The Seattle Mariners have made an acquisition of a pitcher they were coveting in bringing in left-hander Wade Miley and reliever Jonathan Aro in exchange for lefty Roenis Elias and right-hander Carson Smith.
Miley still has two years left on his deal that will pay the starter $7.625 million annually, accompanied by a $12 million club option in 2018. Miley, whom the Red Sox signed last offseason, had a solid finish to his fifth major league season after a horrific start with Boston; he finished with a 3.81 FIP, his best since 2012. Despite the mediocre inception to his 2015 campaign, the 29-year old still managed to pitch 190+ innings for the fourth time in his career, the only time he didn’t reach that make was in 2011 when he only got into eight games. His HR/9 and BB/9 were lower from the preceding season however as was his K/9 and he had his highest WAR (2.5) since he was an all-star in 2012 (3.5).
Miley is now fastened to a young pitching staff lead by six-time all-star Felix Hernandez and will likely slot in the third spot behind the aforementioned Hernandez and 22-year old Taijuan Walker. A couple weeks ago rumours were swirling around about a potential deal involving the Mariners and the Marlins involving either Walker or Elias who was move today. The M’s aren’t done yet as GM Jerry Dipoto still wants to add another arm to his rotation.
Along with reliever Carson Smith, the Sox received highly touted pitching prospect Roenis Elias, who finished the 2015 season with a 4.52 FIP. The 2018 arbitration eligible lefty is a little older relative to his title as a prospect however was touted by many teams including the Red Sox. The 27-year old has had a rough start to his MLB career posting a 4.03 FIP in his first career season and after pitching 163.2 innings in his first season and pitched 115.1 in his second.
The Red Sox now have three resplendent left-handed starters, in Eduardo Rodriguez, Henry Owens and now Elias in their organization to supplement the veteran starters they have in David Price and the over-paid Rick Porcello.