Thanks to the cascade of positional injuries, and a handful of pitching injuries, the Cubs had such a 40-man squeeze that they were forced to punt a guy they otherwise definitely wouldn’t have wanted to. Twice. First was Shelby Miller, who was ultimately released to seek an opportunity elsewhere. And then second it was Tyson Miller, who was DFA’d last week in the hopes (ours, at least) he could be traded for some value.
But nope.
Rangers have claimed RHP Tyson Miller on waivers from the Cubs and optioned him to Round Rock. He has pitched in 3 games at Iowa after starting year at Arizona complex. Pitched in 2 games for Cubs in 2020. RHP Hunter Wood moved from 15 to 60 day DL with mild right UCL sprain
— John Blake (@RangerBlake) June 4, 2021
That stings. Miller, albeit working back from a delayed start and a mostly lost 2020 year along with everyone else, is a legitimate starting pitching prospect. And, failing that, he has upside in the bullpen long-term if it came to that. As a guy with options remaining, I expect that the Rangers (who were very high on the waiver priority list) were delighted to be able to snag him. I’m surprised there wasn’t a team lower in the order that wasn’t willing to give up a fringe prospect for him, and maybe there’s info scouts have on what his trajectory looks like that we don’t have.
The Cubs are fortunately still in a very good and loaded pitching position overall on the 40-man and at Triple-A, though their top starting pitching prospects are largely still a year or two away. Having Miller continue to develop at Triple-A, with an eye on him competing for a rotation job next year, for example, would have been very nice.
All the best to him with the Rangers.