Wade Miley to Red Sox: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction

Wade Miley is the latest victim of the Arizona Diamondbacks' offseason fire sale. As the team tries to rebuild coming out of the unsuccessful Kevin Towers era, new general manager Dave Stewart has dealt the 28-year-old lefty to the Boston Red Sox. The Diamondbacks confirmed the deal on Friday:

 Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi of Fox Sports first reported the deal:

Despite posting the highest ERA (4.34) of his career in a full season, Miley pitched better than that number would suggest in 2014. He had over 200 innings for the second consecutive season and set career-highs in strikeouts (183) and strikeouts per nine innings (8.2). 

Miley can be a difficult pitcher to figure out. For instance, despite the higher strikeout totals, he also walked more batters (3.4 per nine innings) and allowed more hits (207) than ever before. 

There are reasons to be optimistic about Miley. First, he is only 28 years old and under team control through 2017. Second, Miley is moving out of Chase Field, which isn't the kind of environment a pitcher without an overpowering arsenal has much chance to succeed.

Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal also noted on Twitter that the difference in Miley's ERA and fielding independent ERA over the last two years suggests some bad luck may have also played a role in the decline:

Per ESPN.com's Park Factors, the only place that was more hitter-friendly than Arizona in 2014 was Coors Field. Add to that playing for a team that finished with the worst record in baseball, and Miley may have been frustrated last year, with his performance suffering as a result. 

Using FanGraphs' wins above replacement, Miley is just two years removed from being worth 4.4 WAR and has turned into a ground-ball pitcher with more than a 50 percent rate the last two years. The Diamondbacks were right to move him now, hoping to cash in on the value before his salary goes up through arbitration over the next few seasons. 

While Miley isn't the No. 1 starter on a championship team, he's a very valuable piece to have in a rotation like Boston's. Add in the three years of control left, and suddenly he looks a lot more appealing. This is a solid reclamation project to bet on with the right pitching coach in Juan Nieves. 

Stats via Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.  

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