Diamondbacks, Red Sox Have Deal In Place For Miley
By Joseph Jacquez
I never thought that Wade Miley would dominate a day at the Winter Meetings, but that is exactly what he has done today. Expect for a couple of Dodger moves, Miley’s market has dominated the talk by the national media.
It’s simply been a day of mass confusion on twitter thanks to conflicting reports that are saying completely opposite things. Welcome to the chaos that is the Winter Meetings, and our team is right in the middle of it.
For the second time today, the Diamondbacks are reportedly close to trading to Wade Miley, and for the second time, the expected team is the Boston Red Sox.
It all started again with this tweet from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports:
#RedSox have agreement in principle for #DBacks’ Miley, sources tell me and @jonmorosi. AZ will get Webster, De La Rosa and a minor leaguer.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 11, 2014
With interest and demand so high, I thought at this point the deal was defiantly going to happen. Especially considering the Red Sox value innings and durability. Miley provides both of these.
As were getting accustomed to with these rumors, not to so fast everybody. Bob Nightengale of the USA Today tweeted this:
#Dbacks GM Dave Stewart denies they have a deal with #RedSox, getting Webster and DelaRosa for Wade Miley_unable to yet agree on prospects.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 11, 2014
I love reporters who think they can be G.M’s. At some point they need to make up their minds, and stop driving me crazy.
Then several reporters including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic started to tweet things similar to Nightengale:
Dbacks source says they’ve discussed Webster & De La Rosa with Red Sox in deal for Miley but no agreement has been reached.
— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) December 11, 2014
Told that hold-up to Miley-to-Red Sox deal is Dbacks choosing from a list of prospects to be included with Webster and De La Rosa.
— Sean McAdam (@Sean_McAdam) December 11, 2014
#RedSox source says Wade Miley deal not quite complete. No official agreement expected tonight.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) December 11, 2014
So the #RedSox privately are saying the Miley deal is done. The #Dbacks publicly are saying it's not done. Welcome to the winter meetings.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 11, 2014
Source with knowledge of the #Dbacks' position on potential Miley deal: "The deal is not done."
— Jack Magruder (@JackMagruder) December 11, 2014
Earlier tonight Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston tweeted this which makes this even more confusing:
Boston writers board elevator. LaRussa already on. Writer: What can you tell us about Miley? La Russa: “You mean our Opening Day starter?''
— Gordon Edes (@GordonEdes) December 10, 2014
Miley is only 28 years old, and is under team control till 2017. He has pitched at least 194 innings pitched in the last three seasons including 201.1 innings in 2014.
He has a career era of 3.79, and a career K/BB ratio of 499/196. Based on that you have to wonder why the Dbacks want to trade him. He is consistent, and he was supposed to be the team’s opening day starter in 2015.
However, there is another side to Miley. He is a number three starter at best. After a great rookie season in 2011 in which he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting, he hasn’t been as good. His era rose to 4.34 in 2014, but he has plenty of problems.
Despite a great K rate, he served up 23 HR last season, and he has had an issue with walking to many batters. Right-handed hitters also have a career . 746 OPS against him.
Both Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa used to be top level prospects, but have declined in value a little bit. Both struggled in 2014, but both are still young and are getting better.
If this deal does indeed go through, De La Rosa would be the most intriguing player coming to Arizona. Some scouting reports believe he can be an ace. His fastball sits around 95, and can touch 100. He has a nasty slider, and a changeup he is still learning. He is viewed as a high ceiling starter, and could be an ace.
Webster is more of a question mark. Despite solid stuff, he has had trouble commanding his two seam fastball, and his four seamer often catches to much of the zone. He is still young and has a chance to get better. Dave Duncan should be able to help.
I don’t know what to think right now, but for now it seems like the Red Sox might be giving up to much. At the same time I’m still not sure if we should trade Miley for two questionable pitchers that may or may not pan out. Plus, who is going to be the ace of the staff if Miley leaves? We shall see who the minor leaguer is.
Stay tuned to see if this trade happens. We are waiting confirmation, and we will have more if it becomes official.