With Red Thunder in the minors, it's still hard to assess the Andrew Miller trade

On July 21, 2016, after losing three games in a row, the failing New York Times Yankees traded Andrew Miller to Cleveland for a handful of magic beans. Here's how Sports Illustrated put it:

In exchange for Miller, the Yankees received a quartet of prospects: (outfielder Clint) Frazier, lefty starter Justus Sheffield and righty relievers J.P. Feyereisen and Ben Heller. Frazier ranked 21st on Baseball America’s Midseason Top 100 Prospects list, Sheffield 69th. Measured purely on those terms, by comparison the reported Jonathan Lucroy deal with the Brewers (which Lucroy vetoed) was headlined by BA’s 70th-ranked prospect, catcher Francisco Mejia, while the (Aroldis) Chapman trade was led by the 27th-ranked prospect, shortstop Gleybar Torres.

Sorry. There's a lot of rankings in there. You need an abacus. But the primal nut of it is that Miller and Chapman pitched the Cubs and Indians to the final outs of the World Series, while the Yankees are still figuring out what they received in exchange. Of course, this hasn't kept them from pronouncing the deals as grand Yankee thefts. 

For three years, the franchise - and its courtiers - have constantly driven home the notion that the two trades were massive Yankee plunders, and that we ravaged both Chicago and Cleveland of their priceless jewels. (To be transparent: I completely favored these deals, considered them long overdue.) 

But the reality is that, at least with the Miller deal, a few precincts remain open and the absentee votes have yet to be counted. 

That giant booty from Andrew Miller... where are they now?

Clint Frazier - aka Red Thunder - was yesterday dispatched to Scranton, where he will "shake off the rust" after missing most of the last season due to concussions. This was always "The Plan," according to the Yankee brain trust, even if it didn't make sense. I mean, all players must "shake off the rust" in the spring. Meanwhile, the Yankees don't plan on having Troy Tulowitzky "shake off the rust" in Scranton, even though he's missed two years. Just sayin'. What happened is that Frazier hit .130 this spring, with no homers and 15 strikeouts (in 46 ABs), and he's no Paul Blair in the OF. I still hold out hopes for this guy. But he's 24. It's not time to "shake off the rust." It's time to call the cards.

Justus Sheffield - was traded for James Paxton, so there's that. For the Mariners, Justus threw four shutout innings this spring and was sent to the minors 11 days ago. This might be a way for the lying, cheating ownership to wrangle an extra year out of his contract; all teams do this to rookies, just to screw them. He is 22 and knocking on the door. Obviously, he remains a solid prospect, maybe the one jewel from the deal.

J.P. Feyereisen - a RH bullpen lug nut - was sent to Scranton two weeks ago. He's always listed as one of the host of young arms the Yankees have assembled - such as Greg Weissert and Kaleb Ort - who stand ready to defend the realm from the Army of the Dead, (which has crashed through the Wall and is marching toward Winterfell.) He's 26.

Ben Heller - is rehabbing from surgery from last April, when a "huge" bone spur was removed from his elbow. He should return this season, but - as he said in a recent interview - the operation seems to have drastically altered his mechanics, maybe robbing him of his 90-something heat. Or maybe not. We don't know. We wish him well. He's 27.

So... what did we get? Part of James Paxton, I guess. Maybe that will prove to be enough. But if you're looking for a firm conclusion, I got nuthin.'