Yankees sign one-time All-Star righty Shelby Miller to minors deal

The Yankees have signed right-hander Shelby Miller, as per a team press release.  Miller has been invited to the Yankees’ big league spring camp.

Still only 31 years old, Miller is best known for his time with the Cardinals and Braves, when he posted a 3.22 ERA over 575 1/3 innings from 2012-15.  With a third-place finish in NL Rookie Of The Year voting and an All-Star appearance in 2015, Miller looked like one of baseball’s burgeoning young pitching stars, but he simply was never the same after being dealt to the Diamondbacks in a now-infamous trade for Arizona fans.

Miller struggled in 2016 in part due to a finger injury, and then pitched only 38 more innings during his D-backs tenure due to Tommy John surgery.  Since then, Miller has bounced around to four different teams trying to revive his career, most recently pitching for the Cubs and Pirates in 2021.  The righty had a combined 9.24 ERA over 12 2/3 big league innings last season, but at least his Triple-A statistics (2.96 ERA, 37.75% strikeout rate over 24 1/3 IP) provided some cause for optimism.

While Miller technically made four Triple-A starts last year, they were more of the abbreviated variety, and he seems to be more or less a full-time relief pitcher at this point in his career.  New York will be the latest team to try to get Miller on track, and he would hardly be the first ex-starter to find a second act as a viable reliever.  At the cost of a minor league deal, there’s no risk for the Yankees in seeing what Miller has in camp, and perhaps stashing him at Triple-A should he accept the assignment.  Given the relatively short time between now and Opening Day, it doesn’t seem like Miller has a shot at breaking camp with the team.