The Detroit Falcons, having had a disastrous 1981 season, finishing last in the MGL East and losing 102 games, needed an offensive upgrade at third base. By trading two players to the Chicago Fire to get 26-year old John Miller they accomplished that, but not by a great deal, and likely at too high a price.
Miller, after a strong rookie campaign in 1979 when he had an OPS+ of 123 and put up 4.2 WAR, has proven to be a weak offensive player who strikes out far too much and doesn't put bat to ball enough to reach his strong power potential. He managed a 100 OPS+ in 1981 to improve a bit on his 1980 2.3 WAR season (2.6 WAR in 1981). He is a strong defender but certainly not an upgrade in that area over the very defensively strong Steve Goldberg, who started just 28 games at that position in 1981 and had an OPS+ of just 78. The fact is that the Falcons just never settled on a third baseman in 1981, with five different players started at least 16 games at the position, and the highest total being 49 (utility infielder Bill Hotop). Miller is a solid starter at the position. So on that level, the Falcons probably improved themselves a bit.
But in the process the Chicago Fire got a defensively gifted young catcher in Manfred de Korte (granted, he was stuck behind star starting catcher Zach D'Amico) and 23-year old outfielder Alex Martinez, who looks like he could develop into a solid starting left fielder in the WPK with good all-around tools, particularly elite speed and base-path disruption abilities. This gives the Fire a strong catching tandem (they also have a great defender and clubhouse influence in 27-year old Victor Munoz), it allows them to move budding star George Brown (who had a 2.0 WAR rookie season) back to his natural position of third base after he played mostly right field last season, with not great results.
For this Chicago team who showed signs of improvement last year and currently have the top ranked farm system in the WPK, this looks like a smart trade that should yield dividends down the line as they look to develop into a legitimate contender in the next 2-4 years.