Wade Miley

Brewers Promote Tyler Black

By Darragh McDonald | April 30, 2024 at 4:05pm CDT

4:05pm: The Brewers have made it official, announcing they have selected Black’s contract. Miley was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man spot while Miller was optioned to make room on the active roster.

1:35pm: The Brewers are expected to call up infield prospect Tyler Black today, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Black is not on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will be necessary, though Wade Miley could easily be transferred to the 60-day injured list since he is going to miss the rest of the season due to Tommy John surgery. Another move would still be necessary to get Black onto the active roster.

Black, 23, was selected by the Brewers with the 33rd overall pick in the 2021 draft. Since then, he has climbed the minor league ladder, earning huge amounts of praise for his plate discipline. He spent 2022 in High-A, walking more often than he struck out. He was limited to 283 plate appearances in 64 games due to a fractured scapula but drew 45 walks while getting punched out 44 times, leading to respective rates of 15.9% and 15.5%. He only hit four home runs but his .281/.406/.424 batting line translated to a 137 wRC+.

He got over his injury and returned to the field last year, playing 123 games between Double-A and Triple-A. He walked in 15.8% of his trips to the plate on the year while striking out at a 17.9% rate, hitting 18 home runs in the process. He hit a combined .284/.417/.513 between the two levels for a 145 wRC+. He returned to Triple-A this year and has produced a batting line of .303/.393/.525 so far.

Though the plate discipline is his most standout tool, he also has some speed to offer. He stole 13 bases in his injury-shortened 2022 campaign before swiping 55 bags on 67 tries last year. He’s tallied another three in the early going here in 2024.

Defensively, he’s more of a question mark. He was a second baseman in college and the early parts of his minor league career, spending some time in center field in 2022 as well. But since the start of last year, he’s been exclusively on the infield corners, primarily at third.

Regardless of the defensive question marks, the strong offense and the speed are enough for him to be considered one of the best prospects in the league. Baseball America currently lists him as their #73 prospect. MLB Pipeline has him at #42, ESPN at #51 while Keith Law of The Athletic put him in the #44 spot. Though for a dissenting opinion, Black doesn’t crack the top 100 at FanGraphs and Eric Longenhagen put him at just #10 in the Brewers’ system last month. Longenhagen expresses concern that Black won’t stick at third base and will eventually end up at first, where his contact-over-power approach will be insufficient.

Given the current Milwaukee infield alignment, it would seem that Black probably has a better path to playing time at first base for now. Joey Ortiz has been the regular at third and is hitting a strong .279/.392/.426 so far this year, 134 wRC+. First base has been split between Rhys Hoskins and Jake Bauers, though the latter hasn’t been performing especially well. Bauers is hitting .200/.250/.383 while striking out in 37.5% of his trips to the plate this year.

Both Bauers and Black are left-handed hitters, so it seems Bauers is the player most likely to lose playing time with Black promotion. Bauers is out of options and would have to be designated for assignment if he is to be squeezed off the roster. Though if the Brewers want to keep him around as a bench bat, they could option someone like Joey Wiemer, Oliver Dunn or Owen Miller.

It’s late enough in the season that Black can’t earn a full year of service time, at least not the traditional way. A major league season is 187 days long but a player needs 172 days in the big leagues, or on the major league injured list, to get to the one-year mark. Since we’re over a month into the 2024 campaign already, Black can’t quite make it to that line.

The current collective bargaining agreement contains measures to disincentive service time manipulation, by rewarding clubs for promotion top prospects while also allowing such players a path to getting one year of service even if held down. If a player is on two of the three top 100 lists at BA, MLB Pipeline or ESPN, they are considered eligible for the prospect promotion incentive, which applies to Black since he’s on all three.

Had the Brewers promoted Black earlier in the year, they could have earned themselves an extra draft pick depending on how he performed in awards voting, but that won’t be in play now. Black will be able to earn a full service year if he can finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year voting, the other new measure in the CBA, though he will have an uphill battle in achieving that. Players like Shota Imanaga Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jared Jones, Jackson Merrill, Masyn Winn and others have already had a head start of over a month to rack up stats while Black is just getting started.

Even if he comes up short of the one-year mark here in 2024, he would be in line for Super Two status after the 2026 campaign if he can stay up in the big leagues from this point forward. He would be able to go through arbitration four times instead of three before being slated for free agency after 2030, though future optional assignments could delay either of those trajectories.

Wade Miley To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

By Darragh McDonald | April 26, 2024 at 11:58pm CDT

Brewers left-hander Wade Miley needs repair on the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow, per Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The lefty will be undergoing Tommy John surgery, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. McCalvy adds that Miley will spend the next 10 to 12 months rehabbing from the surgery before deciding if he will continue his career. McCalvy adds in a second tweet that Miley is leaning towards coming back. “I’ve always said I want to go out on my own [terms],” he said. “I still feel like I’ve got more in the tank.”

The news of the surgery doesn’t come as a total shock. He was placed on the injured list earlier this week with elbow inflammation and was clearly trying to avoid thinking of the possibility of going under the knife. “I don’t want to be concerned,” he said a few days ago. “Obviously, the ugly thought probably ends it for me, so I’m trying not to take myself there right now. I don’t know if I’d be willing to go through something like that and I’m hoping it’s nothing to that extent. But like I said, without imaging, we won’t know.”

Since then, despite getting the bad news, he seems to have turned a corner in terms of his acceptance of the situation. As mentioned up top, he’s now leaning towards coming back. Rosiak relays a two-minute clip on X of Miley discussing the situation, in which he actually seems sort of optimistic at times. “Weirdly, kind of excited,” he says. “Get this thing fixed and maybe I can pitch without pain for a little bit, you know? I’ve been dealing with elbow stuff for four, five years now. Looking on the bright side, if we get this thing fixed up, who knows?”

It’s true that Miley, 37, has been dealing with his share of injury setbacks in recent years. From 2012 to 2017, he tossed at least 157 innings in six straight seasons, posting a combined 4.37 earned run average in that time. But in 2018, he only got to 80 2/3 innings, missing a couple of months due to an oblique strain. He got up to 167 1/3 in 2019 but then fell shy of 15 innings in the shortened 2020 season, missing time due to a groin strain and a shoulder strain.

He was able to stay healthy enough in 2021 to log 163 innings over 28 starts, but then was capped at 37 frames in 2022, spending time on the IL due to elbow inflammation and a shoulder strain. There was another uptick last year, as he got to 23 starts and 120 1/3 innings, though a lat strain and elbow discomfort did separately send him to the IL a couple of times.

Now he’s unfortunately going to have to endure the lengthiest absence of his career and it seems there’s at least some possibility he never comes back. Given his comments today, it seems more likely that he’ll try to return at some point in 2025, but he’ll have plenty of time to think about it.

He signed a one-year deal with the Brewers in the offseason, which comes with a mutual option. Those options are almost never picked up by both sides and the surgery makes it a certainty that the Brewers will decline their end, sending Miley back to the open market.

Free agent pitchers that are coming off a notable surgery such as this will often sign two-year deals, with the signing club knowing that they may not get much return on their investment in the first season while the pitcher is hurt. Miley will be an interesting case since he’s already 37 years old, with his next birthday in November. A two-year deal would therefore be covering his age-38 and age-39 seasons, a few years older than most pitchers who sign such deals. But he’s still been effective when on the mound, as he had a 3.14 ERA with Milwaukee just last year.

For now, the Brewers will have to move forward with yet another starter subtracted from their rotation mix. Brandon Woodruff required shoulder surgery late last year and it’s questionable whether or not he can return this year. Corbin Burnes was traded to the Orioles in the winter. DL Hall and Jakob Junis are both currently on the IL and now Miley is going to miss the rest of the year.

Their current rotation consists of Freddy Peralta, Colin Rea, Joe Ross, Tobias Myers and Bryse Wilson. Ross hardly pitched over the previous two years due to various injuries. Myers just made his major league debut this week while Wilson was just moved in from the bullpen, having not had a regular starting gig since 2022.

There’s plenty of uncertainty in that group, but the club is managing to hold onto the division lead for now. Coming into today, they are half a game up on the Cubs, with the three other clubs not far behind. As the season rolls along, improved health from Hall or Junis could play a factor, or perhaps prospect Robert Gasser could work his way into the mix. But it also wouldn’t be a surprise to see the club searching for pitching at this summer’s deadline, given the setbacks they’ve been dealt.

Brewers Place Wade Miley On Injured List With Elbow Inflammation

By Darragh McDonald | April 25, 2024 at 1:00pm CDT

April 25: The initial wave of imaging on Miley was inconclusive, manager Pat Murphy tells the team’s beat (X link via Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). He’s headed for further testing — an arthrogram, specifically — to determine if there’s any ligament damage in his elbow.

April 22: The Brewers announced a series of transactions today, most notably placing left-hander Wade Miley on the 15-day injured list due to left elbow inflammation, retroactive to April 19. Right-hander Tobias Myers was recalled in a corresponding move. Also, first baseman Jake Bauers was reinstated from the bereavement list with infielder Andruw Monasterio optioned to Triple-A Nashville.

At this point, it’s unclear if the Brewers expect the injury to be serious, but there’s always some level of concern when a pitcher’s throwing elbow is involved. Per Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the left-hander is going to get some imaging done tomorrow and Miley says he is trying to fight back the negative thoughts in his head. “I don’t want to be concerned,” he says at the end of the clip in the link from Hogg. “Obviously, the ugly thought probably ends it for me, so I’m trying not to take myself there right now. I don’t know if I’d be willing to go through something like that and I’m hoping it’s nothing to that extent. But like I said, without imaging, we won’t know.”

Miley, 37, has had plenty of injury scares in recent years, only twice getting to 125 innings since 2017. In 2022, he missed time both due to elbow inflammation and a shoulder strain in his throwing arm, logging just 37 innings. He got up to 120 1/3 frames last year but also missed time due to a lat strain and some elbow discomfort. Here in 2024, he started the season on the IL due to a shoulder impingement, came back to make two starts and is now heading to the IL again.

The “ugly thought” he alluded to presumably refers to Tommy John surgery, which generally requires something in the range of 14-18 months to recover from. At this point in the calendar, that would wipe out the rest of Miley’s 2024 season and much of the 2025 campaign as well. If he were to go through all that, he would be nearing his 39th birthday by the time he got back to a mound. Based on his comments, it sounds like it’s not a road he wants to go down or even think about right now.

The club will surely provide more information when they have it, but it will be a challenging situation for them regardless due to some other injuries in their rotation. Brandon Woodruff had shoulder surgery last year and won’t be an option until late in 2024 season, if at all. Jakob Junis has been on the IL for a couple of weeks due to a shoulder impingement while DL Hall was placed on the IL just yesterday due to a left knee sprain.

That leaves Milwaukee with a rotation consisting of Freddy Peralta, Colin Rea and Joe Ross for the time being. The recent IL placements of Hall and Miley mean they will have to scramble to fill a couple of spots. Reaching into the minors leagues will also have injury complications as Robert Gasser, one of the club’s top prospects, hasn’t yet pitched in Triple-A due to a bone spur in his left elbow.

Myers, 25, was added to the club’s roster last week but was optioned the next day without getting into a game and is still looking to make his major league debut. He has been pitching multi-inning stints in the minors and could perhaps take on some bulk work for the Brewers. Bryse Wilson has past starting experience and has been throwing multi-inning stints in the big leagues this year, so he’s another option. Aaron Ashby and Janson Junk are also on the 40-man roster and could be recalled to provide some length.

The Brewers are currently 14-6 and sitting atop the National League Central, but the ongoing rotation issues will make it a challenge to hang onto that spot. The team and Miley will obviously be hoping that tomorrow’s imaging doesn’t find anything concerning and that the lefty can rejoin the club after a brief respite.

Brewers Notes: Turang, Frelick, Ortiz, Rea

By Steve Adams | March 13, 2024 at 2:25pm CDT

For a second straight season, Brice Turang will open the year at second base for the Brewers. Manager Pat Murphy confirmed the decision to name Turang as Milwaukee’s starting second baseman last night (link via David Adler of MLB.com). Murphy opined that Turang is poised to take a “quantum leap” forward in 2024 and solidify himself as an everyday player in the big leagues after an up-and-down rookie season that left him with lackluster offensive numbers.

Turang, 24, was the No. 21 overall pick in the 2018 draft and ranked among Milwaukee’s top prospects for several years before making the 2023 Opening Day roster and debuting in the majors. He posted above-average but not elite numbers in Triple-A during the 2022 season prior to that MLB debut, but his first year in the big leagues highlighted some of the limitations in his game. Turang has long been touted as a plus defender and plus runner, but he hit just .218/.285/.300 in 448 plate appearances last season. The resulting 60 wRC+ suggests that Turang was a whopping 40% worse than average at the plate.

While Turang’s 21% strikeout rate was a bit lower than the league average and his 8.5% walk rate was sound, he also put together one of the weakest batted-ball profiles in the sport. Turang ranked in just the fifth percentile of MLB hitters in terms of barrel rate, per Statcast, while his 26% hard-hit rate landed in the fourth percentile and his 85.5 mph average exit velocity placed in only the second percentile. Turang’s sprint speed was elite, but even in spite of his wheels he batted just .268 on balls in play because of that penchant for feeble contact.

Even amid questions about his offensive outlook, the glove and speed will land him another Opening Day nod at second base. That sets the Milwaukee infield everywhere but the hot corner. Rhys Hoskins has first base locked down. Willy Adames will return at shortstop. Heading into camp, it looked like the third base job could be Joey Ortiz’s to lose, but Milwaukee’s decision to experiment with top outfield prospect Sal Frelick at third base has created more of a competition.

Murphy and Brewers infielder coordinator Matt Erickson have heaped praise onto Frelick for his work at third base this spring, writes Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The 23-year-old has “immediately” checked every box the team would like to see in terms of his footwork in the infield, Erickson tells Hogg, expressing further confidence that Frelick’s mechanics on more difficult on-the-move throws can improve with experience. Erickson noted that the overall package of defensive skills at third base is still not on par with others in camp, but that’s to be expected for a player who didn’t even play at the hot corner in his amateur days. Moreover, both Erickson and Murphy are amazed that Frelick has already come as far as he has.

The result could be something of a split workload for Frelick between right field and third base. The Brewers acquired the slick-fielding Ortiz alongside left-handed rotation hopeful DL Hall in the trade sending ace Corbin Burnes to Baltimore. Ortiz, like Turang, is considered a plus defensive shortstop but won’t get much opportunity at that position due to the presence of Adames. He could log considerable time at the hot corner, though Adler suggests Ortiz could also see time at second base against left-handed pitching. He’s a right-handed bat and natural option to spell Turang, who hit just .188/.278/.188 (35 wRC+) against southpaws.

A strict platoon arrangement for the group might not be the answer, however. While Ortiz can play either third or second against lefties, both Turang and the lefty-swinging Frelick (.184/.279/.289, 59 wRC+) struggled greatly in limited action against left-handed pitching. Right-handed-hitting Andruw Monasterio turned in a .291/.387/.392 slash (118 wRC+) against lefties and could spend time at third base if/when Ortiz slides over to the keystone to spell Turang against southpaws. Similarly, outfielder Joey Wiemer (.267/.298/.517, 115 wRC+ against lefties) could potentially spell Frelick against lefties.

If anything, Frelick’s burgeoning versatility and the blend of right- and left-handed-hitting infield/outfield options only gives Murphy more fuel to play matchups against opposing pitchers. Importantly, all of Turang, Ortiz, Frelick, Wiemer and Monasterio grade as above-average to plus defenders at their respective positions (at least, in the case of the outfield with regard to Frelick). There’s considerable opportunity for all five to work their way into the lineup for semi-regular playing time, if not more.

As far as the Milwaukee rotation is concerned, there’s still some fine tuning to be sorted out, but one open question became clear this week when Murphy confirmed that right-hander Colin Rea will be in his rotation (via Adler) He’ll be penciled into a starting staff that also includes Freddy Peralta and Jakob Junis. Veteran Wade Miley has been behind schedule due to shoulder troubles but progressed to facing teammates in a simulated game today, tweets Hogg. A firm timeline for his return remains unclear and dependent on how he continues to progress.

Rea, however, will be assured a starting job. That’s a notable development for a journeyman right-hander who’s bounced from the Padres, to the Marlins, to the Cubs, to the Brewers, to Japan and back to Milwaukee. The 33-year-old pitched 124 2/3 innings for the Brew Crew in 2023, logging a 4.55 ERA with strong command and solid ground-ball tendencies but a slightly below-average strikeout rate. He’s been sharp so far in spring training, firing eight innings — including four no-hit frames his last time out — with a dozen strikeouts and just two walks.

Rea inked a one-year, $4.5MM deal back on Nov. 2. He’ll earn a $3.5MM salary in 2024 and is guaranteed that plus a $1MM buyout on a $5.5MM option for the 2025 season. He can also pick up an additional $500K of incentives each season, based on innings pitched, giving him the opportunity to earn $10MM over the next two seasons in Milwaukee.

Murphy: Wade Miley “50-50” To Be Ready For Opening Day

By Darragh McDonald | March 2, 2024 at 11:10am CDT

TODAY: Murphy told Rosiak and other reporters today that Miley is dealing with soreness in his throwing shoulder. While there was no update yet on a timeline, Murphy indicated the injury might not be too serious, as Miley “played catch, played through it. Hasn’t had any problem since. We just want to go slow because of his history.”

YESTERDAY: Brewers left-hander Wade Miley may not be ready for Opening Day, manager Pat Murphy tells Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Murphy said it’s a “50-50” shot that Miley is ready for the opener but declined to provide any details. “We’ll let you know more in about 10 days,” he said.

It’s a vaguely ominous update that comes out of nowhere, as there hasn’t been any previous reporting to suggest that anything was up with Miley. He hasn’t yet appeared in a Spring Training contest, but that’s true of a lot of pitchers at this relatively early stage of the spring.

Meaningful conclusions can’t be drawn without more information but the rotation depth in Milwaukee is weaker than it has been in a long time, so any kind of uncertainty will be concerning. Brewers fans have been able to enjoy a staff fronted by co-aces Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff for the past few years, but that won’t be the case in 2024. Burnes has been traded to the Orioles while Woodruff will be out for much of the year recovering from shoulder surgery.

On paper, the rotation now projects to be fronted by Freddy Peralta, followed by some combination of Miley, Jakob Junis, Colin Rea, DL Hall, Joe Ross, Aaron Ashby and Janson Junk, with plenty of uncertainty in that group. Junis has done some solid work of late but mostly in a swing role, having not topped 112 innings since 2019. Rea had a decent season in Milwaukee last year but that was his first meaningful big league action since 2016. Hall is not too far removed from being a notable prospect but there are concerns about his control and workload. Ross didn’t pitch in the big leagues in the past two years due to Tommy John surgery, the second of his career. Ashby missed all of last year after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder. Junk has just 32 big league innings and a 4.42 ERA in his Triple-A work.

Amid all of that uncertainty, Miley was going to be one of the more reliable options, despite his own history. Now 37 years old, he hasn’t topped 170 innings since 2015. Only twice since 2017 has he thrown more than last year’s 120 1/3 innings. He missed time last year due to a left lat strain and left elbow discomfort but still made 23 starts, though elbow and shoulder issues limited him to just 37 frames the year prior.

While there’s no clarity on what’s currently holding back Miley or how serious it is, his personal injury history and the lack of established rotation options is undoubtedly a situation worth monitoring for the Brewers. Despite the losses of Burnes and Woodruff, the club still aims to contend this year, having spent money on players like Junis, Rhys Hoskins and Gary Sánchez to help them defend their division title.

If the club eventually decides it needs further additions, there are still options available in free agency at this late stage of the winter. It would be a shock to see the low-spending Brewers pursue a marquee name like Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery but a run at someone like Michael Lorenzen, Jake Odorizzi or old friend Eric Lauer isn’t out of the question. RosterResource lists this year’s club payroll at $109MM. Per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the club had an Opening Day payroll of $119MM last year and $132MM the year prior.

There could perhaps be some powder dry there for another move, even though we’re now in the month of March. Another alternative could be for the club to turn to its prospect depth. Robert Gasser and Jacob Misiorowski are two of the club’s most notable prospects, though neither is on the 40-man roster and Misiorowski has made just five starts above High-A.

NL Notes: Miley, Reds, Mets, Marte, Brewers, Junk

By Mark Polishuk | January 1, 2024 at 5:18pm CDT

The Reds’ search for starting pitching help has resulted in deals with Frankie Montas and Nick Martinez, while the team has been linked to several other pitchers who either remain available (in trades or in free agency) or have since landed elsewhere. MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports that one of those now-signed pitching targets included Wade Miley, as Cincinnati had some talks with the veteran left-hander before Miley re-signed with the Brewers.

There’s plenty of familiarity between the two sides, as Miley pitched for the Reds in 2020-21 and posted a 3.55 ERA over 177 1/3 innings. The Reds held a $10MM club option on his services for 2022, yet as part of a payroll cutback, Cincinnati put Miley on waivers (where he was quickly claimed by the Cubs) in order to part ways without even paying the $1MM buyout on that option. Miley has since posted a 3.15 ERA in 157 1/3 innings with Chicago and Milwaukee since the start of the 2022 campaign, though injuries again limited his availability.

Miley received $8.5MM in guaranteed money in his one-year deal with the Brewers, and the Reds went beyond that price range in their one-year, $16MM deal with Montas. With $106.2MM spent so far this winter, Cincinnati has been one of the offseason’s busier teams in free agency, and it seems possible the Reds might not be done with their efforts to bolster the pitching staff.

Brewers Re-Sign Wade Miley

By Steve Adams | December 4, 2023 at 1:33pm CDT

There’s plenty of chatter about the Brewers potentially trading their ace, but Milwaukee is also maintaining some continuity on the starting staff, announcing on Monday that they’ve re-signed veteran southpaw Wade Miley to a one-year deal with a 2025 mutual option. Miley, a client of O’Connell Sports Management, will reportedly be guaranteed $8.5MM in the form of a $7MM salary and a $1.5MM buyout on a $12MM mutual option.

The contract also gives Miley the opportunity to earn another $2.5MM via innings-based incentives. He’d receive $250K bonuses for reaching both 50 and 75 innings, plus another $500K upon reaching 100 innings and $750K for reaching both 125 and 150 innings pitched. Miley also secured a limited no-trade clause and would be paid a $1MM assignment bonus in the event that he’s traded.

Miley, who pitched for Milwaukee in 2018 and again in 2023, will now return for a third stint with the Brew Crew. While he just turned 37 years old a couple weeks ago, the left-hander’s age hasn’t been showing in his recent results. After pitching to a sharp 3.16 ERA in 37 innings during an injury-shortened year with the ’22 Cubs, Miley started 23 games and gave the ’23 Brewers 120 1/3 innings of nearly identical 3.14 ERA ball.

Although Miley’s strikeout rate continues to sit close to the bottom of the league (16.1% in 2023), he’s offset that lack of punchouts with better-than-average command (7.8% walk rate) and a knack for avoiding hard contact. Miley’s 87.3 mph average exit velocity ranked in the 83rd percentile of big league pitchers, and his 31.1% hard-hit rate checked into the 93rd percentile.

Back in 2016-17, Miley’s career had hit something of a crossroads. He’d posted an ERA well north of 5.00 in two consecutive seasons and had to settle for a minor league deal with the Brewers ahead of the 2018 season. He revived his career in Milwaukee, pitching to a 2.57 ERA in 80 1/3 frames, and with the exception of a brief injury-ruined 2020 showing with Cincinnati (5.65 ERA in 14 1/3 innings), the left-hander has been an effective big league starter ever since. Dating back to the 2018 resurgence, Miley sports a 3.43 ERA in 582 2/3 innings.

Miley’s return to the Brewers comes amid ample uncertainty regarding the team’s rotation. The Brewers made the difficult decision to non-tender Brandon Woodruff after it was learned he’d miss the majority of the 2024 season following capsule surgery in his right shoulder. Co-ace Corbin Burnes’ name has flown about the rumor mill frequently in the first month-plus of the offseason, given his status as a free agent next winter. Burnes is expected to test free agency rather than sign an extension, leaving Brewers GM Matt Arnold with another painful decision: hang onto Burnes and hope for one final playoff push with the former NL Cy Young winner, or trade him now and receive substantially more value than Burnes would fetch upon declining a qualifying offer next winter.

At least for now, Burnes slots into the top of the rotation ahead of right-hander Freddy Peralta. Miley gives the Crew a quality third option behind that pair, and Milwaukee still has righties Adrian Houser and Colin Rea for fourth and fifth options, to say nothing of left-hander Aaron Ashby. Milwaukee also has a reported one-year agreement with former Nationals righty Joe Ross, who hasn’t pitched in the Majors since 2021 due to injuries but has at times looked like a viable mid-rotation arm. Ross had a second career Tommy John surgery in 2022, so given the recent layoff from pitching, it’s possible he’s viewed more as a swingman option anyhow.

With Miley back in the fold, the Brewers’ projected payroll will land somewhere between $106-116MM (depending on how this morning’s extension for top prospect Jackson Chourio breaks down). That’s a bit shy of last year’s $118MM Opening Day mark. Potential trades of Burnes and/or shortstop Willy Adames could dramatically alter that outlook, as could further free agent additions.

In many ways, the 2024 season will be something of a transitional year for the Brewers with or without its longtime ace atop the rotation. The Brewers already lost manager Craig Counsell to the rival Cubs, and they’re likely turning center field over to Chourio, who just made history by signing the largest contract ever inked by a player with no Major League service time. Miley affords some continuity on the pitching staff, but the Brewers’ core is in the process of turning over.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported yesterday that Miley and the Brewers were expected to finalize a new deal and first broke the news of the agreement on a one-year deal and mutual option. ESPN’s Jesse Rogers first reported the financial terms and incentive package. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported the no-trade protection. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale added the assignment bonus upon being traded.

The Opener: Winter Meetings, Chourio, Miley

By Leo Morgenstern | December 4, 2023 at 7:43am CDT

With the Winter Meetings underway in Nashville, Tennessee, here are three things to keep an eye on around baseball today:

1. The Winter Meetings get rolling

Outside of one major trade on Sunday night – the Braves acquired Jarred Kelenic from the Mariners – the lead-in to MLB’s Winter Meetings was relatively quiet. That was to be expected, however. The first day is often the slowest, as executives and agents are just arriving and getting ready for the busy week ahead.

Now, with the calendar flipped to Monday, perhaps the hot stove will really start to sizzle. Forty-three of MLBTR’s Top 50 Free Agents are still unsigned, and none of Anthony Franco’s Top 25 Offseason Trade Candidates have yet been dealt. It’s hard to believe that will remain the case for long.

2. Brewers to officially announce Jackson Chourio’s contract extension

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Brewers will host a press conference today during the Winter Meetings to officially announce Jackson Chourio’s record-smashing contract extension.

The 19-year-old top prospect will make a minimum of $82MM over the next eight years and can earn as much as $142.5MM over ten if the Brewers exercise both of their team options and Chourio maxes out all his incentives. It is far and away the largest contract ever signed by a player before making his MLB debut.

Presumably, the Brewers plan to put Chourio on the 2024 Opening Day roster, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him starting in center the next time they take the field. The big question now is if the Brewers will keep spending to put together a more competitive team around their young phenom.

3. Will Wade Miley be the next free agent to sign?

In more Brewers news, the team is reportedly close to re-signing veteran starter Wade Miley. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic was the first to surmise that a deal was on the horizon, while Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported on Sunday evening that the two sides were “moving closer” to an agreement.

No figures have yet been reported, but it’s worth mentioning that Miley rejected his side of a $10MM mutual option with Milwaukee earlier this offseason, instead collecting a $1MM buyout. Presumably, the new contract they are discussing will guarantee him a bigger payday than the one he turned down.

Brewers “Moving Closer” To Deal With Wade Miley

By Mark Polishuk | December 3, 2023 at 5:27pm CDT

5:27 PM: Jon Heyman of the New York Post indicates this evening that the Brewers and Miley are “moving closer” to a deal, while noting that an agreement between the sides would be a one-year arrangement.

9:57 AM: It would appear as though the Brewers and Wade Miley are making progress on a reunion, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal predicts that a deal between the two sides will “materialize in the coming days.” Miley pitched for Milwaukee during the 2018 season and then returned to the Brew City last season on a one-year, $4.5MM deal with a $10MM mutual option for 2024. Like with virtually all mutual options, it wasn’t exercised, as Miley declined his end of the option and took a $1MM buyout to re-enter free agency.

Some elbow soreness and a lat strain limited Miley to 120 1/3 innings last season, but that was still a vast improvement over his injury-riddled 2022 campaign as a member of the Cubs roster. Miley’s comeback year included a very solid 3.14 ERA over his 120 1/3 frames, though advanced metrics (like a 5.04 SIERA) were much less impressed by the veteran’s performance. Miley benefited from a .234 BABIP and an 81.6% strand rate, and his 16.1% strikeout rate ranked in only the eighth percentile of all pitchers.

These numbers notwithstanding, secondary metrics have often been down on Miley over the course of his 13-year career, as the left-hander has never been much of a strikeout pitcher and he has relied on grounders (49% career groundball rate) and soft contact to achieve success. Miley’s efforts at limiting hard contact have been particularly successful over the last few years, and his 31.3% hard-hit ball rate was one of the better marks in baseball in 2023.

This skillset has led to some pretty varied results over Miley’s long career, as the BABIP gods haven’t always been on his side. Nonetheless, the Brewers still seem interested in what Miley can bring to the table as he enters his age-37 season, and Rosenthal notes that the team also values his off-the-field contributions as a clubhouse leader. It is probably safe to assume that Miley will sign another relatively inexpensive one-year contract, perhaps with another option of some sort covering the 2025 season. That is surely appealing to a Brewers team with a limited budget, and a need for some extra depth in the rotation.

Should Miley return, he’ll join Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, Adrian Houser, and (another re-signed pitcher in) Colin Rea as the projected starting five, with depth options that include Janson Junk, top prospect Robert Gasser, and Aaron Ashby returning from an injury-marred 2023 season. There is plenty of fluidity within this group, however, as rumors persist that Milwaukee could trade Burnes prior to his final year of team control.

Wade Miley Declines Mutual Option With Brewers

By Anthony Franco | November 3, 2023 at 7:28pm CDT

Veteran starter Wade Miley is declining his end of a $10MM mutual option with the Brewers, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (X link). It isn’t known if Milwaukee had accepted its end. In either event, he’ll receive a $1MM buyout and become a free agent.

Miley, 37 later this month, turned in solid results over 23 starts during his second stint with the Brew Crew. Signed to a $4.5MM guarantee last offseason, he worked 120 1/3 innings of 3.14 ERA ball. As is often the case with the soft-tossing southpaw, that success came in spite of a modest strikeout rate. While Miley punched out 16.1% of opposing hitters, he kept the ball on the ground at a solid 46.3% clip.

Despite the lack of missed bats, Miley had posted a sub-4.00 ERA in three straight seasons. He was limited by injury to only 37 innings in 2022. The year before that, he worked 163 frames of 3.37 ERA ball for the Reds. When healthy, he turns in solid results. The veteran had a pair of injured list stints this year on account of a lat strain and elbow discomfort but took the ball every fifth day from August on.

Milwaukee has one remaining option decision, a borderline call on outfielder Mark Canha. The club holds an $11.5MM provision with a $2MM buyout. They’ll need to make that call by Monday afternoon.

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