Chicago Cubs targeting Yankees’ LHP Andrew Miller?
Are the Chicago Cubs about to chase New York Yankees left-handed relief ace in a trade?
With the single-best record in baseball at 31-14 (prior to Friday’s action), the Chicago Cubs are not a team of many holes. However, you can never have too much pitching, and they are being connected to New York Yankees left-handed relief pitcher Andrew Miller.
Miller is one of the best relievers in all of baseball and would undoubtedly be a huge addition to the Cubs bullpen. Could a deal come together prior to the MLB trade deadline? ESPN’s Buster Olney seems to think it makes sense.
In a post talking about Miller’s trade value to the fourth-place Yankees, Olney specifically mentions the Cubs as a primary suitor.
“Miller would presumably draw significant interest from the Cubs, who are in win-now mode,” Olney wrote. “Let’s remember that Cubs exec Theo Epstein already has dealt for Miller once before, acquiring him from the Marlins in November 2010 to pitch for the Red Sox.”
Miller is a much more established bullpen arm since the last time Epstein acquired him, but the interest would certainly make plenty of sense again. As Olney mentioned, the Cubs are clearly in win-now mode, and adding an elite-level bullpen arm is one of the easiest ways for them to improve their chances this year.
With a 0.96 ERA, Miller has clearly gotten off to another incredible start to the 2016 season, but his stunning 47.1 percent strikeout rate and 1.4 percent walk rate (according to Fangraphs) show him to be among the most dominant pitchers in all of baseball. He is almost un-hittable and hardly walks anyone.
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After bringing in Aroldis Chapman this off season, the Yankees bumped Miller from his closer role from last year, but he has just chugged along and keeps on dominating.
The Cubs’ bullpen is led by a strong closer in Hector Rondon, but they could certainly use some help in the set-up roles. Adding one of the best in the business would not be cheap, but the Cubs have plenty of resources to make the move happen.
Also, with their best team in recent memory on the field, there is plenty of incentive for the Cubs to go and grab a guy like Miller. If the Yankees make him available, I completely agree with Olney. Epstein and the Cubs will be extremely interested.
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