Shelby Miller was a Diamondback in Little League too
Shelby Miller’s baseball life has come full circle.
On Tuesday, the 25 year-old right-hander was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of a flurry of moves at the Winter Meetings
The deal was pretty surprising on a couple different levels. First and foremost, Arizona had already signed Zack Greinke to a six-year contract worth $206 million, leaving us to assume their major moves were behind them. We were also stunned to learn they parted with Dansby Swanson, the No. 1 draft in the 2015 draft, in addition to top prospect Aaron Blair and major-league outfielder Ender Inciarte..
[Hot Stove Digest: Nationals have discussed Carlos Gonzalez trade]
That’s a huge haul for a really good, but perhaps not yet great pitcher.
Diamondbacks general manager Dave Stewart says he doesn’t regret it though. He says he has his sights sets on winning right now, but perhaps it was destiny driving the deal all along and Stewart could do nothing to stop it even if he wanted to.
We say that because it turns out that Miller was a Diamondback long before he put on a big league uniform with the St. Louis Cardinals or Atlanta Braves. You could even say his major-league dreams were shaped as a Diamondback, because that’s the jersey he wore as a Little League player in Texas.
Once you put on a Diamondbacks uniform, it’s inevitable you’ll wear it again. Though as Chris Landers of MLB’s Cut 4 notes, the only disappointment is the uniform he’s wearing in that old photo is not among the eight new jerseys unveiled by Arizona as part of the D-Back Evolution.
[Elsewhere: Former No. 1 pick Mark Appel included in Astros deal for Ken Giles]
Although this uniform doesn’t look too bad here.
It’s also worth noting Miller seemed to be more focused on hitting during his Little League days. Obviously he didn’t know then what we all know now, and that’s someday starting pitchers will earn $1 million per start. That’s essentially the deal new teammate Zack Greinke signed last week, and now it’s something for Miller to shoot for too.
BLS H/N: Cut 4
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
