Comments on: Aaron Miles is back…finally!

By: ecumeniball

ecumeniball — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 02:10:11 +0000

well, at least our concern that the team will be lacking in scrappiness is assuaged somewhat.

that’s a good thing, i guess. i guess.

By: SB12

SB12 — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 02:10:50 +0000

There it is, I searched high and low. Finally found the one person that thinks this was a good move.

Aaron? Is that you?

Tony?

By: birdsonthebat

birdsonthebat — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 21:13:35 +0000

If tlr & mo want miles back, then screw it. Ryan and Reyes both could enjoy a much more productive season in Memphis than riding pine in STL. With the graduates coming up from Springfield, this could be a big year for the Redbirds.

By: fpslackers

fpslackers — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:23:00 +0000

I would think Brendan Ryan would be more upset over this than Hoffpauir. Hoffpauir was likely ticketed for AAA anyway; Ryan wasn’t.

By: Birds on the Bat

Birds on the Bat — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 18:32:37 +0000

Signing Miles brings new meaning to the term “Depth Chart.” When the major league club maintains a bench and even some stating slots with league average and bottom dwellers, we truelly have a club with depth.

Seriously, we can now start making some great projections for Memphis by holding onto Ryan, Hoff, and Reyes, while promoting Rasmus and Anderson. They really have a shot to move from pcl worst to best in this season.

And I’d love to see it. Here is to hoping this site can put together some car pools to Memphis.

By: azruavatar

azruavatar — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 17:39:42 +0000

shaneo69 - I’m not sure if that’s a sarcastic comment or not but it’s wrong on so very many levels that I’m not sure where to even begin. I’m hoping it’s sarcasm. . .

By: houstoncardinal

houstoncardinal — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:54:39 +0000

You’re forgetting the best part of the Miles signing. It solidifies Ryan’s and Hoffpauir’s places as “future” redbirds. If they had been allowed to graduate to full-time duty w/ the big club, you wouldn’t be able to discuss them any further. You’d have been restricted to the other middle infielders who progressed through the Cards farm system. This would have created lots of confusion — what with discussing new and different players who played w/ different teams during the course of the year. Nobody wants that! We’ve brought that assembly line to a halt, thus making it less interesting, but more understandable for the reader.

Thank you Tony and Mo for ensuring that Ryan and Hoffpauir remain “future redbirds.” I’m tired of seeing new guys I don’t know on the big club, wearing numbers like 64 or something. Let’s stay w/ the same old guys always, thus keeping the same old guys at Memphis, Springfield, and everywhere else in the farm system. We’ll suck, that’s true, but at least it’ll be easier for the reader and viewer to understand.

By: easy

easy — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:17:35 +0000

Agree Merry Crasmus. I don’t think Miles is a terrible ball player either but he is definitely not “versatile” and he has to hit over .300 to be visible offensively. Ryan has genuine skills, good speed, good glove, good arm, versatility in the field that, if he was able to develop offensively would make him the best middle infielder on this team. With the competition he has he could be the best if he hit .250. Oh, then there’s the fact that he’s young and could improve but that’s a strike against him in Tony’s cosmos.

By: Merry CRasmus

Merry CRasmus — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 07:18:19 +0000

For me I thought I had a read on where the organization was going, but this signing makes me think I was off base. I thought Izturis meant we didn’t need Miles or Eckstein. I had pretty much a “meh” reaction to the Izturis signing, but now that we signed Miles I really don’t like the Izturis signing either. I started to believe we were really moving towards player development. I thought we were using 08′ to get a read on some of the guys that were close. Including Ryan and Hoffpauir. And you might be right on both, neither may be anything. But I thought we’d know one way or the other, on Ryan for sure, and probably on Hoff. Now looks like they’ll be competing with Jimenez for AB’s in Memphis.

I’ve chalked 08′ as one step back before 2 steps forward. This move looks like spinning our wheels to me.

You’re right that we, including myself in particular, can be too hard on Aaron Miles. He gets more AB’s than a person of his profile should, but that’s because he lives up to what he is when guys like Kennedy and Spivey can’t. But when I hear Mo say he’s versatile I don’t buy it. He’s not a plus or liability at 2B, but he’s a huge liability at SS and 3rd. I consider him misplaced any time I see him anywhere other than 2B. And he hits for a good avg. You can expect something around .280 from him. Not bad, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a softer .280 in the league. With that .280 avg comes about a 4% walk rate and an ISO around .060-.070.

By point of comparison, Hoffpauir could likely hit something close to .250 and get on base as often. He couldn’t do worse as far as hitting for extra bases, and would likely even do slightly better there too. Just my opinion. And while I doubt Ryan offers much on offense, I think he can actually be versatile enough to move between SS and 2B without being a liability.

Hoffpauir and Ryan aren’t likely to ever set the league on fire, but they could serve a purpose on a big league team. Signing Miles just confuses me as to what direction this organization is taking.

By: shaneo69

shaneo69 — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 05:54:33 +0000

I love this website, but I don’t understand all the hate for Miles.

I didn’t realize he hit .350 in June and .380 in Aug; whatever his playing time was in those months, TLR should give him similar PT every month in ‘08.

Yeah $1.4 mil is high for a guy that probably no other team wanted. But he’s a better player than Izturis, who got $2.85 mil. Miles was way better than Kennedy last year; Kennedy makes about $3 mil. I would compare Miles production right now to Eckstein’s, except Miles doesn’t get hurt and is better defensively at SS than Eckstein (not saying much), who now makes $4.5 mil.

If Brendan Ryan gets any extended PT in the bigs, he’s gonna hit .240 with no power, shaky defense (but a great arm), and a propensity for lateness. His BA was dropping off a cliff at the end of last season when he looked helpless at the plate after MLB pitchers got a book on him.

And Hoffpauir’s great season last year was either a fluke, or a by-product of an offseason bulking up on HGH. He’s another guy whose BA was dropping off a cliff at the end of last season when triple-A pitchers started getting a book on him. He needs another good year at Memphis in ‘08 to be considered legit.

Sorry to be so negative about these players, but it’s ridiculous to read all the negativity about Miles as well.