Trade Central: Orioles Add Lefthander Miley

THE DEAL

With the Orioles’ hold on first place in the AL Easthaving slipped away , Baltimore swung a trade on Sunday evening to acquire veteran lefthander Wade Miley in exchange for minor league lefthander Ariel Miranda.

Miley gives the Orioles a lefthanded rotation option for the first time this season. All 104 of the team’s games to date have been started by righthanders. Though struggling this season, his 4.98 ERA would tie for third-best in an Orioles rotation that ranks 28th in the majors with a collective 5.02 ERA.

The Mariners, meanwhile, pick up a 27-year old Cuban performing well in Triple-A who could possibly help them in the rotation in the near future.

MARINERS ACQUIRE
Ariel Miranda, lhp
Age: 27

The Orioles signed Miranda to a minor league contract in May 2015 after he defected from Cuba, and he ranked as Baltimore’s No. 23 prospect before this season. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound southpaw posted a 3.78 ERA over seven seasons in Cuba’s Serie Nacional and rose quickly after joining the Orioles, culminating in his first big league callup this year. Miranda’s fastball largely sits between 90-92 mph, touching 94, and he mixes an above-average split-finger with a developing changeup and slider as his secondary pitches. Though his raw stuff doesn’t jump out, he has had success at every level and dropped his walk rate from 3.3 to 2.8 per nine innings this season. He has chance to become a back-end lefthander in the rotation—not dissimilar from Miley—or a lefthanded bullpen option if he falters.

Club (League)	Class	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO
Norfolk (IL)	AAA	4	7	3.93	19	19	100.2	95	47	44	11	31	87
Baltimore (AL)	ML	0	0	13.50	1	0	2	4	3	3	0	0	4

ORIOLES ACQUIRE
Wade Miley, lhp
Age: 29

The Mariners acquired Miley in an offseason trade with Boston in hopes of bolstering their rotation, but the veteran lefthander largely struggled before showing some improvement lately. The six-year veteran had a 5.85 ERA in his first 11 starts with opponents hitting him hard for a .292 batting average and .834 OPS. He then started throwing his slider more and decreasing his his changeup usage and began seeing better results. Miley has a 3.80 ERA and .247 batting average against over his last eight outings, included seven one-hit innings against the Cubs on Saturday in his final start as a Mariner.

Miley, who mainly uses a low-90s fastball and sinker and mid-80s changeup and slider, plugs into the Orioles rotation immediately with the hope he can continue his recent improvement. His best season remains his 16-win rookie season with the Diamondbacks in 2011, when he was an all-star. His 2.7 walks per nine innings is his best rate since that rookie season.