A former Texas Rangers infielder has found a home on the west coast, as Brad Miller signed a minor league deal with an invitation to Major League spring training with the San Diego Padres on Tuesday, per MLB.com.
Miller became a free agent after the Rangers won their first World Series title, and he had to watch from the dugout after a hamstring injury forced him onto the 60-day injured list in September.
The Rangers signed Miller to a two-year contract before the 2022 season, and he slid into a utility role but never got steady playing time.
Injuries and the emergence of Ezequiel Duran and Josh Smith as super utility players limited Miller to 27 games and a .214 batting average in 2023.
He played more in 2022, finding time in 81 games, but his batting average was just .212.
Miller hasn’t been an everyday player since his 2021 season in Philadelphia, where he played in 140 games and batted .227, but hit 20 home runs and drove in 49.
Since 2018, he’s largely been a journeyman, bouncing from team to team and playing a role as a utility player. That coincided with Tampa Bay trading him to Milwaukee in June of 2018 and Miller later undergoing surgery to repair a torn hip labrum.
After that, he bounced to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Cleveland Guardians, the New York Yankees, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Phillies.
He enjoyed his biggest success with the Rays, which he joined in 2016 after he was traded from Seattle. He set career highs with 30 home runs and 81 RBI.
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