Tigers sign Shelby Miller to one-year deal

The Tigers’ holiday shopping for pitching continued Friday with a last-minute deal. The team signed veteran right-hander Shelby Miller to a one-year, $3 million contract with a $4.25 million club option for 2025.

The contract includes up to $1,175,000 in performance bonuses for 2024 and '25: $100,000 each for 50, 55 and 60 games pitched, $150,000 for 70 games pitched and $150,000 each for 40, 45, 50 and 55 games finished. Miller can also boost his '25 base salary by up to $1.4 million in performance incentives in '24: $100,000 each for 50, 55 and 60 games pitched, $150,000 each for 65 and 70 games pitched and $200,000 each for 40, 45, 50 and 55 games finished.

“Detroit was one of the teams that was kind of after me from the beginning, showed some of the most interest,” Miller said. “I like what they’re doing over here as a team and as a group. And honestly, my wife’s from this area, so it was kind of an easy choice. We’re all excited to come over here.”

The 33-year-old Miller -- a 2009 first-round Draft pick by St. Louis and a starter with the Cardinals, Braves, D-backs and Rangers -- enjoyed a career renaissance of sorts last season out of the Dodgers' bullpen, allowing just 19 hits over 42 innings with a 3-0 record, one save and a 1.71 ERA.

Miller’s campaign was interrupted around midseason by a neck issue that led to a stint on the 60-day injured list. He returned at the end of August and tossed 12 scoreless innings on seven hits with one walk and 11 strikeouts down the stretch. While Miller primarily worked in single-inning stints, he posted a half-dozen two-inning performances, including his final outing of the regular season and his lone postseason appearance, tossing two scoreless innings with three strikeouts against the Diamondbacks in Game 1 of the NL Division Series.

“He has the pure stuff to pitch at the very back of our bullpen,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said. “He has the versatility to pitch multiple innings if we need him to. He has the mentality to do whatever [manager] A.J. [Hinch] needs to help us win.”

Though Miller boasted a wide arsenal during his starting days, he has whittled his repertoire out of the bullpen to a 93-94 mph fastball, a mid-80s split-finger and a slider. After throwing more sliders than fastballs during brief MLB stints in 2022, Miller flipped the ratio last season, throwing nearly 60 percent fastballs. Opponents hit just .110 off his heater with a 92.9 mph average exit velocity, according to Statcast.

“I’ve always had a really good fastball,” Miller said. “I’ve got really good extension and I release it from a really low point, so it’s kind of just a funky delivery. I was so fastball dominant my whole career, to just be able to have secondary pitches, it makes your fastball a lot better. I get a lot of swings and misses and takes just right down the middle of the zone just because of the way it comes out and kind of has that life. But the splitter definitely plays a big role in being able to tunnel pitches off that.”

Miller’s split became an effective out pitch for him last season, drawing a 30.7 percent whiff rate, 26.1 percent putaway rate, .136 batting average allowed and 82.1 mph average exit velocity.

“He has another weapon to face right-handed hitters and left-handed hitters, and it adds a new wrinkle to our pen,” Harris said of the split. “His mix is very different than the other mixes we have in the pen. It gives [Hinch and pitching coach Chris Fetter] more options when they’re trying to match up in-game and trying to piece together a win.”

Miller’s 19 walks in 42 innings were a concern, but 15 of them came in his first 16 outings, including a pair of three-walk innings. He posted a 23-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his final 22 innings.

“If you go back and watch his outings from the moment he was reinstated from the injured list through the end of the season and through the postseason, he was dominant,” Harris said. “That can help our bullpen, so we’re excited to add that type of arm and person to our pen.”

Harris has a brief history with Miller, having signed him to a Minor League deal in June 2022 during Harris' final months as the Giants' general manager. Harris had joined the Tigers by the time San Francisco called up Miller that September. The Dodgers signed Miller to a one-year, $1.5 million deal last winter.

Miller becomes the second veteran signed to the Tigers' bullpen this month, joining left-hander Andrew Chafin. He’ll give Detroit another right-handed middle relief option alongside Will Vest and Beau Brieske in support of late-inning relievers Jason Foley and Alex Lange. The Tigers' righty relief corps returns mainly intact, but veteran righty José Cisnero became a free agent at season’s end and remains unsigned. Brendan White had an up-and-down rookie season, but Detroit likes his pitches and potential.

An effective Miller could allow the Tigers to explore different uses for Brieske, who debuted with Detroit as a starter in 2022 before moving into the bullpen last season, as well as 2017 first-round pick Alex Faedo. Both are likely to stretch out as starters in Spring Training.