Baltimore Orioles: What to do with Andrew Miller?

My personal opinion was that one of the best moves that Vice-President of Baseball Operations Dan Duquette made during the 2014 season was the trade which brought reliever Andrew Miller to the Baltimore Orioles. Miller helped to solidify a bullpen that was already in tip-top shape, and there’s little doubt that he made a huge difference in the Orioles’ season. I suspect that having someone on the roster who had “been there before” in terms of winning titles was also a huge difference-maker as well.

Naturally one of the reasons that Boston was willing to part with Miller was because he was to be a free agent after the season. When he first left

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Boston, he made some comments to the effect that he wouldn’t mind returning there – the only organization he had ever known. And I think that’s probably excusable from the Orioles’ standpoint given the fact that he had come up through Boston’s farm system and had never played for any other team. The realization that you’re going to be wearing another uniform has to be a shock for a player like that. However Miller quickly indoctrinated himself into the Orioles clubhouse, and almost immediately was saying that he liked the vibe and the direction in which the team was going – and thus wouldn’t mind staying in Baltimore either.

That’s a familiar theme among some of the pending free agents from the 2014 Orioles. Nelson Cruz apparently wants to stay as well. However the question at hand is whether or not the Orioles can afford to keep these guys. Earlier this week we heard that the market is seeming to dictate that Miller is looking to get somewhere in the neighborhood of four years, $32 million.

The four years part I would hope wouldn’t be a problem for the Orioles. Granted one could argue that they had a small sample size on Miller given the amount of time he was with the team, I think four years is a decent amount of time to sign a reliever the quality of Miller. It’s the $32 million that’s going to be a problem for the Orioles. They have the money – make no mistake about it – however it’s just a matter of whether or not they want to allocate it in that direction.

This is one of the decisions that Dan Duquette will have to make. And I’m the first one to tell you that $8 million per year is a lot to be paying a guy who effectively only pitches for one inning a game. There’s absolutely no doubt. But honestly, I also think this might be a risk worth taking for the Orioles. Yes signing a player such as Miller to that type of contract would be a huge risk financially. But maybe it’s time for this team to take a calculated risk as such.

In fairness, the Orioles also had a pretty decent bullpen to begin with. Miller was kind of the icing on the cake in a sense. However speaking for myself I also felt that he was a great clubhouse and team guy. Needless to say, he fit right in with his new teammates upon his arrival. I suspect that when Showalter and Duquette vet talent (be it a trade or free agent) they’re looking as much at the player’s personality and so forth as they are his talent on the field. The Orioles don’t want guys who are going to come across as malcontents and disrupt the spirit in the clubhouse. And Miller fit the bill on all fronts.

My personal opinion is that Miller will end up elsewhere this off season. Call it a gut feeling or something along those lines (in other words, no advance knowledge of anything), but my personal opinion is that Miller ends up as a closer in the National League. I can’t tell you why I think that, but as I said it’s a gut feeling. But needless to say, Orioles fans I think would love to see Miller coming out of the home bullpen at Camden Yards. And if the money’s right, I’m not sure that Miller would mind it either.