The Atlanta Braves traded right-hander Shelby Miller in exchange of outfielder Ender Inciarte, right-hander Aaron Blair, and shortstop Dansby Swanson from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
According to ESPN, the Arizona Diamondbacks need another veteran starter to partner with Zack Greinke on top of their rotation. They are probably being impatient to wait and see if they could acquire Mike Leake or another free agent. Tony La Russa, Chief Baseball Officer for the Arizona Diamondbacks loves veteran starters and Miller is a young veteran.
Miller's command remains unstable. He ranked 64th among 79 eligible starters in walk rate that prevents him from being a No.1 or No. 2 starter at that time, but he has consistently outperformed his FIP. This is probably due to his ability to produce soft contact and he ranked 17th in "Well-Hit-Average," which is the percentage of balls viewed as hard hit.
Miller is considered to be an upgrade over the starters that the Arizona Diamondbacks ran out in its last year's rotation. La Russa and Dave Stewart did not believe Blair was prepared to make an impact in 2016.
Inciarte, on the other hand, is a talented young outfielder who played over 115 games as a starter. He hits .303/.338/.408 last season in 524 at-bats together with six home runs 27 double and stole 21 bases. He is not eligible for arbitration under club control until 2021, as reported by Fox Sports
The Arizona Diamondbacks are better now as well as in the future, but it comes with a price. The Atlanta Braves acquired the one that will help in rebuilding their team. Trading Miller seemed strange except for the return is good, though the Atlanta Braves was able to acquire a pitcher who possibly in line to lose a lot of well-pitched games over the next years.
