Sox' contract with Miller includes 2012 option

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Left-hander Andrew Miller's minor league deal with the Red Sox, which would pay the pitcher $1.3 million if he is in the majors, includes a team option for 2011. Notably, according to a source familiar with the deal, that option vests if Miller is assigned to another team, a clause that is meant to help ensure that the left-hander remains with the Sox if he is added to the major league roster and then needs to be sent back down to the minors, thus exposing him to waivers. A team could not claim Miller off of waivers unless it was willing to also become responsible for his salary in 2012.

"As excited as I was when I got traded here when I got the opportunity, I think I’m more excited now because of the way that my contract is structured," Miller said. "My contract is unique. ... There’s even some language in my contract so they can keep me if they send me down at some point, or they have a good shot at keeping me. It just seemed like the right fit."

For more on Miller's decision to join the Red Sox on a minor league deal this winter — at a time when he could have signed a major league deal with another club — as well as his unusual career decisions, click here [1].