Yankees Rumors: Why they should pursue Andrew Miller this offseason

The Yankees will prioritize upgrading their starting rotation this offseason, but that shouldn’t stop them from adding on to their already dominant bullpen. One name they should pursue is left-hander and former Yankee Andrew Miller.

Miller signed with the Yankees the last time he was a free agent back in 2015 and played a season and a half in pinstripes until they traded him to the Indians before the trade deadline of 2016. Miller was outstanding for New York but the Yanks made the right decision to deal him at a time when his trade value was at its peak to acquire top prospects Justus Sheffield and Clint Frazier. Now both Frazier and Sheffield project to make an impact for the Yankees this upcoming season and hopefully Miller joins them.

One reason signing Miller makes sense is because relievers David Robertson and Zach Britton are both set to become free agents in the coming days. The Yankees are going to have a hard time bringing back either one of them for next season. Both players were terrific closers when they weren’t on the Yanks and if they want the opportunity to close again next season they’ll each get paid handsomely to do so.

Since the Yankees already have Aroldis Chapman closing and Dellin Betances as the eighth-inning guy they can afford to let one of them go without it really hurting their pen as a whole. Of course, if they lost both players to other teams that would really sting but if they did Miller would be a great fall back option to go after.

Miller himself could still close for a lot of teams, but that wasn’t the role he filled for the majority of his tenure in Cleveland. He’s also coming off a down season where he was plagued by injuries so he could probably be had for much less than what Britton or D-Rob will be offered.

Britton is still only 30 years old and should receive offers for up to four or five years while the 33-year-old Robertson could get a four-year deal himself from a team looking for a closer. Miller is only 33 as well but coming off a down year I have a hard time believing he’ll get offer sheets for anything more than two years.

As I said earlier Miller did struggle in 2018 only pitching 34 innings in 2018 with a 4.24 ERA so there are concerns about his health and productivity moving forward. However, with a full offseason to heal and prepare for 2019, there’s no doubt he can still be a very effective reliever for someone if he’s healthy. Miller might not be the best reliever in baseball anymore like he was during his first stint in New York, but he’ll still garner plenty of interest this offseason because he’s a southpaw who has strikeout stuff.

His K per 9 rate of 11.9 in 2018 was the lowest mark he’s posted since 2012, but that’s still an impressive number. This past season Robertson only had an 11.8 rate which tells you that Miller still has plus stuff to get big league hitters out.

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Even if the Yankees do bring back D-Rob or Britton they should still pursue Miller because he can also serve as a lefty specialist in addition to being a setup man. As good as the Yankee pen has been over the past couple of seasons that’s one thing they haven’t had and Miller has been pretty much unhittable against left-handers his entire career as a reliever.

Given the heavy workload Miller has taken on in recent years this is a role he could potentially thrive in and one that could help keep him fresh and injury free over the course of a season.

In this Yankee bullpen, he wouldn’t have to work multiple innings or pitch three out of four days because they’re so deep with power arms who can shut down opposing lineups.

Miller won’t be the Yankees top target in free agency but you can bet he’s on their radar. Yes, the Yankees should first handle upgrading their starting staff and resigning Britton or Robertson but once that’s all done they should turn their focus to Miller.

They know what he brings to the table because he’s been successful pitching in New York before. He also never wanted to leave in the first place. After he was dealt Miller said how much he loved being a Yankee and this past season he said he’d be interested in returning if the feeling was mutual. Per Newsday:

"“Yeah, of course,’’ he said. “I didn’t burn any bridges. I didn’t say anything bad about them because I didn’t have anything bad to say. I loved my time here.’’"

If that’s the case Brian Cashman shouldn’t hesitate to make this reunion a reality.