Pittsburgh Pirates: Four Trade Targets Based On Winning Percentage Added

Bryce Miller - WPA: +0.83

The Seattle Mariners have an overload of pitching, while the Pirates have a bare-bones starting pitching staff. It’s a skeleton crew, basically, so a trade between the Pirates and Mariners lines up well. One of the many young pitchers the M’s may be willing to listen on offers for is Bryce Miller.

Miller had a relatively solid rookie season. In 131.1 innings, Miller pitched to a 4.35 ERA, 3.98 FIP, and 1.14 WHIP. His 22.2% strikeout rate and 1.23 HR/9 were right around league average, however he limited walks very well. His 4.9% BB% was the 8th lowest rate among arms with 130+ innings pitched last season.

The 25-year-old has a smorgasbord of pitches. He threw five offerings at least 5% of the time. His most used pitch was his fastball, a mid-90s offering with nearly 2600 RPM of spin on average. It only drops 11.8 inches, making it one of the best riding fastballs in the league last season.

Miller threw both a slider and sweeper. Of the two pitches, his traditional slider was better, holding opponents to a mere .244 wOBA. Both his sinker and his change-up held opponents to a sub-.300 wOBA as well. The sweeper happened to be the worst of his five offerings. He also threw a curveball on occasion, but less than 1% of the time.

Miller had the 5th highest WPA this season among rookie starters with 100+ IP. That surpassed fellow standout rookies like Logan Allen, J.P. France, and Grayson Rodriguez. Keep in mind he posted league-average/slightly above-league-average numbers despite skipping Triple-A entirely.

Miller is easily the boldest trade candidate on today's list. However, if the M's listen to offers regarding their young starters, the Pirates need to jump on the opportunity. It could be an easy, albeit maybe not cheap, way to add a decent starter.