The LA Angels Missed Out By Not Signing Wade Miley

The pitching rotation was a big focus for the LA Angels this winter, and they addressed it plenty. However, they may have missed out on a great value by not signing Wade Miley.

In the end, the LA Angels watched as the division rival Houston Astros landed the former All Star on a $4.5 million deal for 2019. At a price like that, it makes one question why the Angels wouldn’t have been inclined to offer Miley a spot in their rotation.

A quick look at the numbers shows that Miley is a high-upside player in 2019. While he only pitched 16 games last season, he was outstanding for the Milwaukee Brewers in those starts. A 2.57 ERA and a career-best hits-per-nine mark were the highlights of the year. However, his strikeout and walk numbers were not awfully inspiring, which leads to some concerns of regression.

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But for $4.5 million? The Angels gave twice that much money to Trevor Cahill, whose home/road splits were one of the biggest causes for concern on the entire market. If someone were to poll every MLB team, and ask which contract they’d rather have, I would bet a large amount that the Wade Miley deal would get the majority of votes.

Of course, there is the possibility that Miley took less money from the Astros than he would have from a fringe playoff team such as the Angels. The chance of a championship ring often times is enough for a team to get a lower-value deal for a veteran. However, even if the Angels would have had to fork over another 1-2 million dollars for Miley, it would have been worth it.

Not only would it be smart for the Angels as it would help their team win games, but also in retrospect. The Astros’ biggest (and maybe only) weakness is their rotation after Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. For them to now have Miley fills that hole a good amount, and it is something Billy Eppler and the Angels could have prevented.