If Yankees Don’t Spend On Robertson, Miller Should Be Plan B

Ever since the regular season ended, one of the popular debates amongst Yankee fans has been who is going to be the closer in the 2015 season. Soon after the World Series, the New York Yankees will have to make a decision as to offer David Robertson a qualifying offer or not. If Robertson is given the qualifying offer, he will be one of the highest paid closers in the game.

If Robertson does leave, it is assumed that Dellin Betances would take over in that role. While that will be the case in all likelihood, the Yankees need to have a Plan B as to who will be the eighth-inning guy. As Yankees’ fans watch the postseason, the player to watch to possibly fit that role is Baltimore Orioles’ reliever Andrew Miller.

While all the talk was around the David Price and Jon Lester trades at the deadline, the Orioles trading pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez to the Boston Red Sox for Andrew Miller may have been the best move. The 29-year-old lefty reliever threw 3.1 perfect innings in the ALDS during Baltimore’s three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers. Miller was injured during the Red Sox’ 2013 World Series run, but still had a 2.64 ERA in 30 games played that season.

This season, Miller has been one of the more dominant relievers in baseball. Not only do lefties only hit .163 against him in 92 at-bats, he was actually better against right-handed batters in 124 at-bats (.145 BAA). During 23 regular season appearances with the O’s, he struck out 34 batters and walked only four. Miller has only given up three home runs this season, with Brian McCann hitting the only homer off of Miller with the Orioles on September 23. 

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Over the course of this postseason, we have seen the importance of a strong bullpen with the Royals and Orioles both being in the ALCS. Even if the Yankees get rid of Robertson, there is hardly a reason why the team  shouldn’t spend that money to improve the bullpen. Betances would pitch the ninth, Miller would pitch the 8^th, and you would leave Adam Warren as the seventh inning guy, which could be beneficial to him.

While Warren struggled during the middle portion of the season, he finished off his season on a great note. In ten September appearances, the 27-year-old reliever had a 1.20 ERA, had 17 strikeouts to two walks, and his opponents’ batting average was .085. His 17 K’s were two more than Betances during that month in the same amount of games.

Andrew Miller would be important for the Yankees because he not only would bring another experienced late-inning reliever into the fold, but also would provide a dominant lefty that has been missing from the team in quite some time. While you watch the ALCS when it begins on Friday, it’s not impossible to picture Miller in pinstripes next season, even though he will be one of the relievers in high demand on the free agent market.