The Chicago Cubs made a rather stunning move on Friday. Not as much stunning that they made the move once it became available, but more stunning that the opportunity was available at all.
Chicago claimed left-handed starting pitcher Wade Miley off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds.
Nobody saw this one coming.
Miley — who turns 35 on Nov. 13 — is coming off a 2021 season in which he had a 3.37 ERA in 167 innings, and that’s while pitching home games in an extremely hitter-friendly stadium at Great American Ball Park. He was worth 5.7 wins above replacement (WAR) per Baseball Reference, good for the fourth-best mark for pitchers in the National League. Miley’s 2021 season was the third time in four years that he put together a sub-4 ERA, and the only time he didn’t was a tiny 14 1/3-inning sample in 2020.
He even threw a no-hitter in May.
And the Reds decided he wasn’t worth paying $10 million over one season.
The Cubs have made it clear that they’re going to be aggressive for starting pitching help this offseason, and they surely didn’t expect Miley to fall into their lap at a bargain price just a few days after the season ended. And they steal a valuable piece from an NL Central rival team in the process.
For what it’s worth, the Reds claim that they tried to trade Miley and didn’t find any buyers.
And they claim that they will at least make a Qualifying Offer for free-agent bat Nick Castellanos.
Here’s a sampling of how the baseball world reacted to the Miley news:
https://twitter.com/MLBastian/status/1456724533910638601
Someone explain to me how Wade Miley at 1/$10M doesn't have positive trade value and the Reds needed to try and save on the $1M buyout.
Then explain to me how Arizona, Pittsburgh, Washington, and Miami passed on him. https://t.co/G1RXXEV3q9
— Matt Winkelman (@Matt_Winkelman) November 5, 2021
are the reds ok?
— Meg Rowley (@megrowler) November 5, 2021
https://twitter.com/drivelinebases/status/1456697744651796482
If I'm understanding the move here, the Reds literally gave Wade Miley away so they wouldn't have to pay him $1M to go pitch somewhere else.
— Doug Gray (@dougdirt24) November 5, 2021
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.