Did the Indians Let Go of the Wrong Player?
Mar 28, 2019; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Cleveland Indians second baseman Brad Miller (17) throws to first base in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Minnesota Twins defeated the Cleveland Indians 2-0. Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports
In no way is this a defense of what Brad Miller had to say about the Indians and their decision to cut ties with him once Jason Kipnis was ready, but, can you blame him?
“Obviously, they don’t want the best guys up here. So I’m just trying to take it somewhere else and see what we’ve got.” –
Brad Miller on being designated for assignment.
Of course, the Indians want the best players possible on their Major League Roster, just like any other MLB team, but it’s hard to look at Miller’s numbers compared to that of Max Moroff and the clearly-not-MLB-ready Eric Stamets and turn the other cheek.
In just the last seven games Miller played, he had been hitting .357/.357/.500 while Moroff and Stamets were hitting a whopping .000 with 11 strikeouts. Yes, Miller’s batting average on the season currently sits at just .250, but to-date, that is the fourth-highest average on the team for anybody that played 13 or more games. (Apologies to Kipnis who has a .273 BA in just three games.)
To replace Stamets, who has since been demoted to Triple-A Columbus, the Indians have called up SS Mike Freeman who, to his credit, is hitting .200. This means that the team demoted one bad hitter and relegated the other to a pinch-runner and backup infielder. Umm, not bad?
The point of all of this is that Miller was one of the better hitters at the time of his departure, even if by default and letting him go didn’t make all the sense in the world. However, since Kipnis has returned and played well in his first three games and Francisco Lindor is slated to return as early as this weekend against the Atlanta Braves, all of this could be a moot point. Miller, Stamets and either Moroff or Freeman would’ve been gone either way.
Maybe just don’t trash a contending team you just left on the way out when you’re now looking for another job, but what do we know? We as fans are just trying to “enjoy” competent play at SS while we still can.
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