Written by Billy Witz at New York Times
Andrew Miller was asleep at his home on nearby Davis Island when his cellphone rang at about 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. When he realized it was not his alarm, Miller glanced at the caller ID.
“I think I knew,” Miller said.
Indeed, Cashman was calling to tell Miller that he had been traded to theCleveland Indians for four minor leaguers, including outfielder Clint Frazier, the top-rated prospect in the Indians’ system.
Miller was the second top-flight reliever the Yankees had jettisoned in the last week. The previous trade — last Monday’s deal sending Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs — had largely been expected because Chapman was set to become a free agent at the end of the season and had rebuffed the Yankees’ interest in a contract extension. The Miller trade, however, reverberated through the clubhouse as players came to the realization that the Yankees, for the first time in decades, had placed the future ahead of the present.
The closer role will now be turned over to Dellin Betances, the remaining member of the Yankees’ formerly formidable bullpen triumvirate. But even he was stunned at what the Yankees had done.
“I’m still trying to get over the fact that we traded the best of the best,” Betances said after the Yankees’ 5-3 loss to the Rays on Sunday.
What sort of impact three consecutive losses — including one on Friday with the owner Hal Steinbrenner watching from a suite — had on the decision was not clear, but Cashman went to Steinbrenner late Saturday night to get approval to deal Miller.
Cashman then moved quickly to acquire reliever Tyler Clippard from the Arizona Diamondbacks for the minor league pitcher Vicente Campos, a deal he pointed to as proof — along with the Yankees’ reacquisition of Adam Warren in the Chapman deal — that he was not giving up on this season.
To continue reading this article, click here.
