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Wade Miley Declines Mutual Option With Brewers

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Veteran starter Wade Miley is declining his end of a $10MM mutual option with the Brewers, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (X link). It isn’t known if Milwaukee had accepted its end. In either event, he’ll receive a $1MM buyout and become a free agent.

Miley, 37 later this month, turned in solid results over 23 starts during his second stint with the Brew Crew. Signed to a $4.5MM guarantee last offseason, he worked 120 1/3 innings of 3.14 ERA ball. As is often the case with the soft-tossing southpaw, that success came in spite of a modest strikeout rate. While Miley punched out 16.1% of opposing hitters, he kept the ball on the ground at a solid 46.3% clip.

Despite the lack of missed bats, Miley had posted a sub-4.00 ERA in three straight seasons. He was limited by injury to only 37 innings in 2022. The year before that, he worked 163 frames of 3.37 ERA ball for the Reds. When healthy, he turns in solid results. The veteran had a pair of injured list stints this year on account of a lat strain and elbow discomfort but took the ball every fifth day from August on.

Milwaukee has one remaining option decision, a borderline call on outfielder Mark Canha. The club holds an $11.5MM provision with a $2MM buyout. They’ll need to make that call by Monday afternoon.

Brandon Woodruff Out For Wild Card Series With Shoulder Injury

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Brewers starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff has a right shoulder injury, which will keep him from playing in the upcoming NL Wild Card Series, manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Whether or not he can pitch later in the postseason, should the Brewers advance, remains to be seen.

The All-Star right-hander spent four months of the 2023 campaign on the injured list with a subscapular strain in his right shoulder. However, he returned in early August and looked healthy down the stretch, pitching to a 2.59 ERA in nine starts while averaging more than six innings per game. His shoulder bothered him during his final outing of the regular season, but initially, he responded well to treatment. Thus, the severity of his injury came as a surprise for the Brewers; the team was counting on him to start game two of the Wild Card series against the Diamondbacks.

Woodruff plans to get a second opinion on his shoulder, but the team isn’t expecting an update until the end of the week. While they will hope for the best, Counsell and his staff will have to prepare for the worst-case scenario, in which their number two starter is out for the rest of the playoffs.

The Brewers have not yet announced who will start on Wednesday in Woodruff’s place, although Freddy Peralta seems to be the most likely candidate. The 27-year-old pitched his first qualifying season this year, making 30 starts with a 3.86 ERA. It’s harder to guess who will start for Milwaukee in a potential game three. Wade Miley and Adrian Houser are presumably the leading candidates; each had a solid year in 2023, and each is coming off a strong September. Miley pitched to a 3.04 ERA in his final five games, while Houser put up a 2.14 ERA in four September starts. The elder Miley probably has the edge, thanks to his veteran experience and his lefty arm, but Counsell will surely take his time thinking about individual matchups before he makes a decision.

While the Brewers have rotation depth to call upon, this still comes as a huge blow to their postseason hopes. At full strength, Woodruff is one of the better starting pitchers in the National League, and this team was counting on a powerful one-two punch of Corbin Burnes and Woodruff to lead them over the Diamondbacks. No one was more upset about the news than Woodruff himself, who choked up as he told reporters, “We’ve got a good clubhouse. And I want to be a part of that. Sitting here now, I may not.”

Brewers Interested In Further Offensive Additions

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The Brewers are hoping to add another bat to their lineup ahead of the deadline even after landing first baseman Carlos Santana in a deal with the Pirates last week, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. That Milwaukee is looking to add to their offense is hardly a surprise. The club’s collective wRC+ this season stands at just 88, bottom five in the sport and ahead of only the Rockies in the NL. While Santana addresses their lack of production from first base, they nonetheless have plenty of offensive holes to fill around their roster.

The club has gotten below average offensive production from every position around the diamond except for left field this season, though that certainly doesn’t mean they’ll be looking to upgrade their entire offense. Shortstop Willy Adames figures to be secure in his role, for example, and newly-promoted outfielder Sal Frelick figures to handle right field on a regular basis going forward. Given Joey Wiemer’s quality defense in center field, it seems reasonable to expect him to remain a fixture in the lineup as well despite a lackluster wRC+ of 82.

The club could look to add offense to its infield by swinging a deal for third baseman Jeimer Candelario of the Nationals or second baseman Gleyber Torres of the Yankees, but the market for Candelario appears to be quite crowded and the Yankees currently appear more likely to buy than sell. That being said, either player would inject a well above-average bat into the club’s infield alongside Adames and Andruw Monasterio, the latter of whom can play anywhere on the infield as needed to accommodate a potential acquisition.

While an infield addition would make sense, the most straightforward way for the Brewers to improve their offensive production would be targeting an addition at DH. The club has gotten a pathetic 55 wRC+ from their DH slot to this point in the season, dead last in the majors. Adding a surefire, above-average bat who can be slotted in at DH on a daily basis would transform the look of the club’s lineup, and Matt Arnold’s front office seems to know that given their reported interest in White Sox slugger Eloy Jimenez.

Jimenez, a former top prospect with a career 123 wRC+ and a contract that allows his club to control him through the end of the 2026 campaign, would be an excellent pickup for the Brewers, though he would likely come at a fairly hefty acquisition cost considering those positive attributes. There are a handful of rental options that could also be available to impact the club’s offensive profile at what would likely be a much more affordable prospect cost. Tommy Pham of the Mets, in particular, is a free agent after this season but has delivered a .268/.348/.472 slash line in 264 trips to the plate this season. Other possible options include Pham’s teammate Mark Canha or Red Sox slugger Adam Duvall.

While the Brewers are focused on adding to their offense, they appear to feel comfortable with their pitching staff as is with Rosenthal noting that Milwaukee does not expect to jump into the starting pitching market even after the loss of right-hander Julio Teheran to the injured list. Left-hander Wade Miley is expected to be activated from the 15-day injured list on Wednesday, while Rosenthal notes that righty Brandon Woodruff is set to make a rehab start tomorrow and could also rejoin the rotation in the near future.

Brewers Place Wade Miley On Injured List

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The Brewers placed left-hander Wade Miley on the 15-day injured list due to elbow discomfort and recalled righty Trevor Megill from Triple-A Nashville, per a team announcement. Miley tells Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that he’s not dealing with a ligament issue (Twitter links). Rather, he’s been pitching through bone spurs in his elbow. Miley has already received a platelet-rich plasma injection to help combat the pain, and manager Craig Counsell told Hogg and others today that the team is hopeful it’ll just be a minimal absence.

It’s the second IL stint of the season for Miley, who went on the injured list back on May 17 due to a lat strain. He was out until June 17 with that injury and will now be shelved again for a yet-to-be-determined period of time.

Miley, 36, has pitched to an excellent 3.06 ERA in 67 2/3 innings this season and was particularly sharp in between IL stints, logging a 2.08 ERA with a 22-to-10 K/BB ratio and 45.1% ground-ball rate in 26 innings across five starts. Overall, he’s fanned a well below-average 16.7% of his opponents in 2023 but also sports a strong 6.9% walk rate. He’s done a good job limiting hard contact (87.6 mph average exit velocity) and keeping the ball in the yard (1.06 HR/9) despite a homer-friendly home venue.

Miley joins righty Brandon Woodruff and fellow lefty Aaron Ashby on the injured list. Milwaukee figures to deploy Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Julio Teheran, Adrian Houser and Colin Rea in the rotation for the time being.

That could be a short arrangement, however. Woodruff is headed out on a minor league rehab assignment on Saturday, according to Counsell (Twitter link via Sophia Minnert of Bally Sports Wisconsin). Ashby is also trending toward a rehab assignment, Hogg tweets, though the plan for right now is to bring him back to the big leagues as a reliever rather than a starter.

If both Miley and Woodruff remain on track for returns sooner than later, the Brewers could well feel they have sufficient rotation depth. But there’s minimal depth beyond the current group — hence the earlier signing of Teheran, who’s been a staff savior in eight starts — so if either incurs any kind of setback it could prompt Milwaukee to look for additions between now and the Aug. 1 deadline.

Brewers Reinstate Wade Miley, Jesse Winker From Injured List; Designate Jon Singleton

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The Brewers announced four roster moves, including the activation of both Wade Miley and Jesse Winker from the injured list.  Miley was placed on the 15-day IL due to a lat strain on May 17, while Winker has been on the 10-day IL since May 28 due to a cervical strain.  To create space on the active roster, the Brewers optioned right-hander Tyson Miller to Triple-A and designated first baseman Jon Singleton for assignment.

Miley inked a one-year deal worth $4.5MM in guaranteed money to come to Milwaukee during the offseason, and the veteran southpaw has delivered a 3.67 ERA over 41 2/3 innings.  Miley’s 40.4% grounder rate and 10.3% barrel rate are both significantly worse than in recent seasons, though it’s hard to yet make any big projections given the small sample size of innings.  The lefty has made up for those numbers with a borderline elite 5.3% walk rate, as well as his customary good work at limiting hard contact.

Miley will start today’s game against the Pirates, and his return brings some more relief to a Milwaukee rotation that has been hit hard with injuries.  Brandon Woodruff will still be out until at least the All-Star break and Aaron Ashby will miss all of the 2023 season due to shoulder surgery, but with Miley now back on the mound, the Brew Crew are at least a step closer to their initial first-choice rotation.  Adrian Houser will be shifted to the bullpen, leaving Miley, Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Colin Rea, and Julio Teheran as Milwaukee’s current rotation.

Winker was another offseason acquisition, picked up from the Mariners along with Abraham Toro in exchange for Kolten Wong.  The trade hasn’t worked out for either team to date, as Wong and Winker have each badly struggled with their new clubs.  Winker has looking to bounce back from a relatively disappointing 2022 campaign in Seattle, yet the 108 wRC+ he posted with the Mariners is far above the 60 wRC+ (off a .204/.315/.231 slash line) that Winker has delivered over his first 127 plate appearances in a Brewers uniform.  There’s still plenty of time for Winker to turn things around, as perhaps the three weeks on the IL both healed his neck problem and might serve as a fresh start to his 2023 season.

The Brewers selected Singleton’s contract from Triple-A earlier this month, and he hit only .103/.188/.138 over 32 PA.  While an underwhelming slash line, just making it back to the big leagues for the first time since 2015 marked a personal victory for Singleton, whose battle with marijuana addiction took him out of baseball entirely for three seasons until he launched a comeback in the Mexican League in 2021.  If Singleton clears DFA waivers and the Brewers outright him to Triple-A, Singleton can choose to become a free agent, since he has been outrighted off a 40-man roster in the past.

NL Central Notes: Steele, Votto, Adames, Miley, Velasquez

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Cubs fans received some positive news regarding left-hander Justin Steele yesterday. The 27-year-old hurler was pulled from his start on Wednesday after just three innings of work due to forearm tightess and underwent an MRI on Thursday to determine the severity of the issue. As noted by MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian on Twitter, Steele described the result of the MRI as “good news” and said that the plan is for him to play catch today before determining the path forward. With that being said, WSCR-AM’s Bruce Levine notes that a source considers Steele “likely” to miss his next start, which he would otherwise be on schedule take Tuesday against the Angels.

After securing a spot in the starting rotation to open the 2022 campaign, Steele ended last season looking like an above-average, mid-rotation or better starter over 24 starts, posting a 3.18 ERA, 3.20 FIP, 24.6% strikeout rate, 9.8% walk rate, and 51.2% groundball rate in 119 innings of work. Only budding Rays ace Shane McClanahan managed to post a higher strikeout rate while maintaining a groundball rate over 50% last year. What’s more, Steele has managed to build on his strong first season as a regular starter for the this season, with a 2.65 ERA that’s only bested by rotation-mate Marcus Stroman and Braves youngster Bryce Elder in the National League.

The news that his forearm strain isn’t anything serious and he’s unlikely to miss significant time is surely a relief for a Cubs team that has relied on the young lefty to carry their pitching staff alongside Stroman, with the duo representing 18 of the club’s 25 quality starts in 2023.  With that said, it seems likely that right-hander Hayden Wesneski will fill in for Steele in the event the injured left-hander does miss a start. Wesneski struggled to a 4.81 ERA and 5.65 FIP this season after earning the fifth spot in the club’s rotation with a dominant performance in spring training, leaving the Cubs to remove him from the rotation when Kyle Hendricks returned to the mound from injury.

More from around the NL Central:

  • According to MLB.com, Brewers shortstop Willy Adames has resumed baseball activities for the first time since he was struck by a foul ball in last week’s game against the Giants, landing him on the 7-day concussion IL. Adames is currently working out with the the club’s High-A affiliate rather than joining the club on their flight to Cincinnati in order to avoid the wear-and-tear of air travel, according to manager Craig Counsell. The club plans to decide whether or not Adames, who has struggled to a 84 wRC+ in 51 games this season, needs a minor league rehab assignment before he can return to big league action later this weekend. In the meantime, they figure to continue going with a combination of Brice Turang, Owen Miller, and Andruw Monasterio up the middle.
  • Sticking with the Brewers, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy notes that left-hander Wade Miley is making good progress on his rehab from a posterior serratus strain. While he was initially expected to be shelved for six to eight weeks, McCalvy reports that if Miley is able to avoid any setbacks he’s currently set to return from the IL after just four weeks after throwing a bullpen session on Thursday. Miley posted eight solid starts for the Brewers prior to his injury as the veteran lefty threw 41 2/3 innings of 3.67 ERA baseball.
  • Reds first baseman and future Hall of Famer Joey Votto is set to begin a rehab assignment with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Louisville today, per MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon. Votto has been on the shelf since he underwent surgery on his rotator cuff back in August, and posted a wRC+ of just 92 in 91 games prior to the surgery. Still, he figures to share first base and DH duties with Spencer Steer upon his return to big league action.
  • Right-hander Vince Velasquez was activated from the injured list and returned to the Pirates’ rotation just last week, but immediately felt discomfort in his right elbow and returned to the injured list. According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, his current IL-stay will not be a short one, as the veteran is expected to be transferred to the 60-day IL in the near future. Velasquez had pitched well for the Pirates across eight starts this season prior to his injury, with a 3.86 ERA in 37 1/3 innings. Velasquez’s return to the IL leaves the club with a rotation of Mitch Keller, Roansy Contreras, Johan Oviedo, Rich Hill, and Luis Ortiz.

Wade Miley Likely To Miss 6-8 Weeks With Posterior Serratus Strain

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Brewers left-hander Wade Miley has been diagnosed with a posterior serratus strain and will likely miss the next six to eight weeks, manager Craig Counsell tells reporters, including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The southpaw was placed on the 15-day injured list earlier this week with what was initially described as a lat strain.

The posterior serratus muscle is on the back, roughly at the bottom of the ribcage. As relayed by Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, it’s rare for a baseball player to strain this muscle, which means the Brewers are putting some guesswork into this recovery timeline.

Regardless of the exact length of Miley’s eventual absence, it seems that it will be somewhat significant, which is unfortunate for the Brewers. They signed the lefty this winter to a one-year deal with a $4.5MM guarantee and incentives. He was off to a strong start, having taken the ball eight times with a 3.67 ERA in those. He only struck out 14% of batters faced but he’s never been a huge strikeout guy. His 5.3% walk rate showed excellent control and he was in the 76th percentile of qualified pitchers in limiting hard contact.

The Brewers knew they would be proceeding without Miley for a bit but will now seemingly have to extended their plans for not having him around. The club is also without starters Brandon Woodruff, Aaron Ashby and Jason Alexander, none of whom seem particularly close to returning. That leaves them with Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser in four rotation spots, with one to fill. Colin Rea and Janson Junk are both on the 40-man roster and would seem to be the first choices to come up, since each has been with the big league club previously this season.

Brewers To Place Wade Miley On IL With Lat Strain

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3:05pm: The Brewers have now officially placed Miley on the IL, recalling righty Jake Cousins in a corresponding move.

9:34am: Brewers lefty Wade Miley departed  last night’s game in the second inning after throwing just 22 pitches. It was later announced that he has a left lat strain and will be placed on the 15-day injured list, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (Twitter links).

At this point, it’s not known who will take Miley’s roster spot or how long he’ll be out of action, with the southpaw undoubtedly set for further testing in the days to come. But even a mild lat strain usually requires about two to three weeks of recovery time, meaning Miley will likely be looking at more than a minimum stint on the injured list.

Miley was off to a solid start to the year, proceeding in his low-strikeout ways, succeeding by inducing soft contact. Through eight starts, he has a 3.67 ERA despite a modest 14% strikeout rate. But his 5.3% walk rate is excellent and Statcast pegs his average exit velocity in the 73rd percentile among qualified pitchers and his hard hit rate in the 76th.

Losing Miley for a few weeks will present a challenge to a Milwaukee club that is already dealing with a few other injuries to its rotation. Brandon Woodruff has a subscapular strain and isn’t expected back before late June, Jason Alexander has a shoulder strain of his own and is on the 60-day IL, while Aaron Ashby had shoulder surgery and may not be able to pitch this year at all.

That will leave the Brewers with Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser in the four rotation spots and a question mark for the final slot. It’s possible that they recall Colin Rea, who had been with the club in recent weeks until Houser returned from his groin strain. Rea has a 5.52 ERA in 31 innings this year over six starts and one relief appearance. He was only optioned a few days ago but would be eligible to return quicker than the standard 15-day minimum if he’s the corresponding move for Miley going on the injured list. Janson Junk is also on the 40-man roster and has a 3.86 ERA in Triple-A this year. He was called up to make a spot start in April but allowed four earned runs on seven hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings.

Non-roster options would include Robert Gasser, who is one of the club’s top pitching prospects and is at the Triple-A level, but he has a 5.17 ERA there this year. Thomas Pannone is with the club on a minor league deal, having started the year in the Triple-A bullpen but getting stretched out recently. He has a 2.04 ERA through 17 2/3 innings there. Either of these two or any other non-roster option would require a corresponding move to get them onto the 40-man.

Brewers Notes: Voit, Sanchez, Miley

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Luke Voit has been a member of the Brewers organization for just a few weeks. The former home run leader signed a minor league deal a couple weeks ago, getting an opportunity to audition for a roster spot early in Spring Training.

The Brewers will have to make that call relatively early into exhibition play. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Voit would be able to opt out of the deal next Thursday if he’s not added to the big league roster. According to Sherman, Voit’s deal would come with a $2MM base salary if he makes the MLB club.

While that’s far from an exorbitant sum, it remains to be seen whether Milwaukee feels there’ll be sufficient at-bats for Voit to warrant a spot. Keston Hiura is on hand as an in-house option with a similar power-oriented skillset from the right side. Hiura has run exorbitant strikeout tallies over the past few years but he’s flashed impact power upside. The former ninth overall pick connected on 14 home runs with a quality .222 ISO (slugging minus batting average) in just 80 games last season.

Voit and Hiura are seemingly jockeying for reps as a right-handed complement to lefty-swinging first base/DH options Rowdy Tellez and Jesse Winker. Both Hiura and Voit have actually fared worse against left-handed pitching than righties over the course of their careers. Tellez and especially Winker have had more traditional splits, however, with both handling righties better over the years. While neither Voit nor Hiura has functioned as a traditional lefty masher, they each offer some righty pop to help balance the order.

Adding some power from that side of the dish was apparently a goal for Milwaukee. To that end, Sherman writes that the Brew Crew had checked in with free agent catcher Gary Sánchez earlier in the offseason. Milwaukee subsequently acquired their new backstop, William Contreras, from the Braves as part of the three-team Sean Murphy trade. That swap landed the Brewers five seasons of control over a player they hope to be the long-term answer behind the dish at the cost of center field prospect Esteury Ruiz, who went to Oakland.

Sánchez still has yet to put pen to paper despite reports of interest from the likes of the Angels and Giants in recent months. He’s one of the top unsigned hitters available. Milwaukee no longer has a need for MLB catching, as the duo of Contreras and Víctor Caratini will handle the load. Milwaukee brought in Payton Henry from the Marlins in a low-profile trade to serve as the #3 option. There’s no indication Sánchez remains on the radar as a result, though he could be of interest to any number of teams if he’s willing to take a minor league deal at this stage of the winter.

A bat-first catcher for most of his time with the Yankees, Sánchez flipped the script to an extent during his lone season in Minnesota last year. He hit 16 homers but with a fairly modest .205/.282/.377 overall showing through 471 trips to the plate. That was among the worst full-season offensive performances of his career but he received roughly average grades for his pitch framing and ball-blocking from Statcast.

While Sánchez’s destination is still to be determined, there are no such questions with starter Wade Miley. The Brewers brought him back on a one-year, $4.5MM guarantee shortly after the calendar flipped to 2023. It’ll be season number 13 for the 36-year-old southpaw, who acknowledged he thought at points this offseason his career might be over.

“I was so unsure at the end of the year for what was next,” Miley told Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I wanted to get my shoulder healthy. I did a little program right after the season was over and it didn’t feel good at all. I did it for four weeks and it was awful. That’s when I went into – I wouldn’t call it depressed mode, but I was like ’it’s not worth it.’ At that moment, I was like, ’I think we’re done.’ Me and my wife talked, and I said, ‘I think this might be it.’”

Miley is coming off a season in which shoulder issues kept him to only nine appearances with the Cubs. Fortunately, he says his arm feels good after an offseason of rest and he felt comfortable giving things another go. Miley figures to take a back-end rotation role in Milwaukee, offering some veteran depth behind Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta and Eric Lauer. That takes on added importance for the Brew Crew after spring injuries to Aaron Ashby and Jason Alexander have thinned the depth beyond Miley and #6 starter Adrian Houser. As for his long-term outlook, Miley told Nightengale “I guess as long as (teams) keep calling, I’ll keep playing.”

Brewers Sign Wade Miley

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Jan. 9: The Brewers formally announced their one-year deal with Miley. This weekend’s trade of Justin Topa to the Mariners opened a spot on the 40-man roster.

Jan. 4: The Brewers are in agreement with veteran starter Wade Miley on a one-year deal. It’s reportedly a $4.5MM guarantee for the O’Connell Sports Management client. Miley will make $3.5MM next season and is guaranteed a $1MM buyout on a $10MM mutual option for the 2024 campaign.

The deal also contains various innings-based incentives that could max it out at $6MM. He’d earn an extra $150K by getting to 75 innings pitched, followed by $350K for getting to the 100-inning plateau and two $500K bonuses available at 125 and 150 innings. The deal also contains a $250K assignment bonus if Miley were traded.

Miley, 36, heads to his third NL Central team in as many seasons. He spent two years with the Reds from 2020-21, including a 3.37 ERA through 28 starts during the latter campaign. The Reds nevertheless placed him on waivers at the start of last offseason, as they’d evidently determined not to trigger a $10MM option on his services. Miley was claimed by the Cubs, who promptly exercised the option, and he went on to spend one year on Chicago’s North Side.

It wasn’t the kind of season the Cubs had envisioned. The 12-year MLB veteran began the season on the injured list thanks to inflammation in his throwing elbow. He made his team debut in early May, but that return proved short-lived. He went back on the IL after four starts, this time due to a strain in his shoulder. Miley wound up out of action for over two months, not returning until September. He pitched five times down the stretch, concluding his season with nine appearances.

To his credit, the crafty veteran remained effective when able to take the hill. The former All-Star pitched to a 3.16 ERA through 37 innings. He averaged only 85.1 MPH on the cutter that served as his primary pitch and struck out a below-average 17.6% of opponents. Miley has never overpowered batters, relying instead on solid enough control and the ability to avoid barrels.

That was again the case during his limited 2022 work. Miley induced grounders on a very strong 52.6% of batted balls. He held opponents to a subpar 86.7 MPH average exit velocity and allowed fewer than one home run for every nine innings pitched for a third straight season. While he hasn’t topped a 20% strikeout rate in a season since 2014, his heavy reliance on a cutter and changeup has allowed him to consistently keep away from damaging contact.

That track record is clearly of appeal to a Milwaukee club that plays in a fairly hitter-friendly home park. The Brewers already have six quality starting pitchers. Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff headline the group, followed by Freddy Peralta and Aaron Ashby. Eric Lauer and Adrian Houser are quality options at the back end. Miley has started 285 of his 292 MLB appearances, though it’s possible Milwaukee prefers to deploy him in a more flexible swing role considering his lack of innings in 2022.

If the plan is for Miley to secure a season-opening rotation spot, that could free up general manager Matt Arnold and his front office to market Lauer or Houser in trade. The Brewers could look for another bat to incorporate into the right field and first base mix, and it’s possible they bring in a veteran infielder to lessen the workload for Luis Urías or rookie Brice Turang. Dealing one of their incumbent starters would be a way to bolster a lineup that was middle-of-the-pack last season.

It’s Milwaukee’s first significant dip into major league free agency this offseason. Miley’s relatively modest salary brings the Brewers payroll projection to approximately $119MM, as calculated by Roster Resource. Milwaukee opened last year with a player payroll just shy of $132MM, so there should still be room for Arnold and his group to build out the roster as they try to close the gap with the Cardinals at the top of the division.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic first reported Miley and the Brewers were in agreement on a one-year, $4.5MM deal that could max out at $6MM. Bob Nightengale of USA Today was first to report Miley would receive a $3.5MM salary in 2023 and that the deal contained a $10MM mutual option with a $1MM buyout; Nightengale was also first with the specifics of the incentive structure and the assignment bonus.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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