The Orioles got their starting pitcher after all, or at least, they got a starting pitcher. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman broke the news on Sunday night that the Orioles have acquired Wade Miley from the Seattle Mariners.
To get Miley, the Orioles are sending Cuban lefty Ariel Miranda to the Mariners, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.
The good news about this trade is that Orioles fans aren’t likely to end up missing Miranda all that much. The 27-year-old lefty appeared briefly for the O’s early this year when they were in their brief desperate “we need a fresh long man every game” period.
Other than that, Miranda’s been pitching in Norfolk this year, where he has a 3.93 ERA over 19 starts in which he’s averaged a bit shy of 5.1 innings per start. If the Orioles felt like Miranda was any kind of rotation answer, they could have just called him up instead. A good outcome for Miranda might well be what Miley is already doing.
Not that what Miley has been doing this year is any good. The only reason this trade isn’t completely upsetting is that the Orioles didn’t really trade a prospect, so they haven’t hurt their farm any. Miley has a 4.98 ERA this season, and if you’re more interested in a stat like FIP, well, he’s at 4.75 there.
Various writers, including Heyman, have commented that the Orioles “need” a lefty, because they haven’t had one in their rotation all year. They are already well-stocked with near-or-higher-than 5 ERA pitchers, though. They did not need Miley. Maybe he will be good here, or maybe even decent, but I won’t be expecting anything more than more of the same.
A potential selling point of the trade is that Miley is also signed for 2017 at about $9 million, with a $12 million option for the 2018 season, if the Orioles want to exercise it. The Orioles might think about that if Miley returns to pitching like he did last year with the Red Sox, when he posted a 4.43 ERA over 32 starts.
That’s not great either but it’s better than giving up a draft pick for whatever mediocre-or-worse free agent starting pitcher is left on the market in mid-February next year.