Orioles Acquire Jai Miller From Oakland Athletics

[Jordan Tuwiner]

http://orioles-nation.com/2012/01/03/os ... athletics/

The Orioles today announced that they have acquired OF JAI MILLER from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for cash considerations.

Miller, 26, batted .276/.368/.588 with 32 home runs, 88 RBI and 16 stolen bases without being caught in 110 games for Triple-A Sacramento in 2011. He also appeared in seven games for the A’s, going 3-for-12 with a home run.

Miller has batted .271/.351/.516 with 85 home runs and 253 RBI in 423 games at the Triple-A level in the last four seasons. His major league time also includes 20 games with the Kansas City Royals in 2010, when he batted .236/.300/.345. He made his major league debut in 2008 with the Marlins.

“Jai Miller has the power, speed, base stealing skills and good athletic ability to be an asset in our outfield as he competes for a spot on our ballclub this spring,” said Orioles Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations DAN DUQUETTE.

[Why Not?]

Also shipped Brandon Snyder to Texas for cash. Snyder comes off the 40-man. Whether Miller was on Oakland's 40-man is unclear. He had been DFAed around Christmas.

[ofahn]

Does anyone know whether he can play CF and how many (if any) options he has left?

[TuckerBlair89]

Does anyone know whether he can play CF and how many (if any) options he has left?

Jai Miller of
1 year (2011)

1 year (2011)
signed by Oakland as a free agent for 2011 (minor-league contract)
contract purchased by Oakland 9/11/11
1 year (2010)
re-signed by Florida 2/10
claimed by Oakland off waivers 4/8/10 after being DFA by Florida 4/3/10
claimed by Kansas City off waivers 4/25/10 after being DFA by Oakland 4/22/10
refused assignment by Kansas City 11/5/10
1 year (2009)
re-signed by Florida 3/09
1 year/$0.39M (2008)
contract purchased 11/20/07
renewed 3/2/08
drafted 2003 (4-113)
$0.25M signing bonus
ML service: 0.066

[birdwatcher55]

PCL figures are obviously skewed a bit but why would the A's give up on such potential?? Sounds like we added another Chris Davis

[TuckerBlair89]

PCL figures are obviously skewed a bit but why would the A's give up on such potential?? Sounds like we added another Chris Davis

Hitting 32 HR in the PCL is like hitting 20 on the East Coast haha (that's a little exaggerated, but you get the point)
This guy is an all-or-nothing type of hitter though.

[Why Not?]

Does anyone know whether he can play CF and how many (if any) options he has left?

He's been primarily a CF in the minors.

He was 16-for-16 in steals in Sacramento last year. That doesn't really mean anything, but it's still pretty impressive.

[Why Not?]

PCL figures are obviously skewed a bit but why would the A's give up on such potential?? Sounds like we added another Chris Davis

Hitting 32 HR in the PCL is like hitting 20 on the East Coast haha (that's a little exaggerated, but you get the point)
This guy is an all-or-nothing type of hitter though.

32 was good for second in PCL last year. But 179 strikeouts in 475 PAs is absolutely outrageous.

[TuckerBlair89]

PCL figures are obviously skewed a bit but why would the A's give up on such potential?? Sounds like we added another Chris Davis

Hitting 32 HR in the PCL is like hitting 20 on the East Coast haha (that's a little exaggerated, but you get the point)
This guy is an all-or-nothing type of hitter though.

32 was good for second in PCL last year. But 179 strikeouts in 475 PAs is absolutely outrageous.

yep, he is Mark Reynolds of the OF, except he actually has a good glove.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Don on Miller: "Miller is a FB only guy and his inability to handle top shelf off speed pitches is why he is 26 years old and in the minors."

[osforlife]

Miller as DH?

[Why Not?]

yep, he is Mark Reynolds of the OF, except he actually has a good glove.

I could see him being a piece on the 2012 Orioles, part of a Reimold/Miller - Chavez/Scott platoon scenario in LF. I'm not crazy about LF by committee, but if that is the approach, I would like for it to be a real platoon. I like the fact that he can play some D unlike Scott and Reimold.

[Zach]

Please tell me we don't actually have a 3 man platoon for LF. This is getting udderly ridiculous as we have 3 subpar outfielders that are taking up roster spots to give us average production. We should either have stuck with Reimold or this should signify that we are done with the Reimold experiment. Signing other teams AAAA players is not a strategy for success.

[TuckerBlair89]

Tough to fully understand what they are planning until we get to spring training ,but remember they got Jai for cash. It's not really that big of a deal.

[ofahn]

Tough to fully understand what they are planning until we get to spring training ,but remember they got Jai for cash. It's not really that big of a deal.

Depending on how much money they got from the Rangers for Snyder this may have amounted to a trade of Snyder for Miller.