams are still able to call up guys from the minors who throw 95+ and at least three different pitches. Movement matters, but ask any player and they’ll say hitting a 98 or 99 mph fastball is ridiculously hard, and they get literally no breaks from it in today’s game, despite all the injuries you referenced. The game is at its pinnacle.
It’ll be like the NBA where the playoffs never end.
TobttR
Expansion benefits just about everybody.
More Major League jobs for the players
More baseball for the fans.
More money for the owners.
Hard to see why anyone would be against it.
Because it’s not good for THE GAME. It will result in further playoff expansion and that further dilutes the regular season, and takes the game close to Thanksgiving. Sooner or later, there’s too much.
The playoff expansion was just to try to hide the obvious disparity issues. Except for those with a coastal bias, the rest are not so easily fooled.
Sad to see what the game has become. Sadder still to see the youth turning away. It has nothing to do with game times, they’ll spend three hours watching NFL.
The game has gotten so bad that you’re commenting on an online forum dedicated to the sport. The game has even gotten so bad that players can pitch and hit now and look like the greatest player to ever play the game while doing so. Just ridiculous. /s
People will play the victim in literally any scenario, it’s wild.
Only a large market apologist would deny the obvious.
The average age of baseball fans is now 50+. There are a lot of empty diamonds that once were full of kids. Attendance at games in flyover country is less than it used to be.
But then there are many blind people in today’s society, especially in the social media era.
If I didn’t give a crap, I wouldn’t give a crap. But I played the game, love the game, and don’t want to see it fade away into the annals of history once my generation is gone.
mlb.com/news/youth-baseball-participation-high-202…
This is an old story that needs to die. Most ballparks are full, despite being a sport with few days off. Little League may not hold a candle to soccer participation, but when compared to all youth sports across the entire country, it’s doing awesome. LL suffers from travel teams taking many kids, but that’s not a baseball problem.
Noticed the article came from mlb.com. Always consider the source of propaganda.
Don’t try logic in here. The population increased by 22% since the last expansion, so two more teams is an easy add.
That no team ever committed to making him their closer is one of the head-scratchingest things I can ever recall in baseball.
Him, Kershaw and Britton were all in the 2006 draft. Detroit, LAD and Baltimore were all seeing the same thing. A TOR southpaw SP for years to come.
All 3 had the physical stuff but only one actually panned out. Of the 3, only Kershaw had that mental gumption to take the ball every 5th day. And then he can only take that so far. IE struggles in post season play.
Yogi Berra wasn’t kidding when he said the “game is 90 % mental, the other half physical”(sic)
Like Andrew was uncomfortable as a SP I betcha he was just as uncomfortable with the closer roll. He found his nitch as nasty set up guy which gratefully my Orioles benefited from though briefly. And Zach B, again, uncomfortable in an SP role, flourished as a closer. Found his nitch and came up huge for my Birds.
The Red Sox benefitted from that, too, through Eduardo Rodriguez. I feel like that was a deal that worked out well for both sides. Would have been better for the O’s if he had re-signed, but still good.
I predict Miller will eventually be Clark’s successor.
And that would be a huge upgrade
Lol. He’ll just be the next hated guy up I surmise for the fans who are always resisting change.
To quote the movie “The Dark Knight”
“You either die a hero or you live long enough to become the villain.”
“Clark’s successor”…Clark? Cmon, everybody knows that Scott Boras makes all the key decisions for the MLBPA. Scott Boras is the de facto leader of the MLBPA.
Idk how I’m supposed to react to this information
Good luck on your post playing career Andrew
He was probably hired so that he can reach the things on the top shelf.
Its Miller Time!!!!
Lefty, 39? Get back on the mound, Andrew. You have another five years at least!
Bro was a beast. He was almost unhittable in the 2016 ALDS and ALCS.
Is there a height requirement?