Cubs finalizing multi-year deal with reliever Shelby Miller after offseason elbow surgery
MESA, Ariz. — Spring training has barely begun, and the Cubs are already making moves for 2027.
They are working toward finalizing a deal with right-hander Shelby Miller, a source confirmed Friday. ESPN reported that the parties had agreed to a two-year contract worth $2.5 million.
Source confirms the Cubs are working toward a multi-year deal with reliever Shelby Miller, as @ByRobertMurray first reported. It's a move for the future – Miller is set to miss most or all of the 2026 season after undergoing offseason elbow surgery.
— Maddie Lee (@maddie_m_lee) February 13, 2026
After undergoing offseason elbow surgery, Miller, 35, is likely to miss the 2026 season, barring a condensed rehab program.
Miller was set to be a highly sought-after reliever at the trade deadline last year, after posting a 1.98 ERA for the Diamondbacks in 37 appearances and notching a career-high 10 saves.
But a few weeks before the deadline, Miller landed on the IL with a forearm injury. The Brewers, who already owned the best record in MLB but had the Cubs breathing down their necks at the time, still acquired Miller for their playoff push. But after 11 appearances, he landed on the IL again with a damaged ulnar collateral ligament.
Last season proved that when healthy, Miller could be a difference-maker in high-leverage situations. It was a new chapter in the 13-year veteran’s career.
A former first-rounder, Miller was a starting pitcher, and even earned an All-Star nod in 2015, until he had to chart a new path post-2017 Tommy John surgery. He went from swingman, to middle-inning reliever, to a trusted arm at the back-end of the bullpen.
On that journey, he made a pit stop with the Cubs in 2021. He made just three appearances and allowed seven runs in two innings.
Celebrity sighting
Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley could be spotted at the Cubs’ spring training complex on Friday, sporting a Cubs spring training hat and green track suit, zipping between fields on a golf cart with Cubs great Rick Sutcliffe and National Baseball Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell said he sat in his office for a half an hour with Barkley.
“It was great,” Counsell said. “He’s wonderful. Wonderful heart – I think that's the thing that sticks out the most. He's a big deal.”
We’ll do it live
Friday was the biggest day of live batting practice in camp so far. Seven pitchers were scheduled to throw to hitters on the backfields, including the Cubs’ top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins.
“First big-league camp, this is a camp for him to learn, listen, pick things up, improve routines from watching older players who have had a lot of success go about their business,” Counsell said. “Set up a good foundation for the future, set up a good foundation for the season, and go from there.”
WBC departures
Most of the Cubs’ World Baseball Classic participants are scheduled to leave camp on Feb. 28 to join their national teams, the Cubs said Friday. Thirteen players in the organization, including eight members of the 40-man roster, are on WBC rosters.
Right fielder Seiya Suzuki (Japan) and first baseman Jonathon Long (Chinese Taipei), a non-roster invitee, are the exceptions. Traveling to Tokyo for pool play, Suzuki is set to depart Feb. 23, and Long is expected to leave a couple days early.