Headlines

  • Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez
  • Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff
  • Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
  • Bobby Jenks Passes Away
  • Braves Release Alex Verdugo
  • Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Shelby Miller Demotion Expected To Delay Free Agency

By Jeff Todd | August 25, 2016 at 5:08pm CDT

The Diamondbacks have scheduled right-hander Shelby Miller for at least one more Triple-A start, which Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says will leave the 25-year-old unable to accrue enough days on the active roster this year to reach four full years of MLB service.

Miller is sitting at 3.133 on his service clock at present, says Piecoro. That means he would need to return to the major league roster by Thursday to reach 172 days and move from the 3+ to the 4+ arbitration class. Miller had been on track to qualify for free agency after the 2018 season. Now, it seems, the Diamondbacks will control him for 2019 as well.

The Snakes demoted Miller to Triple-A as he scuffled through an abysmal campaign. He has lasted just 69 1/3 frames in 14 big league starts and has been tagged with a 7.14 ERA on the year. That’s far from what the team expected when it traded a talented trio of players to add him over the winter.

Arizona will still need to tender Miller an arb contract this fall to retain him, of course. Miller is earning $4.35MM this year, his first season of eligibility. He won’t command much of a raise given his struggles, but will still earn a fairly significant salary.

Diamondbacks chief baseball officer Tony La Russa said that the team’s handling of Miller was not tied to service time. “I don’t know if it’s true or not,” La Russa said of the calculation of service days presented by Piecoro.

While Arizona obviously has ample cause to ask Miller to work things out at Triple-A, it is fair to note that he has been much better there. Over his 46 frames, Miller carries a 3.52 ERA and — more importantly — has recorded 10.0 K/9 against just 1.8 BB/9.

Share 0 Retweet 13 Send via email0

Arizona Diamondbacks Newsstand Shelby Miller

Dodgers Acquire Carlos Ruiz, Send A.J. Ellis To Phillies
Main
Rick Hahn Disputes Reports Of Discord, Talks White Sox Plans
View Comments (43)
Post a Comment

43 Comments

  1. rxbrgr

    9 years ago

    Yeah I wouldn’t expect La Russa and Stewart to grasp complicated front office concepts like service time.

    Reply
    • Davidbond1955

      9 years ago

      what would you know about service time. why are you not in a front office somewhere.

      Reply
      • dbacksrs

        9 years ago

        He’s too busy bashing the keys on his computer.

        Reply
        • petrie000

          9 years ago

          you do know it’s kind of part of La Russa’s job to know abut these sort of things, right?

          Miller’s arb status directly impacts how much money the Dbacks are going to owe in payroll next season…

          so yeah, if you’re a Dbacks fan, that answer should worry you

          Reply
        • chesteraarthur

          9 years ago

          this is the same front office that didn’t understand international signing rules…

          Normally, I’d agree with the FO person playing dumb idea, but here, i’m not so sure.

          Reply
        • petrie000

          9 years ago

          that’s a pitifully weak defense, honestly

          “he’s only acting dumb!”

          if he was just trying to cover his you-know-what he could have just said the team wasn’t convinced he’s sorted out his mechanical issues, which is something the Union can’t challenge because player develop is the purview of the teams themselves

          if Miller files a grievance over it, fortuitous ignorance is not a defense an arbitrator will accept… so if he’s just playing dumb, he’s not even doing that particularly intelligently…

          Reply
        • justinept

          9 years ago

          Exactly. Whether LaRussa is playing dumb or not, the issue really is that LaRussa has been so inept in the front office that these kind of jokes not only can be made, but they can be believed by many to be true.

          Reply
      • myaccount

        9 years ago

        Bashing his keys, sure, but he’s not wrong. It’s embarrassing that La Russa doesn’t know, and if he truly does, it’s probably even more embarrassing that he responded how he did. Worst front office in baseball right now.

        Reply
      • josc2

        9 years ago

        How are you actually defending La Russas statement? It’s common knowledge in and out of baseball how service time works.

        Reply
        • RyanP421

          9 years ago

          Haha no it’s not. To you and others who visit this site sure, but the masses aka casual fans-their concern isn’t service time nor do they understand it.

          What a dumb comment.

          Reply
    • baseball123

      9 years ago

      They know what they’re doing but can’t admit it

      Reply
    • Dookie Howser, MD

      9 years ago

      Maybe LaRussa playing dumb is part of the long con to make the league office believe he actually isn’t playing with service time.

      But, most likely, probably, Shelby is still bad and belongs in AAA at this point,

      Reply
  2. basilisk4

    9 years ago

    La Russa was an awesome manager and I loved watching Stewart pitch but holycrap do they suck at running an organization. Have anymore 1st-round picks you want to send to the Braves?

    Reply
  3. stl_cards16 2

    9 years ago

    Oh wow. The D-Backs are doing something smart! Progress!!

    Reply
    • basilisk4

      9 years ago

      It’s an accident. La Russa wasn’t even aware of it.

      Reply
      • GeauxRangers

        9 years ago

        He’s not allowed to say he’s aware of it

        Reply
        • User 4245925809

          9 years ago

          Exactly.. Like the criminal defense lawyer who gets up there and swears up and down his client is a fine and upstanding citizen, until he gets off the hook and then the guy goes out and murders someone else and the lawyer just shrugs his shoulders.. It’s not his fault he lied thru his teeth for the dude…

          Reply
      • stl_cards16 2

        9 years ago

        Yeah just like every top prospect suddenly becomes MLB ready right after the team secures a 7th year of control.

        Reply
        • jamesa-2

          9 years ago

          There is zero need to play games with Miller and his clock. He still is not ready to return to the big leagues as it is. At the rate he is going, he’ll be lucky to come up before mid-September, and even then it will be legitimate to ask if he has actually earned the call back.

          Reply
  4. notagain27

    9 years ago

    How about being accountable and understand when you are not getting the job done at the major league level, you might get sent to AAA.???

    Reply
  5. ib6ub9

    9 years ago

    one more year to try to save a bad trade!

    Reply
  6. Caught Looking

    9 years ago

    TLR is too busy saving stray cats to calculate service time or know what constitutes a valid MLB trade.

    Reply
  7. thecoffinnail

    9 years ago

    A commenter here on another post brought this up yesterday. If the writers would read more comments they would have had a nice story to break the day with. Goes to show that the everyday commenter will always be a day ahead of the “experts”.

    Reply
  8. start_wearing_purple

    9 years ago

    Ok, so the ownership scuttled a trade that would send Miller away because of the optics. But no one thought the same optics would apply to demoting Miller?

    Reply
    • josc2

      9 years ago

      They scuttled a trade because they’d be selling extremely low on a player with a talented track record and a relatively low salary. Basic economical principles that this front office has consistently displayed it does not understand.

      Reply
  9. pseudostats

    9 years ago

    Apparently there are some posters with more baseball knowledge than LaRussa. Send your resume into the DBacks and see what response you get.

    Reply
    • jb226

      9 years ago

      Doesn’t seem to take much these days. No reason to send our resumes in though; the DBacks don’t seem to value that kind of thing.

      Reply
    • chesteraarthur

      9 years ago

      Don’t forget to include your amount of “grit”

      Appeal to authority fallacy ftw

      Reply
    • pseudostats

      9 years ago

      Thanks for confirming my point.

      Reply
      • chesteraarthur

        9 years ago

        That you don’t have one?

        Reply
        • pseudostats

          9 years ago

          Exactly how many WS rings do you have? Like it or not, LaRussa has them which is why he has the gig. You and I have no idea how ownership operates in Arizona.
          Thanks for playing and keep the insults to yourself.

          Reply
        • petrie000

          9 years ago

          exactly how many WS Rings does La Russa have as an exec?

          that’s right, as many as you and me combined

          Reply
        • pseudostats

          9 years ago

          And how many years of baseball experience do you have? That’s right, as many as this whole board put together.

          Reply
        • nsauser

          9 years ago

          Why don’t you shed some light on how the Dbacks ownership works? Because frankly that seems to be the problem over the last 8 years or so. Giving Hall an 8 yr extension will only solidify the mediocrity. Hopefully the Dbacks will make good on their threat to leave.

          Reply
  10. AndThisGameBelongsToMySanDiegoPadres

    9 years ago

    I also believe Miller still has two more option years remaining after 2016.

    Reply
  11. TheAdrianBeltre

    9 years ago

    Glass half full: Makes sense. Get the year back(and maybe help the walk rate while doing it)and hope you get what you initially traded so much for: three decent years of Shelby Miller.

    Reply
    • josc2

      9 years ago

      This assumes La Russa understands that aspect. He and Stewart’s track record say other wise. But yes they would have an extra year to recoup value on Miller.

      Reply
  12. chesteraarthur

    9 years ago

    where is scottaz and his 94 win dbacks?

    Reply
  13. BirdRed85

    9 years ago

    Or an extra year of control to sell to someone else when/if they trade him. It’s a valuable selling point if he can reestablish himself as even a mid-rotation guy.

    Reply
  14. markmc1235

    9 years ago

    The national media always has some story about the diamondbacks that makes them look worse than they already do. I know that two recent stories were not true at all. First, the story that came out about Stewart not know the rules to a trade and another gm telling him so and also the story about ownership telling the front office not to accept a trade from Miami for miller. Both stories are completely false.

    Reply
  15. markmc1235

    9 years ago

    Wouldn’t it be responsible journalism to try and contact Stewart and get his side of things? This has already happened with someone I wouldn’t expect that behavior from. Peter gammons reported about the Zeigler trade bring half the value it could have been and writing that he did that because he is friends the dombrowski or how ever you spell the red sox gms name. Gammons later backed away from his tweets about tlrs integity. That was a so ridiculous to suggest he would in any way damage his chances of winning and do anything to harm this franchise for a friendship with another gm. Complete bs. Makes we question every story that anybody writes about the dbacks organitation.

    Reply
  16. sfg415sfc

    9 years ago

    “Me not know what service time is”
    -Tony La Russa

    Sure Tony. You also didn’t know Big Mac was juicing right? Haha

    Reply
  17. Lanidrac

    9 years ago

    So if Miller is stuck in the same arbitration class next year, does that mean they can try to tender him a contract at the same salary as this year or even *gasp* get him to take a pay cut?

    Only in baseball (and perhaps the other major sports) can you easily get a raise after an entire year of lousy job performance.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Braves Release Alex Verdugo

    Top 40 Trade Candidates For The 2025 Deadline

    Rays Reinstate Ha-Seong Kim

    Yankees Have Shown Interest In Ryan McMahon

    Royals Interested In Bryan Reynolds

    Rangers Option Josh Jung

    Kevin Pillar Announces Retirement

    Braves Place Spencer Schwellenbach On IL With Elbow Fracture

    Giants Exercise 2026 Option On Manager Bob Melvin

    Yordan Alvarez Shut Down Due To Setback With Hand Injury

    Astros Place Jeremy Peña On Injured List With Fractured Rib

    Tucker Barnhart To Retire

    Tyler Mahle To Be Sidelined Beyond Trade Deadline

    Reds Release Jeimer Candelario

    Dave Parker Passes Away

    Griffin Canning Diagnosed With Ruptured Achilles

    Recent

    Kolby Allard Elects Free Agency

    Rangers Re-Sign Billy McKinney To Minor League Deal

    White Sox Outright Vinny Capra

    White Sox Sign Kyle Tyler To Minor League Deal

    Nationals Sign Luis Garcia

    Poll: The Yankees’ Biggest Need At The Deadline

    Yankees Place Mark Leiter Jr. On IL With Fibular Head Stress Fracture

    Rhys Hoskins Expects To Be Out Roughly Six Weeks

    Yankees Moving Jazz Chisholm Jr. Back To Second Base

    White Sox Reinstate Luis Robert Jr.

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version