Tommy Milone was bumped to the minors after the Athletics acquired Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel earlier this month and now FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that the left-hander has asked for a trade.
Milone was hardly deserving of a demotion, posting a 3.55 ERA over 16 starts at the major league level this season. The 27-year-old southpaw was 6-0 with a 2.62 ERA over his last 11 outings prior to being sent down to Triple-A. So this was a case of the numbers game, not anything shady. While Milone understandably believes that he should be pitching in a major league rotation right now, the Athletics don’t appear likely to give him his wish.
Milone’s current predicament has ramifications beyond the obvious. He would have been eligible for arbitration for the first time this offseason had he remained in the majors all year, but his time in the minors will push that back. It’s a frustrating situation for him, but baseball is a business and you can’t blame the Athletics for building depth. They have already lost two starters, Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin, to Tommy John surgery this season.