Chicago Cubs Rumors: Is Andrew Miller on the Cubs radar?

If you have been following the MLB off-season at all, specifically the Chicago Cubs, you know there have been reports of the Cubs pursuing a “top closer.”

There was also reports initially, of the Yankees potentially shopping Andrew Miller, this was even before the acquisition of Aroldis Chapman. Would the Cubs really interested, and is there a match there? History would say so.

The Cubs were originally interested in Miller during last year’s free agency when he opted to sign with the Yankees on a four-year contract, worth $36 million dollars.

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Miller does have a history with Theo Epstein, as it was Epstein who originally turned Miller into a reliever.

Since becoming a reliever, Miller has been one of the most dominant arms in the game. His FIPS, xFIPS, and ERAs have all been at or near 2.00 since converting, which is just an insane number.

According to Fangraphs, Miller is the 13th most valuable pitcher in baseball, according to Win Probability Added (WPA). Take that to current closer, Hector Rondon, who has been very good in his own right, and he is the 27th most valuable arm in baseball by WPA.

Both are very good, but it appears Miller would indeed be an upgrade.

Even Bruce Levine reported that the Cubs are “hell-bent” on deepening the bullpen and mentioned that Miller could be the club’s final piece.

One of the problems could be that the Yankees could be looking for young starting pitching in return, which the Cubs may not have enough to give, but rather, they may be able to find a match on young positional talent.

If you’re the Cubs, where do you draw the line?

This is just a closer, after all, and their values range. Take Craig Kimbrel, the Red Sox gave away some very good prospects to get him, whereas the Yankees gave up some minor league depth to acquire Chapman.

It will certainly be interesting to see if there is any smoke to these rumors, and Miller would certainly be a splash. At this point, though, there really is no reason for the Yankees to shop Miller, but if the opportunity is there, then the Cubs should certainly jump on it.