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The New York Yankees made Andrew Miller an offer he couldn’t refuse. If they didn’t, Miller might be wearing a Boston Red Sox uniform.
Miller, whom the Red Sox traded to the Baltimore Orioles last July, signed a four-year, $36 million contract with the Yankees in free agency over the offseason. The 29-year-old left-hander said Wednesday he strongly considered a reunion with Boston before taking his new deal with New York.
“I knew (the Red Sox) better than anybody,” Miller said Wednesday in Tampa, according to MLB.com. “They were in it. I know it’s hard for everybody to keep straight what it was, but they made a heck of a run at it. It just so happened that I had a better offer here and it’s something that fit me better I thought.
“Hindsight is always 20-20, so you can talk about it later, but it wasn’t for lack of effort or them making a bad offer. They certainly made an impressive offer. If I had taken it, it certainly wouldn’t have looked bad for me. This seemed like a better fit, with the total package.”
Miller was excellent for the Red Sox after converting from a starter into a full-time reliever in 2012. He suffered an injury during Boston’s 2013 World Series campaign, but he returned in 2014 to have a career year.
The Red Sox traded Miller to the O’s in exchange for left-handed pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez — it’s looking like a good deal for the Sox, too — but Boston definitely showed interest in re-signing the veteran reliever before New York came over the top in early December.
“There was a lot of talk,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said Wednesday of Boston’s effort to re-sign Miller. “But as the No. 1 left-hander on the market, he was going to have a number of options, which was the case.”
Miller posted a 2.02 ERA, a 0.80 WHIP and 14.9 strikeouts per nine innings last season in 73 regular-season appearances split between Boston and Baltimore.
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
