*Photo from Phillies Nation*
One of the things the Texas Rangers lacked on their roster was a super utility player, so they got one. The Rangers and IF Brad Miller have agreed to a two year, $10 million deal, according to MLB Network's Jon Heyman. The Rangers have confirmed the deal.
Miller was originally selected by the Rangers in the 39th round of the 2008 MLB draft, but instead opted to play college baseball at Clemson, before being drafted in the second round of the 2011 draft by the Seattle Mariners. Now, he's signing with the organization that first drafted him, and can make an impact in a variety of ways.
One issue for the Rangers is 3rd base, with the team needing a platoon option until top prospect Josh Jung can come up and handle the hot corner. Miller can provide this with Andy Ibanez, and plays many more positions, having experience at every infield and outfield spot in his major league career, so he can plug a hole in the outfield when necessary as well.
Last season, Miller played with the Philadelphia Phillies. He ended the season with a .227 batting average and a .453 slugging percentage and .774 OPS. Miller hit 20 home runs with 49 RBI's, and picked up 3 stolen bases in 140 games for the Phillies.
Across Miller's 9 big league seasons, split between 6 different teams, he has a .239 average with a .425 slugging percentage and .742 OPS, mashing 115 home runs with 367 RBI's and 39 stolen bases in 947 regular season games. His only playoff at bat came in the 2020 wild card series for the St. Louis Cardinals, which ended in an out.
Miller has played only 49 career games at 3rd base, and while Rangers manager Chris Woodward said that playing at 3rd wasn't out of the question, he did say that Miller would get the majority of his reps in the outfield, likely in a platoon with Nick Solak.
The signing of Miller is the latest move by the Rangers, who acquired Mitch Garver after the lockout, and signed Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, and Jon Gray before the lockout.
Comments
Post a Comment