The Seattle Mariners reportedly acquired Wade Miley in a trade with the Boston Red Sox on Monday, according to multiple reports.
Per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, Miley is heading to Seattle in exchange for Carson Smith and Roenis Elias. The Mariners went on to confirm the deal.
Miley, 29, went 11-11 with a 4.46 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 147 strikeouts in 32 starts and 193.2 innings pitched last season. While he’s hardly a star—and while his one season in Boston was a bit of a disappointment—Miley has proved to be a durable and reliable innings-eater at the bottom of a rotation in his five-year career between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Red Sox.
Smith has gone 3-5 with a 2.07 ERA in 78.1 innings pitched over two seasons out of the bullpen with the Mariners, while Elias has made 49 starts for the team over the past two years, going 15-20 with a 3.97 ERA.
The Red Sox have been busy reshaping their rotation this season, signing David Price to a megadeal and trading for closer Craig Kimbrel, so they had some room to move Miley. The Mariners, meanwhile, landed an affordable player—he’ll be paid $6.1 million in 2016 and $8.9 million in 2017 before being eligible for free agency in 2018 if he’s bought out—who should bolster their rotation.
Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report, who noted that the spacious confines of Safeco Field better fit a pitcher like Miley, also added that the deal could free up enough money for the Red Sox to potentially pursue another pricey pitcher during free agency.
Miley will enter a rotation headlined by Felix Hernandez, with younger pitchers Taijuan Walker and James Paxton following King Felix and showing the potential to be excellent starters. The loss of Hisashi Iwakuma to free agency—he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, per Heyman—hurt the rotation, but the hope will be that Miley can provide the team with a veteran, consistent arm to make up for Iwakuma’s loss.
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