MILWAUKEE -- Wade Miley saw promise in Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta back in 2018 when those young arms were picking up big innings in the National League Championship Series. Now, he's back to try to help the Brewers get one step further.
Miley’s one-year, $4.5 million deal with a mutual option for 2024 was finalized Monday morning after the 36-year-old left-hander completed a physical. If he can avoid the sort of elbow and shoulder injuries that limited him to 37 innings for the Cubs last season, Miley would add additional depth to a starting rotation that represents Milwaukee’s strength.
"I don’t know if it feels like 2018 all over again, but hopefully we can maybe spark some of that magic up and get on a good run again," Miley said. "I know there’s definitely a pitching staff to do it with."
The Brewers didn’t have to make a corresponding roster move for Miley because they’d already cleared a spot on the 40-man roster over the weekend by trading reliever Justin Topa to the Mariners.
It’s a return engagement for Miley, who was effective down the stretch and into the postseason for the Brewers in 2018. Since then, he has pitched for the Astros, Reds and Cubs, including a 3.98 ERA in 33 starts for Houston in 2019 and a 3.37 ERA in 28 starts for Cincinnati in ’21, with a no-hitter that year against Cleveland.
But his 2022 season was marred by injuries. Miley pitched nine times for the Cubs, including eight starts, and finished with a 3.16 ERA in 37 innings. He had two stints on the IL for elbow issues during the first half of the year, then he returned on June 10 and suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined him again until September.
"It was frustrating, no doubt," Miley said. "I just felt like with the lockout and everything, Spring Training was a little goofy again. I just really never got on track and was playing catch-up all year long. It was definitely very frustrating, but I feel really good right now. I'm a couple weeks away from getting off the mound. I’m looking forward to it."
That timetable is relatively standard for his career, Miley said. He is on track to be full-go by the start of what could be a spirited Spring Training for the back end of the Brewers' rotation. Barring unforeseen setbacks, they have Burnes, Woodruff, Peralta and Eric Lauer locked into four spots ahead of right-hander Adrian Houser and rising left-hander Aaron Ashby. The Brewers have also added former consensus Top 100 prospect Bryse Wilson along with Jansen Junk -- who sits at No. 13 on MLB Pipeline's list of Milwaukee's top prospects -- and waiver claim Tyson Miller on top of returning starters who pitched parts of last year in the Minors, like Ethan Small (MLB Pipeline's No. 11 Brewers prospect) and Jason Alexander.
Of the competitors for back end spots, Houser and Wilson notably are out of options.
"We worked really hard to just continue to add depth to our staff and our rotation," Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said. "Craig [Counsell, Milwaukee's manager] likes to refer to a lot of these guys as 'out-getters' wherever we use them. But the addition of somebody like Wade Miley is just a nice, stabilizing presence for our staff.
"Last year in particular when we had a number of injuries, those really affected us, and we saw that down the stretch manifest itself. So we feel like adding as many options as we have that can provide length is a really good thing for our team."
Miley's agreement with the Brewers reportedly includes incentives for durability. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, the pitcher gets $3.5 million in 2023 and a $10 million mutual option for ’24 with a $1 million buyout, plus an extra $150,000 for 75 innings in the first season of the deal, then $350,000 for 100 innings, $500,000 for 125 innings and another $500,000 for 150 innings.
Before finalizing their agreement with Miley, the Brewers were the only team in the Majors yet to sign a Major League free agent this offseason. Their only other big league free agent deal this winter went to outfielder Blake Perkins, who has never played in the Majors and was a Minor League free agent.
The Miley announcement could be just the start this week for the Brewers, who face a Friday deadline to exchange figures with their arbitration-eligible players. That is a particularly long list this year: starters Burnes, Woodruff and Lauer; relievers Devin Williams and Hoby Milner; shortstop Willy Adames; first baseman Rowdy Tellez; catcher Victor Caratini; and infielders Luis Urías and Keston Hiura are all arbitration-eligible and remain unsigned for next season.
If they remain unsigned at Friday's deadline, the sides would exchange one-year salary proposals in the next step ahead of potential arbitration hearings.
"We’ve had some early conversations," Arnold said. "Obviously we hope those all end in happy settlements; we just know that’s part of the business. We’re hoping to come to several agreements over the next couple of days, and we’re working through that process all this week. We’ll certainly be really busy."
Are any multiyear extensions possible?
"Look, we’re open to it," Arnold said. "As we’ve discussed, it’s a two-way street on those conversations. But absolutely we would be open to something like that."