Wade Miley is saying the right things.
The Boston Red Sox announced Thursday that they signed Miley to a three-year contract extension that also includes a club option for 2018. The left-hander spent the last four seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He’s now embracing the challenge of playing for a big market team in the American League.
“I’m just excited to get the commitment. Hopefully everything works out and we can win some ballgames,” Miley said Thursday during a conference call. “I’m just thrilled to be a part of Red Sox Nation and part of the organization.”
Miley had success in the desert. He went 38-35 with a 3.79 ERA in 106 games (102 starts) despite pitching in a hitter-friendly environment. The 28-year-old also has proven durable, topping 194 innings each of the last three seasons.
“I think one of the things that appealed to us about Wade is that he’s able to pitch in different ways,” Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said Thursday. “He can get misses, pitch to contact, mix and match, and do it in different ways.
“We’ll see what happens, but we’re confident Wade can be an important part of our rotation and help give us a chance to win ballgames.”
The Red Sox clearly have high expectations for Miley, who earned a National League All-Star selection and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 2012. They traded pitchers Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster — two prospects with upside — to land Miley, and the decision to avoid arbitration with a three-year pact speaks to Boston’s confidence in the young southpaw.
“The best predictor of future durability and performance is past durability and performance,” Cherington said. “When we traded for him, our full expectation was that he could be here for a while.”
Thumbnail photo via Matt Kartozian/USA TODAY Sports Images
