The Yankees signed the oath Shelby Miller, according to a team press release. Miller was invited to Spring Camp for the Big League Yankees.
Still only 31 years old, Miller is best known for his time with the Cardinals and Braves, when he scored 3.22 ERAs over 575 1/3 innings from 2012-15. With a third place in the NL Rookie Of The Year vote and an All-Star appearance in 2015, Miller looked like one of baseball’s burgeoning young stars, but he was simply never the same after being dealt with the Diamondbacks in Notorious trade now For Arizona fans.
Miller struggled in 2016 in part with a finger injury, then only made another 38 runs during the D’Backs stint due to Tommy John’s surgery. Since then, Miller has bounced back to four different teams in an effort to revive his career, most recently a showing for the Cubs and Pirates in 2021. The Right racked up a total of 9.24 ERAs over 12 and 3 of the big league rounds last season, but at least the Triple-stats provided A (2.96 ERA, write-off rate 37.75% over 24 1/3 IP) is cause for optimism.
While Miller has technically made four Triple-A games last year, it was a more brief variety, and he appears to be more or less a full-time relief player at this point in his career. New York will be the latest team to try to put Miller on the right track, and it won’t be the first ex-rookie to find a second act as a viable savior. At the expense of the league’s small deal, there’s no danger for the Yankees to see what Miller has in camp, and perhaps hide it in Triple-A if he accepts the assignment. Given the relatively short time between now and opening day, Miller doesn’t seem to have a chance of breaking camp with the team.