Arizona Diamondbacks acquire Shelby Miller from Braves for Dansby Swanson

Whether you want to believe the Indians will trade them or not, we already know they are talking to several teams about it. We know they talked to teams at the 2015 trade deadline, and we know they have talked to at least the San Francisco Giants, the Texas Rangers, and the Diamondbacks (who, admittedly, are probably out of the conversation at this point) this offseason. They also gave up another former first-round compensation pick in starting pitcher Aaron Blair. They lost so many games to get Dansby Swanson, and even though he sounds like a Padres reliever, all of the reports on him have been uniformly excellent. The Diamondbacks and Greinke finalized a six-year deal earlier Tuesday that, according to sources, is worth $206 million.

Dansby Swanson was traded to the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night, part of a package that sent Shelby Miller to the Arizona Diamondbacks and furthered deepened the Braves’ impressive farm system.

“Our ownership stepped up in allowing us to get Zack Greinke”. But I have a feeling past year is as good as it gets for him. “We needed an additional piece to our rotation”, general manager Dave Stewart said Wednesday after the swap was completed.

“And quite frankly we think that it’s time to try to take it to the next level”, he said. The 20-year-old Speier has a 2.34 ERA in 45 games – eight starts – over three minor league season.

In Miller’s favor are his age (only 25), length of remaining team control (three seasons), hard velocity, and durability.

Greinke, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award victor, had the lowest ERA in the majors in 20 years, then opted out of his contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Miller should slot into the No. 2 spot in the rotation ahead of Patrick Corbin, Rubby De La Rosa and Robbie Ray.

“You’re always in need of left-handed pitching, left-handed hitting, and in need of speed”, he said. Adding more depth to the rotation could happen, too. Traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Braves for outfielder Jason Heyward last winter, Miller posted a 3.02 ERA in 33 starts. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound native of Marietta, Ga., led Vanderbilt to consecutive College World Series appearances the past two years, helping the Commodores to their first-ever championship in 2014 and a runner-up finish this past season. He improved his stock his junior year by showing his power potential, hitting 15 home runs.

From the D-Backs’ perspective, though, giving up someone as promising as Inciarte made sense as Pollock is the superior offensive player, one who pairs well with Paul Goldschmidt in the middle of the lineup – he’s also no slouch with the glove, either, and would be the team’s best player if not for Goldschmidt. Trading Miller seemed odd unless the return was significant, but Atlanta managed to pull in a haul for a pitcher who was probably in line to lose a lot of well-pitched games over the next couple of years.

“It remains to be seen whether he or Ozzie Albies will make the transition from shortstop to second base”. Shoot, just the simple fact that the Atlanta Braves, in the year 2015, basically bought a top-100 prospect from another major league baseball team is absolutely absurd.