Cleveland Guardians trade Owen Miller to Brewers for cash or player to be named later

With the signing of catcher Mike Zunino, the Cleveland Guardians had to make room on their 40-man roster, and Owen Miller was the casualty.

The Guardians have traded the infielder to the Milwaukee Brewers for a player to be named later or cash considerations, ending a tenure that had its share of ups and downs. Miller, 26, came out of the gate on fire last season, hitting .400 in the month of April, with nine doubles in his first 50 at-bats.

It seemed like Miller was really turning a corner in his development and could potentially be a viable long-term option as a right-handed bat at first base, but the wheels fell off pretty quickly after that blistering start. Miller would only hit .222 the rest of the way, with a rough .278 on-base percentage and 81 strikeouts in 374 at-bats. In 674 total plate appearances with Cleveland over the past two seasons, Miller hit .231/.283/.338 with ten home runs, 34 doubles, 69 RBI, and a 77 OPS+.

And with the recent signing of Josh Bell to a two-year deal and the rest of the Guardians infield being pretty well locked up, Miller quickly found himself without much of a role on the roster.

Miller was of course part of the 2020 mega deal with the Padres that sent Mike Clevinger from Cleveland for what has turned into quite a haul for the Guardians. Miller, Cal Quantrill, Josh Naylor, Gabriel Arias, Austin Hedges, and Joey Cantillo were all part of that deal, and aside from Cantillo who has yet to see the majors, all of them have had some sort of impact on this team.

As strictly a right-handed platoon bat, Miller could very well carve out a nice career. The Guardians just didn't have the time to see how that notion might play itself out.