Headlines

  • Anthony Volpe Undergoes Shoulder Surgery
  • Alex Bregman Will Opt Out Of Red Sox Contract
  • Mike Shildt Steps Down As Padres Manager
  • Tigers Extended Manager A.J. Hinch Earlier This Season
  • Munetaka Murakami To Be Posted This Offseason
  • Cody Bellinger To Opt Out Of Contract With Yankees
  • 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
      • Athletics
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • 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
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2026
    • 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

Tigers Place Shelby Miller On Release Waivers

By Nick Deeds | September 29, 2024 at 3:39pm CDT

The Tigers announced this afternoon that right-hander Shelby Miller has cleared outright waivers and been placed on unconditional release waivers. Assuming Miller clears release waivers, he’ll become a free agent.

Miller, 34 next month, was the 19th-overall pick in the 2009 draft by the Cardinals and appeared to be a budding star during the early 2010s as he posted a 3.22 ERA in 575 1/3 innings of work from his debut in 2012 through the end of the 2015 season, when he made it to the All-Star game with the Braves. The wheels came off for Miller after that, however, and he struggled badly with both injuries and ineffectiveness over the next several years. From 2016 to 2022, Miller saw little success at the big league level with a ghastly 7.02 ERA in 202 2/3 combined innings of work across six seasons. His 5.21 FIP in that time indicated he made have been the victim of some poor luck, but even that figure was well below the league average mark for a pitcher.

Fortunately for Miller, he managed to turn his fortunes around after signing a minor league deal with the Dodgers ahead of his age-32 season last year. Now a full-time reliever, Miller pitched 42 innings for L.A. last season and dominated to the tune of an excellent 1.71 ERA that was backed up by a solid 3.68 FIP and a 25.8% strikeout rate. Miller’s impressive turnaround earned him a big league deal with the Tigers last offseason that guaranteed him $3MM.

It’s a contract that did not turn out especially well for Detroit, as a handful of blow-up outings marred an otherwise solid season for the right-hander. While 37 of his 51 appearances with the Tigers this year were scoreless, he had five outings where he surrendered three or more runs while recording three outs or less, including a disastrous outing last month where he surrendered four runs on four consecutive hits without recording an out. Turning back to his overall season in 2024, his 4.53 ERA and 4.48 FIP are both worse than league average, and his 21.8% strikeout rate represents a significant step back from last year’s level. Miller also struggled with the long ball this year relative to his time in L.A. as 12.3% of his fly balls have left the yard, nearly double last year’s rate.

Still, with free agency on the horizon for Miller once again it seems possible he could garner interest as a middle relief option this winter. Even considering his down year with the Tigers this year, the right-hander has pitched to a 3.32 ERA with a 4.14 FIP in 97 2/3 innings since rebounding with the Dodgers last winter with a combined 23.5% strikeout rate and an 8.2% walk rate. That gives Miller a fairly solid track record if his last two seasons are looked at in tandem, and it’s not hard to imagine a club believing his true talent level falls somewhere between last year’s dominant performance and his slightly below average results in 2024.

Share Repost Send via email

Detroit Tigers Transactions Shelby Miller

Latest On Anthony Rizzo
Main
Twins To Retain Derek Falvey, Rocco Baldelli For 2025
View Comments (21)
Post a Comment

21 Comments

  1. Brick House Coffee Tables Inc

    1 year ago

    Why today? Are they trying to free up a 40-man spot for a minor leaguer to make the playoff roster?

    Reply
    • Jarred Kelenic's Beer Can

      1 year ago

      Or they have somebody coming back from injury? I don’t know, but I do know that Miller isn’t playoff quality reliever so it makes sense to drop him.

      2
      Reply
      • Lefty_Orioles_Fan

        1 year ago

        His WHIP is terrific
        Someone might pick up that option

        1
        Reply
    • Jm207* 2

      1 year ago

      Jobe took his spot

      1
      Reply
    • detroitdave84

      1 year ago

      Jobe Jobe Jobe Jobe

      Reply
  2. Motor City Beach Bum

    1 year ago

    Man he was frustrating. Either lights out or sucked. Still, I would have rather see them hang onto him and eat Maeda’s contract. Maeda is killing them again today. Unless having Maeda is a key piece of a strategy to get Roki Sasaki they need to send him packing.

    If I’m Baltimore and Houston I would not want to be playing the Tigers in the wild card with the way they have been playing.

    6
    Reply
    • hitztheball

      1 year ago

      @ Motor City Beach Bum, I looked back at a post from 9 months ago and you predicted the Tigers were going 86-76! You had them winning the devision, but hey, still spot on

      2
      Reply
      • Motor City Beach Bum

        1 year ago

        At the time I thought I was being an overly hopeful fan! It sure was an unexpected and amazing end to the regular season. It’s a good time to be a Tigers fan! Cheers dude.

        3
        Reply
    • LABeachguy

      1 year ago

      I agree. His fastball was very straight not much movement, he gave up a lot of hard contact for outs even on his good outings. However, Shelby I thought could be useful for the playoffs. Rare guy on the roster with playoff experience. Also, with no extra inning baserunner rule in the playoffs, thankfully. Shelby could have been a bulk innings guy if the game went extras.

      1
      Reply
  3. CCooper8920

    1 year ago

    Dodgers have to be cheating. Every single terrible player they sign turns into an all star and then sucks again after they leave. Manfred will of course never do anything to punish or investigate them.

    5
    Reply
    • Aussie_dodger

      1 year ago

      I love your humor

      1
      Reply
    • baseballandbrews

      1 year ago

      Flaherty and Kopech seem to be enjoying it!!

      2
      Reply
    • Sryphilz27

      1 year ago

      It’s the coaching and the front office. The Dodgers are just smarter than you and almost everyone else in MLB when it comes to players. The Dodgers stole this front office from the Rays, so 29 other teams can thank the Rays.

      Reply
  4. Jarred Kelenic's Beer Can

    1 year ago

    Today I learned Shelby Miller is still pitching in major league baseball. I thought his arm exploded in 2016 and never came back.

    4
    Reply
  5. njbirdsfan

    1 year ago

    Noticing the same people who went ballistic over Tellez are oddly silent now.

    2
    Reply
    • hitztheball

      1 year ago

      Wasn’t Tellez close to triggering a bonus? Miller had a club option for next year which was not going to be picked up. No comparison- sucks being on the team all year, but….

      Reply
  6. DonOsbourne

    1 year ago

    Come home Shelby. Just don’t expect a raise.

    1
    Reply
  7. Citizen1

    1 year ago

    Larassu will convince Reinsdorf to sign miller to a multi year contract. The modern day mark prior, but miller did get back to the majors for a time

    Reply
  8. The Saber-toothed Superfife

    1 year ago

    Milwaukee?

    Reply
    • The Saber-toothed Superfife

      1 year ago

      I thought he pitched well!

      Reply
  9. greatgame 2

    1 year ago

    Hes done

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Anthony Volpe Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

    Alex Bregman Will Opt Out Of Red Sox Contract

    Mike Shildt Steps Down As Padres Manager

    Tigers Extended Manager A.J. Hinch Earlier This Season

    Munetaka Murakami To Be Posted This Offseason

    Cody Bellinger To Opt Out Of Contract With Yankees

    Angels, Albert Pujols Discussing Managerial Deal

    Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2026

    Rangers Hire Skip Schumaker As Manager

    Albert Pujols To Interview For Angels’ Managerial Vacancy, May Be “Leading Choice”

    Bill Schmidt Will Not Return As Rockies’ GM

    Brian Snitker Will Not Return As Braves’ Manager In 2026

    Angels To Have New Manager In 2026

    Rays Sale To Patrick Zalupski’s Group Officially Completed

    Guardians Promote Chase DeLauter For Wild Card Series

    Bruce Bochy Will Not Return As Rangers Manager Amid Financial Uncertainty

    Liam Hendriks Undergoes Ulnar Nerve Transposition Surgery

    Twins Fire Rocco Baldelli

    Giants Fire Bob Melvin

    Pirates Sign Manager Don Kelly To Extension

    Recent

    A.J. Preller Discusses Padres’ Rotation

    Latest On Mike Shildt’s Resignation As Padres Manager

    Diamondbacks Hire J.R. House As Third Base Coach

    Albert Pujols Expected To Interview For Orioles’ Managerial Opening

    Rocco Baldelli Interested In Managing Again

    Devin Williams: Open To Reunion With Yankees

    Nine Players Elect Free Agency

    Twins Claim Ryan Kreidler

    Twins To Interview Nick Punto About Managerial Vacancy

    NPB’s Rakuten Eagles Re-Sign Luke Voit

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

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Tim Dierkes' MLB Mailbag
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2026
    • 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