Did The D-Backs Trade Wade Miley Because He Wouldn't Give Up Gluten?

The Arizona Diamondbacks traded starting pitcher Wade Miley to the Boston Red Sox last week, and based on recent comments made by Miley, he may have been moved in part because of his refusal to adhere to the team's silly dietary restrictions.

According to AZ Central, there were rumors swirling that the Diamondbacks were unhappy with Miley's physical preparations, and those rumors eventually reached Miley. But what exactly were the Diamondbacks unhappy with? Based on Miley's latest comments, it seems like they were mad at him for not going on a gluten-free diet:

Miley says his diet was something he and the organization "head-butted" about at some point in the year.

"After a while, they left me alone," he said. "But it was always that elephant in the room."

Miley said he didn't want to go into specifics about his diet but did make passing reference about not being gluten free. He said he wished the team were more willing to tailor its approach toward individuals rather than having everyone doing the same things.

Unless Miley suffers from celiac disease, it would have been incredibly dumb for the Diamondbacks to insist that he adhere to a gluten-free diet. That is because people who reside in the "Gluten is bad for you!" camp are basically the dietary version of anti-vaccination nutjobs. Gluten is fine, and a pitcher should not be traded away just because he wants to keep eating it. If this is really what happened, the Diamondbacks are very stupid.

Update: Diamondbacks general manager Dave Stewart has released the following statement:

"Wade Miley's diet was never once discussed in our internal decision-making process prior to the trade or since. We made a baseball decision that we felt was in the best interest of the D-backs and we wish Wade nothing but the best."

[ AZ Central]