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MLB News: San Francisco Giants Have Discussed New York Yankees’ Andrew Miller

By Mark Suleymanov
Published on: 00:19 PST, Jun 5, 2016

With the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline rapidly approaching, the San Francisco Giants have reportedly had internal discussions about acquiring New York Yankees’ reliever Andrew Miller, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

Despite Saturday’s 8-6 victory, the New York Yankees are still owners of a disappointing 26-29 record and sit in fourth place in the American League East. They are 6.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox for first place in the AL East five games out of the second AL Wild Card. If their poor performance continues, the Yankees could become sellers at the deadline for the first time in decades.

Miller, 31, is pitching well as the Yankees’ set-up man in the bullpen. After starting the season as the closer with offseason acquisition Aroldis Chapman being suspended, Miller converted six saves before moving to the eighth inning. All told, the hard-throwing lefty boasts a 2-0 record with a 1.14 ERA in 23-and-two-thirds innings of work. He also sports a career-best 16.0 K/9 rate.

It was understood that once Chapman returned, Miller would switch roles and he maintained that he’s a team-first player in speaking to the New York Daily News last month.

“What do you want me to do? You want me to throw a fit? The goal here is to win. I think if you go around and ask, there’s 25 lockers in here, and I think everyone is going to say that. We haven’t gotten off to the start that we want to. I think we’ve played well in the last couple of days, and the goal is to keep that going. Wins are what’s fun at the end of the day. It doesn’t matter if you’re saving games for a last-place team.”

Last year, the first of a four-year, $36 million deal he signed in the offseason, Miller converted 36 saves in 38 chances for the Yankees. Despite a stint on the disabled list, Miller finished with a sparkling 2.04 ERA in 61-and-two-third innings.

If the Yankees make Miller available, they could sell teams on the fact that he has two years left on his contract after 2016 and has pitched at an elite level since 2014. With that sales pitch, Miller would not come cheap, and Rosenthal wonders if the Giants would be willing to part with top prospect Tyler Beede.

Beede, 23, has pitched well at Double-A Richmond this season. Through 10 starts, he owns a 3-3 record with a 3.36 ERA in 59 innings. Beede was rated by Baseball America as the Giants’ second-best prospect entering both the 2014 and 2015 seasons. After the 2015 season, in which Beede 5-10 with a 3.97 ERA in 124-and-two-thirds innings between High-A and Double-A, MLB.com rated him the Giants’ best prospect.

The scouting report on the Worcester, Massachusetts, native is promising. After not signing with the Toronto Blue Jays after being drafted in 2011, Beede was the Giants’ pick in the 2014 draft (14th overall) after leading Vanderbilt University to a College World Series crown.

“When he’s on, Beede has three plus pitches and the look of a frontline starter. He can throw his 92-97 mph fastball past hitters or throw them off balance with his lively changeup. He also has a power curveball, though he lost his feel for it at the end of the college season.”

It’s mentioned that sometimes Beede’s control can be suspect — as evidenced by his 2.9 career BB/9 rate in the minors — but he has a “strong, athletic build” that helps him pitch deep into games.

Beede is the type of young, promising pitching prospect the Yankees’ minor league system lacks. With the struggles of heralded hard-thrower Luis Severino, the team has little depth in their rotation.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Yankees could also sell Chapman and young starter Nathan Eovaldi if they deem 2016 a failed season.

[Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images]

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