ESPN reporting Cubs sign Wade Miller

[Blueheart05]

I think Miller's convinced that he'll be able to pitch effectively this season which is why he was willing to sign without a saftey net (an option). From what he and his agent said last night, on the radio, he has basically been assured of a spot in the rotation; so don't expect to see him out of the bullpen. Of note, he has already started throwing the ball 60 feet without pain. Perhaps, he is overestimating his ability to come back from this surgery but it seems he's staking his current (and future) standing on doing well enough to get a longterm deal. Only time will tell.

 

BH05 I hope you're right because Mr. Hendry seems to have a lot of money tied up in injured pitchers.

 

I wonder if Wood is throwing the ball 60 feet without pain? If not I would have to assume he would be behind Miller in rehabbing his shoulder and that would be June at the earliest.

 

It was reported in the paper that the Cubs believe Wood is a month ahead of Miller.

 

''Our doctors say that Miller is on a similar track to Woody,'' Hendry said. ''If Woody is ready to pitch April 1 or April 15, then Miller could pitch in the big leagues as soon as maybe May 1 or May 15. He's thought to be a month behind Woody.

 

''We don't know exactly when either one will be ready. Those are just possible return dates. But we are still hoping that if Kerry isn't ready the first week of April, which he may be, that he will be able to pitch a week or so after that.''

[A New Era]

I do think it's ironic that a guy that might not even pitch one inning for the Cubs gets 1M and that's ok but some guy like Mabry gets 1M and that's a bad thing. I'm not a big Mabry fan but at least he'll be able to contribute while IMO the best you can hope for out of Miller is a Williamson like performance for a month or two tops. I'd just rather spend this money on some impact players and forget the "bargins" every stinking year.

 

Miller was hurt and signed with Boston and pitched how much? He gets hurt with the same injury or close it and is out for almost the whole year. I just don't see the value of this. Yeah, there's upside but a very slight chance of it while still spending 1M on a guy that is going to be on the DL. I hope I'm wrong but I'm sick of these kinds of deals and once again Hendry is clinging to an injury ridden player thus keeping his "We had injuries" theme to continue when they fail.

 

 

You forget, at the end of 2004 he opted not to get the surgery, and just rest and recovery. But in at the end of 2005 he opted for the surgery which other pitchers like Morris had and bounced back. It is very realistic to assume we may get 2 MONTHS of quality starts from this guy in months like August/September when it can REALLY make a difference. Thumbs up on this signing.

[jtownie]

Did Morris start right out of the gate last year or did he take until mid-April? My guess is that Wood is on a similar projection.

[CuseCubFan69]

I do think it's ironic that a guy that might not even pitch one inning for the Cubs gets 1M and that's ok but some guy like Mabry gets 1M and that's a bad thing. I'm not a big Mabry fan but at least he'll be able to contribute while IMO the best you can hope for out of Miller is a Williamson like performance for a month or two tops. I'd just rather spend this money on some impact players and forget the "bargins" every stinking year.

 

Miller was hurt and signed with Boston and pitched how much? He gets hurt with the same injury or close it and is out for almost the whole year. I just don't see the value of this. Yeah, there's upside but a very slight chance of it while still spending 1M on a guy that is going to be on the DL. I hope I'm wrong but I'm sick of these kinds of deals and once again Hendry is clinging to an injury ridden player thus keeping his "We had injuries" theme to continue when they fail.

 

 

You forget, at the end of 2004 he opted not to get the surgery, and just rest and recovery. But in at the end of 2005 he opted for the surgery which other pitchers like Morris had and bounced back. It is very realistic to assume we may get 2 MONTHS of quality starts from this guy in months like August/September when it can REALLY make a difference. Thumbs up on this signing.

 

I hope you're right too TGB but it's not just the surgury but maybe he has been doing something wrong mechanically that caused this problem. Did he fix that too or was it because of another reason is why his shoulder was hurt.

 

Also, I still don't think Morris has really bounced back from his surgury to the form he once had.

[A New Era]

I do think it's ironic that a guy that might not even pitch one inning for the Cubs gets 1M and that's ok but some guy like Mabry gets 1M and that's a bad thing. I'm not a big Mabry fan but at least he'll be able to contribute while IMO the best you can hope for out of Miller is a Williamson like performance for a month or two tops. I'd just rather spend this money on some impact players and forget the "bargins" every stinking year.

 

Miller was hurt and signed with Boston and pitched how much? He gets hurt with the same injury or close it and is out for almost the whole year. I just don't see the value of this. Yeah, there's upside but a very slight chance of it while still spending 1M on a guy that is going to be on the DL. I hope I'm wrong but I'm sick of these kinds of deals and once again Hendry is clinging to an injury ridden player thus keeping his "We had injuries" theme to continue when they fail.

 

 

You forget, at the end of 2004 he opted not to get the surgery, and just rest and recovery. But in at the end of 2005 he opted for the surgery which other pitchers like Morris had and bounced back. It is very realistic to assume we may get 2 MONTHS of quality starts from this guy in months like August/September when it can REALLY make a difference. Thumbs up on this signing.

 

I hope you're right too TGB but it's not just the surgury but maybe he has been doing something wrong mechanically that caused this problem. Did he fix that too or was it because of another reason is why his shoulder was hurt.

 

Also, I still don't think Morris has really bounced back from his surgury to the form he once had.

 

 

We're only paying Miller $1mil. So all he has to do in my book, is give us some critical wins late in the year when (possibly) Wood is not pitching. If he gives us more, then color me very happy.

[YearofDaCubs]

I do think it's ironic that a guy that might not even pitch one inning for the Cubs gets 1M and that's ok but some guy like Mabry gets 1M and that's a bad thing. I'm not a big Mabry fan but at least he'll be able to contribute while IMO the best you can hope for out of Miller is a Williamson like performance for a month or two tops. I'd just rather spend this money on some impact players and forget the "bargins" every stinking year.

 

Miller was hurt and signed with Boston and pitched how much? He gets hurt with the same injury or close it and is out for almost the whole year. I just don't see the value of this. Yeah, there's upside but a very slight chance of it while still spending 1M on a guy that is going to be on the DL. I hope I'm wrong but I'm sick of these kinds of deals and once again Hendry is clinging to an injury ridden player thus keeping his "We had injuries" theme to continue when they fail.

 

 

You forget, at the end of 2004 he opted not to get the surgery, and just rest and recovery. But in at the end of 2005 he opted for the surgery which other pitchers like Morris had and bounced back. It is very realistic to assume we may get 2 MONTHS of quality starts from this guy in months like August/September when it can REALLY make a difference. Thumbs up on this signing.

I don't know. Morris came back and was really effective in the beginning but there is no denying the loss of velocity on his pitches as well as the decline towards the end of the year. It was brought to my attention that Morris has had problems with dead arm but still. Adjustments for a pitcher is necessary when he loses 4-5mph on his fastball. I would love to have a healthy Wade Miller here but I'm pretty sketpical on what we will be getting.

[A New Era]

It's not like we signed him for 3/$13 or anything. We paid $1 mil and an extra $1 mil if he makes tons of starts. I still hold firm that the purpose of this signing was to have someone to fall back on when we are hopefully in the heat of a race near the end of the season. At worst we'll get a handful of good stars from him (instead of rusch/willams,ect. .) at best he could start 20 games and win more than half of them.

[neely crenshaw]

i do like the signing. my only problem is that this is exactly the type of signing hendry looks for? when was the last guy he signed or trdaed for that was 100% solid?

just look at this year- we are hoping pierre and jones bounce back to previous performances. certainly neither is at their peak and could be on the downslide.

miller-we all know

bullpen is always a gamble. he still has yet to get a proven closer. we got lucky dempster worked out.

the past-

williamson

rusch- 1-11 or something like that

nomar

burnitz

barrett- came off an awful year

lee- close but he was not the hitter he is now- far from being a stud except on defense

rameriz- horrible d, a year and half of terrible o

 

i do not mind filling in with a gamble but it seems like every single move he makes is a gamble. i realize that in some way, shape, or form all moves are gambles but when you spend 100 mil on a team you should be able to add someone you do not have to hope is healthy or returns to form!

[Blueheart05]

i do like the signing. my only problem is that this is exactly the type of signing hendry looks for? when was the last guy he signed or trdaed for that was 100% solid?

just look at this year- we are hoping pierre and jones bounce back to previous performances. certainly neither is at their peak and could be on the downslide.

miller-we all know

bullpen is always a gamble. he still has yet to get a proven closer. we got lucky dempster worked out.

the past-

williamson

rusch- 1-11 or something like that

nomar

burnitz

barrett- came off an awful year

lee- close but he was not the hitter he is now- far from being a stud except on defense

rameriz- horrible d, a year and half of terrible o

 

i do not mind filling in with a gamble but it seems like every single move he makes is a gamble. i realize that in some way, shape, or form all moves are gambles but when you spend 100 mil on a team you should be able to add someone you do not have to hope is healthy or returns to form!

 

 

Lots of teams do this. The Cardinals found Eckstein on the trash heap, signed Carpenter when he was unable to pitch, Spivey is coming back from injury, and Ponson is battling personal issues. that's just a tip of the iceberg

[Soul]

This is basically the exact same thing we did with Dempster.

 

Signed a guy who had, at some point in his career, pitched well and was dirt cheap and rehabbing.

 

This is a good signing. A million dollars to the Cubs is akin to buying a soda from a vending machine for most of us. Would you drop $1 into a vending machine if you were really thristy but unsure of what would come out? Of course you would. Even if it was something undrinkable---you could just toss it and lose minimal $$$.

 

Well----the Cubs are really, really thirsty for pitching. Especially starters.

 

Pretty much no risk, and possible reward. Can't beat that.