After months of waiting and fans on the edge of their seat begging the St. Louis Cardinals to do something about their problematic offense, John Mozeliak and company finally have an answer.
And his name is Brad.
Wednesday, the team announced they had signed free agent utility player, Brad Miller. He spent his seven MLB seasons with Seattle, Tampa Bay, Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Philadelphia. A journeyman bat with some pop could be an asset for the Cardinals if he sees time in the field.
So here are 5 things to know about the left-handed hitting Miller as he settles into Cardinal red.
5) Miller has power
He hit 30 home runs for Tampa Bay in 2016 and raked 13 long balls last year in just 154 at-bats. In time split between the Indians and Phillies, Miller slugged .565, putting together an outstanding September where he hit eight homers and slugged .800 in 55 at-bats.
4) Miller plays a lot of positions, but logs a lot of innings at one particular spot
Scanning Miller's fielding page on MLB.com is an exercise because he moves all around, but if there's one spot he gets extra time at, it's shortstop. He's got a .961 fielding percentage in 3,100+ innings there-but has cost his teams 22 runs overall in his many years there, so I wouldn't count it as a blessing to those worried about Paul DeJong getting overworked. Miller's primary function is hitting. He did log over 1,200 innings at second base, which is his best position overall when you factor in innings and runs saved.
3) Miller slugs right-handed pitching
Last year, Miller put together a .938 OPS versus righties, and a modest if not great .768 OPS versus RHP for his career. He's worse against lefties, which makes him a typical southpaw-swinging ballplayer. Miller gets most of his time against righties, only seeing 19 games versus LHP last season.
2) The New Jedd Gyorko??
A Twitter follower of mine, a cool dude named Holden, noted in a response to my tweet that he's fills the Gyorko spot on the roster. He'll hit some dingers and move around, but you shouldn't expect him to be a pillar on the team ... at least not to start. Personally, if he's anywhere near Gyorko, this signing is a win.
1) Miller is not "the guy"
Keep your expectations low. He's a journeyman bat who hasn't played a ton. He's not a full timer, and could be backup for DeJong and a bench weapon in case Tommy Edman sees regular activity or has a sophomore slump. The Cardinals looked at their bench and probably didn't like the depth, so they brought Miller in, who is cheap and has upside.
Brad Miller is 30 years old and a veteran in the Majors. He's produced in both leagues, comes in on the low dollar, and should help this team. He's not the steak many fans ordered back in November, but he's not a Jack's frozen pizza either.
Overall, it's a good low-risk move by the Cardinals.