Shelby Miller: Atlanta Braves unlikely to move SP
By John Buhler
Shelby Miller, one of the Atlanta Braves’ two frontline starting pitchers, is now unlikely to leave the organization through trade this offseason.
According to ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, the Atlanta Braves are now unlikely to continue to shop their 2015 NL All-Star starting pitcher Shelby Miller, despite a ton of interest from many teams.
It's looking more and more like #Braves will hang onto Shelby Miller. They've received a ton of hits, but are not shopping him.
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) December 3, 2015
Miller, who is 25, made his first MLB All-Star game in his first year with the Atlanta Braves and threw for over 200 innings last season for a terrible Braves’ club. He went over four months without earning a victory for the Atlanta Braves, despite boasting a 3.01 ERA on the season.
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With Atlanta’s continued efforts to rebuild their baseball club from the ground up, it wasn’t surprising to hear rumors about the Braves shopping nearly all of their valuable trade assets. So far this offseason, Atlanta sent SS Andrelton Simmons to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and CF Cameron Maybin back to the team that drafted him in 2005 in the Detroit Tigers. For now, it seems as though Shelby Miller will stick atop the Atlanta Braves’ rotation.
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Despite Miller’s awful 6-17 record on the year, several teams had interest in him, but the Atlanta Braves’ asking price was a bit too high. Atlanta reportedly wanted OF Joc Pederson in a supposed deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. They wanted OF A.J. Pollock from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Braves wanted SP Luis Severino from the Yankees. They even inquired about division rival Miami Marlins’ OF Marcell Ozuna and a little more for Shelby Miller.
Atlanta still has three more years of control with Shelby Miller, as that was a major reason the club traded away RF Jason Heyward for him in the first place last offseason. Heyward entered free agency this offseason, while Shelby Miller is on the Braves’ books until after the 2018 MLB season, year two at the new SunTrust Park in Cobb County.
For a contending team, Shelby Miller could stand as a suitable number two or three starting pitcher. Though he and RHP Julio Teheran are the closest things to aces the Atlanta Braves have entering 2016, neither one has the ceiling to anchor a World Series caliber rotation, at least not yet. Both former NL All-Stars will pitch the 2016 MLB season as 25-year olds.
The asking price for Shelby Miller seems incredibly high entering 2016. His stock could both improve or plummet this upcoming season. He may have more wins than 6 in this season, but his ERA could climb well over 3.01 for the 2016 Atlanta Braves.
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If Atlanta is awful again this season and has the right buyer near the 2016 MLB Trade Deadline, don’t expect the Braves to hang on to him if they can get a behemoth of an offer. Like I said, Shelby Miller is under contract until the end of the 2018 MLB season. That is why the asking price is so high for the 25-year-old right hander.