Miranda - Miley Discussion Thread
resistance (to SSI) is futile

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1) MegaProps to DiPoto for being completely unconcerned about justifying himself on the Smith-Elias deal.  When circumstances changed for him, and the landscape became different, DiPoto even flipped Miley back for a player who -- apples to apples Obviously -- comes off to be 50% of his original investment.  He didn't even try to create plausible deniability.  I love it.

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2) Just at a glance, Miranda:

  • Is from Cuba
  • Is very early in his career but is ML-ready
  • Has a 92-95 fastball
  • Has a slider with excellent speed delta (like, -12 MPH or something)
  • Throws a third pitch, a split, a lot of the time, so is a 3-pitch guy

That reminds you of some recent Mariner, though Miranda is not 50 major league starts into his own player development.  

Here's a visual look at a fairly Elias-like slider.

Actually, Dr. D has always been partial to quick lefties with three pitches and a split.  Has been since Chuck Finley, and we tripled down on that when Jeff Fassero got here.  The arsenal is visually appealing, is all we mean.

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3) NOT denying that Ariel Miranda :: Roenis Elias might not be Kyle Seager :: Dustin Ackley.  Haven't even looked at Miranda beyond the 2 minutes to get the comments thread up.  Presumably, DiPoto thinks Miranda::Elias IS a Seager-Ackley situation.  He had at least four teams bidding on Miley, and DiPoto selected this as his favorite return.

So, Dr. D will duck his head and hope for a King Leonydas-level grok on JeDi's part.  His first impression is that Miranda throws his pitches with more focused conviction than Elias did.  Perhaps JeDi was thinking something along these lines.  Dunno.

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4) Miranda is not in BaseballHQ's books on any level.

In AAA, Miranda was very, very consistent from one month to the next.  As a starting pitcher, he fanned 8.0 men per nine, walked 2.5, gave up a mid-range 1.1 homers.  This is dissimilar to Elias' pout-fest when he was in AAA.

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5) The M's website gives the rotation as Felix-Zeus-LeBLANC-Iwakuma-TBA, with Taijuan coming on strong and Karns to the DL.   Perhaps in the last few hours here we'll haul in a TOR.  'twould be okay by SSI.

Wade LeBlanc, cool.  I think I like him better now than after he made his big splash, like his chances to run a 110 ERA+ better.  Never did think he was going to win 200 games from here :- ) but certainly wouldn't rule out his chances to win 50.  

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6) The O's called up Miranda to relieve from the left side -- first outing, 2.0 IP, 0 BB, 4K, but four hits.  Could be he'll make a difference in 7th innings when two lefty bats are coming up - or could be the M's will throw him a start before Taijuan gets here?  Would love to get a look.

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7) Either DiPoto is doing his bosses a solid, clearing $$$ he didn't have to .... or else DiPoto has a salaried incoming later today.  Would guess the former, but.... July 31 only comes once a year :- )

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Enjoy,

Dr D

Comments

1

It's cleared up next year as well but any acquisition of monetary cost would probably cost next year too.  I guess there's little value in pointing it out.

That the M's (coaches) saw his MLB appearance might mean something.  Again, not likely much difference.

His release points are like a rainbow of separated colors, which...over 2 innings might not mean much.  Or might help explain giving up 3 runs on a single followed by 3 2b just 1 out into his 3rd inning (5th-7th).

2

Which are probably representative.  In the Cuban league, they value that change of arm slot as being necessary deception.  Pedro used to love it too.

A pitcher who can vary his arm slot and still locate, it's a big plus for him.

3

If his slot was readable and the M's caught on to it in order to exploit it,  maybe it's something they work on with him and maybe it improves pitch effectiveness.  The 4 consecutive hits ending his outing doesn't necessarily mean any of that but the breakdown seemed to essentially be that the more over the top he pitched the faster the pitch would be.  About 1" further from his left was a change every time.  It's slim with so little data, just a thought of some possibility.  Maybe you're right and the release points segregated by pitch type help deception.

Even if it's not that situation, he's another lefty with more velocity, longer control, less monetary commitment (unless he breaks out big into arbitration eligibility) and a greater possible impact.  It's a very positive move in my estimation. 

So far the moves are looking like they're about next year and later, which makes sense I just have been hoping for this year as well.

4
The Other Billy Zoom's picture

Can't find even die-hard O's bloggers giving Miranda any kudos ... most don't think much of Miley, either.

You heard the writing on the wall on Thursday ... Miley was on the way out as it appeared DePoet had shown his hand too soon.

Nonetheless, after Saturday's go, you would think Miley would bring more than warm spit from four teams.

Of course, maybe there weren't four teams interested.

Even Miami, first team who "appeared" interested in Miley as a back end starter, musta had something ... but decided not to give it up after earlier pitching deal.

So, DePoet got something, we won't be sure what ... the Miranda warning says he will be in Tacoma until September.

Needing the money for cash out on a bigger deal in the next few hours makes a lot of sense.

At this point, I'll call Miranda "The Phantom" and hope for the best.

zoom

6

He's due almost $9 million next year plus a $12 million option after that, so he's underpaid for a couple of years but not by a ton so he wasn't going to fetch a top prospect. Miranda seems about as good as could be expected.

7

Still kind of a wildcard  to get a start or two.

I think the DiPoto Theorem which says that relievers are like so much spaghetti (Diaz, etc. excluded) should be amended; it should now include RP's AND starters 4-5. 

He will indeed roll the dice.  So far those rolls have basically come up "Bleh." I take it back, Martin was a winner.  But the pitcher rolls have basically shuffled the roster but not (yet) changed the equation.  

DiPoto obviously likes this guy.  Who am I to argue.

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For a while there it looked like the triumph of sabermetrics over scouting, with all those 90-MPH relievers coming through and our staff ERA touching 120 for awhile.  Now it looks like tossing a spaghetti clump back over your shoulder with your left hand while reading the newspaper (sorry, reading your iPad) with your right hand.

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