Re: Tuesday roster moves: Shark/Blanco down, Gorz/Miles up?

[Cubfanintheknow]

maybe miles will fall down the dugout stairs or something tonight.

 

Maybe Ryan Dempster can teach him how to jump over the railing after a Cubs win.

 

I told my 12 year old son Aaron Miles was being recalled. He sounded a lot like Ron Santo after a Brant Brown dropped flyball.

 

Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!

[Keener98]

So it looks like the Cubs are going to be playing with a 24 man roster again....Cool.

 

Fontenot we REALLY need you to get hot. Baker we really need you to start hitting.

 

 

Need him to get hot? How about he needs to stay hot. He has an OPS over 1.000 in the last week, and got robbed by that football stadium in Florida of 2 homers.

[JonJayCutler]

At least Fontenot did something good every once in a while. Now we have 3 auto-outs in the line-up again. No, wait, let me take that back. 2 auto-outs. 'Cuz you now, the pitcher might get a hit or walk.

 

I don't think Miles will be taking much PT from the Fontenot/Baker platoon.

 

Now he might be in at SS tonight with Theriot's bruise on his arm.

 

Yeah, I'd have to guess Theriot is going to get a day off. Miles at SS is pretty disappointing though. He may not hit any worse than Blanco, but he can't really play the position. I wish that thought about sending down the redundant Fuld before magically DLing Blanco, when he's the only legit backup SS on the roster.

 

Fuld is the only legit backup CF on the roster. He's not completely redundant.

 

I tend to agree about Blanco/Miles. At 2B, Miles's offensive advantage wins out because he's decent defensively there. At SS, Blanco has such a huge advantage defensively (from good to very good in his case to horrible for Miles) that Blanco is a better SS option.

 

And if they weren't going to get rid of Blanco, then they were going to have to find another person to go besides Fuld+ the pitcher that will be leaving.

 

Are we sure Miles is better than Blanco offensively?

[CubColtPacer]

At least Fontenot did something good every once in a while. Now we have 3 auto-outs in the line-up again. No, wait, let me take that back. 2 auto-outs. 'Cuz you now, the pitcher might get a hit or walk.

 

I don't think Miles will be taking much PT from the Fontenot/Baker platoon.

 

Now he might be in at SS tonight with Theriot's bruise on his arm.

 

Yeah, I'd have to guess Theriot is going to get a day off. Miles at SS is pretty disappointing though. He may not hit any worse than Blanco, but he can't really play the position. I wish that thought about sending down the redundant Fuld before magically DLing Blanco, when he's the only legit backup SS on the roster.

 

Fuld is the only legit backup CF on the roster. He's not completely redundant.

 

I tend to agree about Blanco/Miles. At 2B, Miles's offensive advantage wins out because he's decent defensively there. At SS, Blanco has such a huge advantage defensively (from good to very good in his case to horrible for Miles) that Blanco is a better SS option.

 

And if they weren't going to get rid of Blanco, then they were going to have to find another person to go besides Fuld+ the pitcher that will be leaving.

 

Are we sure Miles is better than Blanco offensively?

 

Almost completely certain. It sometimes doesn't show over small numbers of at-bats (and remember that according to BABIP and LD percentage Miles has been incredibly unlucky this season) but unless Miles has suddenly gotten a whole lot worse than he has been over the last 5 years or Blanco has gotten a whole lot better, Miles is the better overall hitter by a decent margin.

 

Miles career numbers: .284/.324/.359

Blanco's career numbers: .248/.292/.317

[Andy]

Miles HAS gotten a whole lot worse.

 

2009 OPS:

Miles .500

Blanco .620

 

Add in Andres's HUGE upgrade defensively and this is a no-brainer.

 

I know, sample size, but neither Miles nor Blanco is going to get a lot of ABs on a good team anyway, so small samples is all one should have with those two.

[rocket]

aaron miles is a joke. stupid cubs.

[JeffH]

Never should have signed him, but, now that it's done, manage the roster to keep everybody, if you can.

 

Then bring them all up in September.

 

Bad baseball players help teams win games all the time.

[dew1679666265]

Miles HAS gotten a whole lot worse.

 

2009 OPS:

Miles .500

Blanco .620

 

Add in Andres's HUGE upgrade defensively and this is a no-brainer.

 

I know, sample size, but neither Miles nor Blanco is going to get a lot of ABs on a good team anyway, so small samples is all one should have with those two.

 

Like CCP said, though, Miles has been incredibly unlucky this year. His LD% is 19%, one point lower than his career (20%). But his BABIP is .236, 73 points lower than his career (.309).

[jersey cubs fan]

Miles HAS gotten a whole lot worse.

 

2009 OPS:

Miles .500

Blanco .620

 

Add in Andres's HUGE upgrade defensively and this is a no-brainer.

 

I know, sample size, but neither Miles nor Blanco is going to get a lot of ABs on a good team anyway, so small samples is all one should have with those two.

 

Like CCP said, though, Miles has been incredibly unlucky this year. His LD% is 19%, one point lower than his career (20%). But his BABIP is .236, 73 points lower than his career (.309).

 

What constitutes a linedrive off Mile's bat?

[dew1679666265]

Miles HAS gotten a whole lot worse.

 

2009 OPS:

Miles .500

Blanco .620

 

Add in Andres's HUGE upgrade defensively and this is a no-brainer.

 

I know, sample size, but neither Miles nor Blanco is going to get a lot of ABs on a good team anyway, so small samples is all one should have with those two.

 

Like CCP said, though, Miles has been incredibly unlucky this year. His LD% is 19%, one point lower than his career (20%). But his BABIP is .236, 73 points lower than his career (.309).

 

What constitutes a linedrive off Mile's bat?

 

That I don't know.

[CubColtPacer]

Miles HAS gotten a whole lot worse.

 

2009 OPS:

Miles .500

Blanco .620

 

Add in Andres's HUGE upgrade defensively and this is a no-brainer.

 

I know, sample size, but neither Miles nor Blanco is going to get a lot of ABs on a good team anyway, so small samples is all one should have with those two.

 

True, but that doesn't mean a second small sample is going to follow what the first small sample did. The whole point of small samples is that they are going to fluctuate wildly, which is why partial year bench numbers are often misleading.

 

I'm not sure 131 PA of Aaron Miles when he was hurt tells you much about what he's going to do in the future. Then you add in that he has the exact same LD percentage he had in 2008 with the Cardinals (21.0%) with a huge difference in his actual results (.343 BABIP in 2008, .236 this year).

 

Don't get me wrong here. Miles as what he actually is (a .675 OPS guy or so with decent defense at second and poor defense at SS) is not a good option for a ballclub. But he almost certainly is a better hitter than Blanco, who is more of a .610-.615 type of guy. Whether Blanco's defense makes up for his hitting depends on how much you are going to use them at SS and how much at 2B. For the Cubs, it's mostly been at 2B, which makes Miles the slightly better option. If Theriot went down to an injury, Blanco would be the better option to replace him everyday.

 

They are both fringe major leaguers for different reasons.

 

Jersey does bring up one good point though. I think Miles LD percentage is going to have a hard time being in line with his BABIP because teams can cheat in and pick off line drives that would fall in for hits for other hitters (Blanco is the same way). But there's no way it should be that far off.

[Guest]

People won't be happy (official press release):

 

CUBS ACTIVATE INFIELDER AARON MILES

FROM 15-DAY DISABLED LIST

 

OPTION RIGHTHANDER JEFF STEVENS TO TRIPLE-A IOWA

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

 

CHICAGO – The Chicago Cubs today activated infielder Aaron Miles from the 15-day disabled list. To make room for Miles on the roster, the Cubs optioned right-handed pitcher Jeff Stevens to Triple-A Iowa.

 

Additionally, the club granted left-handed pitcher Jason Waddell his unconditional release. Waddell had been pitching with Triple-A Iowa. The club’s 40-man roster now stands at 37 players.

 

Miles was placed on the disabled list on June 29 (retroactive to June 21) with a hyperextended right elbow. He returns to the Cubs following a rehab assignment with Triple-A Iowa, during which he hit .253 (19-for-75) in 18 games, including a .286 mark (12-for-42) with seven RBI in his last 10 games.

 

A switch-hitter, Miles is batting .203 (25-for-123) with seven doubles and four RBI in 46 games for Chicago. He has appeared in 32 games (25 starts) at second base and four games (two starts) at shortstop. He was also on the 15-day disabled from May 27-June 10 with a strained right shoulder.

 

Miles signed with the Cubs as a free agent December 31, 2008 after seeing major league action with the White Sox (2003), Rockies (2004-2005) and the Cardinals (2006-2008).

 

Stevens has no record and a 2.84 ERA (2 ER/6.1 IP) in five relief appearances for the Cubs this season. He is 0-3 with two saves and a 2.18 ERA (10 ER/41.1 IP) in 30 relief appearances for Iowa this year.

[Andy]

What the hell. Are we ever going to try to start Jeff Samardzija, or just keep him as a crappy reliever for eternity?

 

I like Jeff Stevens.

[CUBZ99]

Not that Stevens was going to get a chance to pitch anyways, but he definitely did not deserve to get sent down to AAA.

[SouthSideRyan]

[expletive] this stupid Notre Dame fetish.

[Friendly Confines]

[expletive] this stupid Notre Dame fetish.

 

 

I am much more upset about bringing Miles back, than about demoting Stevens over Shark.

 

Of course, I am probably as much of a ND homer as Hendry is though :)

Edited August 5, 2009 by Friendly Confines

[SouthSideRyan]

[expletive] this stupid Notre Dame fetish.

 

 

I am much more upset about bringing Miles back, than about demoting Stevens over Shark.

 

Of course, I am probably as much of a ND homer has Hendry is though :)

 

I'm an ND fan too, but this is just stupid. Samardzija has looked awful.

[NCCubFan]

So Fuld has a stay of execution until Friday. When Soto's activated either Fuld or Hoffpauir goes down.

[Guest]

That's a double kick to the nuts.

[jersey cubs fan]

I feel like Stevens has warmed up in every game he's been on the roster. Lou appears to prefer Stevens over Samardzija, but Shark stays? He's awful. He wasn't nearly as good as people thought he was last year, and he's gotten worse the more major league hitters have seen his stuff. Is Hendry overruling Lou?

[Schwarber Fan]

So Fuld has a stay of execution until Friday. When Soto's activated either Fuld or Hoffpauir goes down.

 

Hoffpauir isn't going anywhere

[Roast]

Don't worry, guys, Miles is starting at SS and batting second tonight. Everything is going to be OK.

[Guest]

I feel like Stevens has warmed up in every game he's been on the roster. Lou appears to prefer Stevens over Samardzija, but Shark stays? He's awful. He wasn't nearly as good as people thought he was last year, and he's gotten worse the more major league hitters have seen his stuff. Is Hendry overruling Lou?

 

Lou has also sounded frustrated and critical of Samardzjia in the media.

[Cubswin11]

[-(

[Keener98]

Yippe Shark stays up and Miles is in the starting lineup the 1st game off DL. UGH! Im assuming this basically means Shark is here to stay for the rest of the year. We only have 25 days till rosters expand.