It’s been three months since Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman were dealing out of the Yankees’ bullpen, but New York general manager Brian Cashman still has his eye on them.
According to a conversation with the New York Daily News’ John Harper, the GM is hoping for a Cubs-Indians World Series that would showcase two of this season’s best relievers. Chapman was dealt to the Cubs prior to the 2016 trade deadline, sending Chicago right-hander Adam Warren, infield prospect Gleyber Torres, and outfielders Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford to New York, while Miller came over in a trade for Cleveland outfielder Clint Frazier and a trifecta of pitching prospects.
Neither the Cubs nor the Indians could have sustained their blistering playoff runs without the dominant performances of the two relievers. Chapman has fired 4 1/3 frames between the Division and Championship Series so far, his 2.08 ERA blemished only by a blown save in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Giants’ last-minute resurgence. Elsewhere, he’s been flawless, allowing a run, a walk, and striking out nine of 18 batters faced.
Miller, meanwhile, has yet to allow a run during postseason. On the heels of a season that saw his first All-Star nomination and a 1.45 ERA over 74 1/3 innings pitched, Miller has carried the same lights-out performance through the playoffs, permitting three hits and two walks and striking out a staggering total of 17 batters in 7 2/3 frames. No matter where Indians’ manager Terry Francona deployed his right-hander — Miller has covered for the club in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth innings so far this October — he found a way to work around the opposition.
The reason Cashman is rooting for his ex-relievers to succeed in the playoffs, he told Harper, is because it justifies the high price he demanded for the pair back in July. In his words:
I want the teams that stepped up and made those trades to be rewarded for doing so. […] It would justify the action they took. I have absolutely no regrets about the deals we made — other than being in the position we were in. We did what we had to do, and hopefully everybody wins.
No comments:
Post a Comment