The Baltimore Orioles made a move to address their dreadful starting pitching by picking up a slightly less dreadful left-handed starter Wade Miley from the Mariners. The birds will be sending 27-year-old Cuban left-hander Ariel Miranda to Seattle to complete the trade. Miley will give the Orioles the only left-handed starting pitcher, a team that is also with just one left-handed reliever, their closer Zach Britton. Miley is in the second year of a three year 19.25 million dollar deal which includes a team option for 2018.
Miley, 29, was 7-8 with a 4.98 ERA in 19 starts with the Mariners. On Saturday he snapped a string of six straight losses with seven innings of one-hit ball with nine strikeouts in an inter-league contest against the Chicago Cubs.
Despite all the recent losses, four of Miley’s five outings in July were quality starts.
The Orioles will be Miley’s fourth team in the last three seasons. The Boston Red Sox acquiring him from the Arizona Diamondbacks ahead of the 2015 season for a pair of young pitchers. Miley went 11-11 with a 4.46 ERA in his only year for the Red Sox, who dealt him last off-season to the Mariners for reliever Carson Smith.
Miley has a history of durability, and has shown some upside, which includes coming second in the NL rookie of the year and All-Star appearance in 2012.
Miranda was not considered a top prospect in an already thin Orioles minor league system. The Orioles are still shopping for starting pitching, but the market is quite thin for a team with few chips to trade. No word what this trade means for Ubaldo Jiminez who has struggled mightily this season.
Fan Interference 