Today, 12:38 PM: The Mariners will receive cash considerations in return, per the team.
FRIDAY, 11:56 PM: The Twins are set to acquire outfielder Ian Miller from the Mariners, per Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). The precise return isn’t known, but Divish indicates it’s not expected to be significant.
Because he isn’t playing on a MLB deal, Miller can still be dealt. The 27-year-old, a former 14th-round pick, is still looking for his first taste of the majors. Miller has been plying his trade in the upper minors in the Seattle system since 2015.
Divish indicates that the chief interest for the Twins lies in Miller’s baserunning abilities, and that makes sense. He is an accomplished base thief, with 237 bags snatched over seven professional seasons.
Miller is less accomplished with the bat, with a .699 career OPS through just under three thousand total plate appearances. He’s sporting a bit of a power surge this year, with a .272/.354/.453 slash and 11 long balls (easily a career high) over 441 plate appearances. But that’s still slightly below the mean for Pacific Coast League hitters.
Link goes to the wrong Ian Miller.
Well… we can hope this one is also a pitcher, right?
Could the Twins trade a MLB player in return for him? It wouldn’t matter to Seattle if they can’t use him since they are done this year anyway.
No, couldn’t be anyone on the 40 man per the new rules.
Hypothetically though….couldn’t the return be a PTBNL who is on a 40 man? I don’t think I’ve seen that possibility covered by MLBTR. I know it’s not applicable to this situation and I’d guess MLB would be watching for those rule circumventions.
PTBNL can’t be on the 40-man at time of trade.
I try to follow the official rules as much as possible but you’ll have to forgive me. What is a PTNBL? Is it someone on the 60-day IL or something?
Player To Be Named Later
Not even a trade deadline can stop Dealin’ Dipoto
Jerry doesn’t understand the word “deadline”. I guarantee he sends trade proposals and outlines while watching the World Series. Bless our patron fantasy saint.
Why are you guys so terrible at linking the correct players?
They are not terrible at it. It happens rarely. This is a free site. Give em a break!
Such a good point. Whenever you see a fairly generic name you just know it’s going to the same named player from the 1970-80s. Sloppy.
Start your own website. Show us how it’s done.
It’s not like it would be hard. All they do is repost news from other places, rewritten.
Its updated around the clock. That in itself is a grand task.
Ask for a refund.
at least it didnt link to the guy from My Big Fat Greek wedding.
At least when that Ian Miller gets injured, you can use Windex on it.
Harvard Pitcher?
Wagner College.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=miller000ian
That’s a very odd trade for the Mariners. He isn’t a sabermetric darling but he is a ball player. He has hit pretty well in every league and has always caused havoc on the base paths.
A few local (Seattle) websites had him marked as a September call up. Weird trade
If the Mariners were going to call him up it would have happened a long time ago. They were just going to let him go as a minor league free agent this offseason according to Ryan Divish.
Miller might have some value as a pinch runner or 5th outfielder propped up by defense (no idea if he’s even good at defense). What’s more probable is that the Mariners don’t see him as a big league player, and neither does the rest of the league as evidenced by him not being chosen in the last couple Rule 5 drafts. the bat just doesn’t play, period. Consider that before this year Miller’s ISO has been typically under .100, GB% usually over 50%, wRC+ typically under 100. The only year he ever appeared to have a serviceable bat was 2017, which is the only season he’s ever hit more than 2 home runs (excluding this year).
I like Ian Miller and would be happy for him if he got a shot to play in the bigs because that’s the dream, but if you struggle to slug over .350 most years its probably just not gonna happen.
Hw couldn’t be chosen in the Rule 5 drafts because he was on their 40-man. He only got dripped off the 40-man after the winter meetings
I can find no evidence he has ever been on the 40-man roster
He never has
For a team building for 2021, they will have a choice of Kyle Lewis, Braden Bishop, Mallex Smith, Jake Fraley, Mitch Haniger, Domingo Santana, Jared Kelenic, and possibly even Julio Rodriguez by then. No space for Ian Miller unfortunately.
Not odd at all for the Mariners. He was going to be a minor-league free agent and he was low in the pecking order. Fraley and Bishop are ahead of him and Kyle Lewis is closing in. This was a chance for Seattle to get at leas something.
Sweeeeet! Great move by the twins, NOW watcha gonna do Cleveland??? NO WAY you can out ‘Pohlad’ us…
I think Ian Miller is a better CF than Mallex Smith. I think he will someday be one of the better lead-off hitters too.
I’ve been clamoring for Miller’s promotion for two years now to see what he’s got, but surely you don’t see him as a MLB leadoff hitter. He’s not even a PCL leadoff hitter.
Ian Miller is a poor man’s Braden Bishop (who may just have enough bat that his excellent CF defense will play). If Bishop doesn’t make it, Fraley will probably settle in at CF instead of left. By the time, they’re done giving those two a full shot, Kelenic will saunter in. If the M’s wouldn’t give Miller a shot this summer, when injuries led to the summer of Mac Williamson, they never would. He probably needs to got to Japan.
I could see Fraley and Bishop platooning CF, but we can’t forget about Kyle Lewis.
If Lewis makes it, after his devastating knee injury, he’s a RF not a CF.
He has played as much center this season as he has left.
He’s probably better in a corner, though.
Really don’t get why the M’s just take cash in a deal like this. Miller isn’t great but what are they are hard up for money.
Cash is more than nothing for an asset you can’t/won’t use.
The Mariners wasted this kid.
He makes things happen with his speed, and his bat has really come around. Above average defense in the outfield.
Great work ethic and great attitude.
I hope he gets a shot to show what he can do in the bigs.
I will be waiting to see how he does.