While much of the attention around the New York Mets has focused on Noah Syndergaard trade rumors these days, the team is still looking at its options to improve the rest of the roster. One of the biggest need areas is the bullpen, and the Mets are expected to try and add multiple relievers to help fill in some of the holes in the unit. A logical fit would be free agent lefty Andrew Miller, who is coming off a down year in 2018 but was dominant over the previous three seasons. Miller also played under Mets’ manager Mickey Callaway when the skipper served as the Cleveland Indians’ pitching coach, so there is a connection there to exploit as well. It will come as no shock, then, that the Mets are one of at least three teams showing “active interest” in Miller according to Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi.
Morosi lists the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies as two other teams in on Miller, but he notes that there are others involved as well. Miller, who went 2-4 with a 4.24 ERA in 37 appearances for the Indians in 2018, dealt with knee, shoulder, and hamstring issues in an injury riddled walk year. Those injuries may depress Miller’s stock a bit, but given the number of teams interested in his services he should still be able to land a multi-year deal.
There is risk involved with signing Miller, but if healthy he has proven to be one of the most dominant relievers in the game. Miller is also a perfect fit for how Callaway wants to manage his bullpen as a non-traditional reliever who can work in any role and for more than one inning. The Mets need several quality bullpen arms if they want to shore up the unit quickly, so adding Miller would be a nice first step to the process. Morosi notes that Miller isn’t in a hurry to sign with a new team, and the relief market has been very quiet to this point so it doesn’t make sense for him to set the bar. Given Miller’s circumstances, he will probably wait for some of the bigger dominoes to fall in order to get a true gauge of his value, a process that could take another couple of weeks.
How much would you pay (in terms of years and dollars) to sign Andrew Miller? Let us know what you think with a comment!
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