Now that a certain pitcher who wore #31 has left for the daytime baseball of the Chicago Cubs, the Red Sox have some holes to fill in their rotation. Justin Masterson has already been offered at least a one year deal to return to Boston. One name this writer did not expect to see pop up was Wade Miley who won 16 games for the Arizona Diamondbacks just two years ago.
#RedSox, #Marlins among teams in active discussions with #DBacks on Wade Miley, sources tell me and @jonmorosi.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 10, 2014
Ben Cherington, Red Sox GM, according to multiple reports, started working on new possibilities as soon as Jon Lester decided to go elsewhere early this morning. Considering the D-backs are essentially in a rebuilding stage, just signing Cuban slugger Yasmani Tomas, Miley who has three years of arbitration remaining before he hits free agency, was not the most obvious trade target until the rumors started flying today. Yahoo Sports baseball writer Jeff Passan posted the following less than an hour ago.
Source: Arizona close to a Wade Miley trade.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 10, 2014
Though the Diamondbacks just spent $68 million on Tomas they are looking to shed payroll to get under a $90 million payroll. Miley, who is projected to make $4.3 million or so in arbitration, is a good candidate for Arizona to fill his rotation spot with a lower cost alternative. Miley’s three years as a starter, and durability (95 starts over those three years), make him a good trade target to fill out the back end of their rotation.
Stay tuned to BoSoxInjection.com to see if the Red Sox can bounce back today and make this deal happen.