Brewers News: Brewers Trade For Wisconsin Native Owen Miller, DFA Mario Feliciano

Brewers GM Matt Arnold has made yet another trade, this time acquiring infielder Owen Miller from the Cleveland Guardians.

This is a much smaller trade than Arnold's other recent move, acquiring William Contreras and two pitchers for Esteury Ruiz in a three-team blockbuster, but it adds yet another position player to the Brewers roster.

The Brewers announced the trade on Wednesday afternoon, acquiring utility infielder Owen Miller from the Guardians in exchange for a player to be named later or cash.

In order to make room for Owen Miller on the 40 man roster, catching prospect Mario Feliciano was designated for assignment. The Brewers will hope he passes through waivers and remains in the organization.

Owen Miller is a native of Mequon, WI and was drafted by the Padres in the 3rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft. He was sent to Cleveland as part of the Mike Clevinger trade in 2020. Miller has spent each of the last two seasons earning big league service time and has 615 MLB ABs to his name.

In his big league time, Miller is a career .231/.283/.338 hitter with a 77 OPS+. His numbers took a step forward in 2022 with more playing time. In 130 games this past season, Miller hit .243/.301/.351 with 26 doubles, six homers, and an 89 OPS+.

Miller isn't a power hitter but he is able to find the gaps pretty well and is versatile defensively. He has played all four infield positions for the Guardians and will likely do a lot of the same for the Brewers.

Miller is fast, ranking in the 90th percentile in sprint speed and an excellent defender, ranking in the 91st percentile in Outs Above Average. He was able to cut down his strikeout rate in 2022 and made a lot more contact.

He doesn't hit the ball that hard but he runs well, can play multiple positions, and isn't a free agent until 2028. Miller likely helps replace Jace Peterson, who departed in free agency this offseason, signing a two year deal with Oakland.

Miller is a right handed hitter, same as Mike Brosseau and Keston Hiura, and all three fill sort of the same role although Hiura has less defensive versatility. It's unlikely all three can co-exist on the same 26 man roster.

Mario Feliciano is removed from the 40 man as a consequence of this move. With William Contreras under team control for the next 5 years and Feliciano apparently not making as much progress as the Brewers had hoped, he gets passed over and loses his 40 man roster spot.