Outfielder Aaron Miller has advised the Dodgers he is retiring from baseball. He had initially been selected by the Colorado Rockies in 2006 out of Channelview High School in Channelview, Texas. Rather than sign with the Rockies he wanted the “college experience before turning professional” and committed to Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

Considered to be a two-way power player Miller was selected by the Dodgers in the 2009 First Year Payer Draft with the 34th overall pick, a compensation pick for losing free-agent pitcher Derek Lowe to the Atlanta Braves. In his junior year on the mound with the Baylor Bears he went 3-3 with a 5.12 ERA in 13 games, with 65 strikeouts in 51 innings. His fastball sat in the low 90’s – touching 95 – and he had a slider that was developing into a plus pitch. As a hitter, he batted .310 with 12 homers and 47 RBI in 186 at-bats.

The Dodgers had to decide whether to draft the 6’3” 205 lb. prospect as a pitcher or a hitter. The decision was made to select the 21-year old left-handed Miller as a pitcher. Logan White, the Dodgers Assistant General Manager for Scouting at that time was impressed by his athleticism and decided to go the pitching route. “Aaron Miller is certainly a big league prospect as a hitter and a player.” said White, “He hasn’t been able to focus on pitching all the time, though, and in our professional judgment we think he’s certainly got the best future to be a left-handed pitcher.”

Miller, a friend of Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw from their Texas high-school days, had worked out for the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium and indicated he would sign quickly because he wanted to “get innings under my belt.” Upon learning he was drafted by the Dodgers Miller said: “I couldn’t be more ecstatic. I was kind of crossing my fingers. I came home from L.A. yesterday and was really hoping that I would get picked up.”

Although converted pitcher Aaron Miller hit 14 home runs for the Quakes in 2014, there really wasn’t an everyday defensive position for him on the Dodgers depth chart. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

After pitching 5.2 innings with the Arizona League Dodgers Miller reported to the Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest Class A League. He experienced immediate success with the Loons pitching 30.1 innings in seven starts. He struck out 38 and posted an ERA of 2.08 and a WHIP of 1.055.

In 2010 he moved up to the Advanced-A Inland Empire 66ers and had another successful season. In 17 starts he pitched 101.2 innings with an ERA of 2.92 and a WHIP of 1.220. He struck out 99 and gave up only 76 hits.

Miller was limited to 34 innings in 2011 with the Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League posting an ERA of 3.97.

The following season he advanced to the AA-Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League. He pitched a career high 121.1 innings in 25 starts. Although he struck out 110 he walked 71 and finished the season with an ERA of 4.45. 2012 was to be his last season as a pitcher.

In 2013 he began his career as a right fielder with the Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League. “This was something the organization has been talking about for close to a year,” said former Vice President for Player Development De Jon Watson. “His velocity had dropped and he’s had some nagging injuries.
He was a two-way player coming out of Baylor when we drafted him, and we liked what we saw in his bat when he pitched. We felt this was the right time to make the switch, given his age and his desire to continue pursuing his big league dream and help this organization.”

With the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2014 Aaron Miller had a good offensive year hitting .257 with 14 home runs and 60 RBI. He took home the California League Offensive Player of the Week honors for the week ending Sunday, June 8 going 11-for-27 in seven games for the Quakes, hitting .407/.467/.852 with three home runs and three doubles during the week, with 10 RBI.

Following the regular season Miller traveled to Australia to play with the Adelaide Bite of the Australian Baseball League. In 36 games with the Bite he had 12 home runs and 33 RBI while hitting .389, all tops in the league. He was also the league leader in OBP, SLG and OPS. His 37 runs and 57 hits were both second in the league behind only Brandon Dickson his 2014 teammate from the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

For his play in Australia Miller was recognized with the Sambat Champion Slugger of the Year Award and also the Helms Award as the League MVP. He was back in the United States when the awards were presented and he accepted both of them humbly via email video.

On March 22nd came the announcement that 27-year old Aaron Miller had retired. In his video feed to his Australian teammates he expressed appreciation for his new found life time friends and thanked God for the opportunity to have “played this amazing game”.

I don’t know what the immediate future holds for Aaron Miller and his wife who accompanied him to Australia but I do know this young man who has learned so much from baseball – which is a hard teacher – will achieve success at whatever he does.

Well done Aaron and thanks for being a positive example with your hard work and dedication for so many young players who are facing the same challenges in this “amazing game.”