Brewers sign right-hander Shelby Miller to minor-league deal

MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers have added to their pitching depth, signing veteran right-hander Shelby Miller to a minor league contract Friday.

The 28-year-old Miller signed a one-year, $2 million deal with Rangers last winter. He was released on July 4 after going 1-3 with an 8.59 ERA in 19 appearances, including eight starts. In 44 innings, Miller gave up 58 hits and 29 walks for a 1.977 WHIP.

“It’s another opportunity to see if we can ‘unlock’ someone who clearly has a lot of talent,” Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “We’ll allow him to go to Triple-A … get some time in down there, and then we’ll see if he can help us at the big league level.”

Miller was selected with the 19th overall pick by St. Louis in the 2009 MLB draft. He made his major league debut a little more than three years later, pitching two scoreless innings in a 6-2 loss to the Mets on Sept. 5, 2012.

He went on to appear in 69 games for the Cardinals, starting 63. He had a 26-18 record and 3.33 ERA when he was dealt to Atlanta for Jason Heyward and Jordan Walden following the 2014 season.

Miller was named to the NL All-Star team in 2015. He was dealt to Arizona after the season and, after going 2-9 with a 7.14 ERA in the first half of 2016, was optioned to Triple-A Reno, returning to the Diamondbacks at the end of August.

Miller had an elbow injury four starts into his 2017 season and had Tommy John surgery. He returned last June and made just five appearances for the Diamondbacks because of more injury issues and was non-tendered after the season.

Miller is the second former Rangers pitcher signed by the Brewers in the last month. Milwaukee signed left-hander Drew Smyly on July 1. Smyly has made two starts for San Antonio, going 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA and 10 strikeouts in nine innings.

Both moves are low-risk propositions for the Brewers, who will only be responsible for the pro-rated portion of the veteran’s minimum salary if either makes it back to the majors, with the Rangers responsible for the remainder of their salaries.