WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!!!!!!! The guy was the greatest secret weapon since Jose Oquendo and they let him go because they didn’t think he could do what they wanted….has TLR lost his mind??? This is ridiculous and it could be the beginning of another dead off season for the Cards. They should have bid earlier and more often. Then when they saw he was going they should have made a pitch for DeRosa. I mean, c’mon–Ryan, Barden or Greene???? I wish these people in the front office would WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!

Miles is a player the Cards needed. They certainly had the means to keep him. Now he is with a division rival. The last 3 off seasons have really soured me on this ownership group. I used to attend over 10 games a year. I now will only go if someone gives me tickets. I will not give them my money. I hope more follow suit.

I wanted to see Miles in Cardinal red in 2008. Apparently he really wanted to be here, and I would suspect that the Cardinals could have signed him cheaper than what the Cubs are going to dish out to him over the next couple of years.

Miles was a viable option at 2B. I think his being on this roster could create some “friendly competition” between he and AK for the secondbase job. That would be healthy for both Miles and AK.

Very disapointed that the Cards, apparently, showed very little interest in bringing this guy back for another year.

One of the stupidest (and there have been plenty of ‘em) things the Cardinals have done in recent memory. Miles is not a top fielder in the league, but he is a solid middle infielder, is (IMO) better than Kennedy and should have been starting ahead of him the entire season last year. Now we’re stuck with Kennedy, probably due to either a) another of LaRussa’s loyalty things, or b) a front-office edict that Thou Shalt Start The Expensive Guy. And, as Derrick points out, we don’t have a proven backup like Miles. This weakens the team, without a doubt.

As a Cardinals fan who lives in Chicago, I think Miles was under appreciated in St.Louis. On the other hand, I doubt he is an everyday player and expect the Cubs will find that out before long. Nice contract for Miles, so he made the right decision for himself. Baseball season can’t come soon enough for me.

A quick edit to my previous post:

I mean “2009″, when I write “I wanted to see Miles in Cardinal red in “2008″…

As much as I hate the Cubs, I hope Aaron is very successful with them, especially against the Cardinals. He has been very underappreciated by St. Louis and their nontendering of him just to save a few measly bucks just shows how cheap they really are. I would love to see Miles, Looper, Springer, and Izzy come back to bite the Cardinals really hard.

So glad he’s gone.. I’m excited about him being a Cubbie too..

This is indeed a sad day in St. Louis Cardinals Baseball. Aaron Miles may not have been a prototypical second baseman, shortstop, or any other starter, but he was a team player through and through. He will be missed.

I can’t blame him after being disrepected 3 years running. Shame on you John Mozeliak, shame on you.

This move will come back to haunt us, wait and see.

After the decision was made to keep Adam Kennedy and make him our everyday second baseman, I didn’t think that Aaron Miles would be back. Aaron has played a lot of games at second. If the Cardinals are sending the message to Kennedy that he is our second baseman, it would be unwise for Miles to be in the mix. That is unless you want 2009 to be a Miles/Kennedy soap opera.

I sincerely like Miles, but once Kennedy was penciled in, Miles had to go. I’m not saying I’m thrilled about it. I only hope that Kennedy and our bench players step up.

“HOLY COW” MO. are you anal retentive or what.
John Mozeliak, you have screwed the pooch on this one.
Miles is a baseball player & a team guy !!!

This move will come back to haunt us, wait and see.

Great move by the Cards. Another stupid move by the Cubs. Miles had a career year last year. He’s been a terrible defensive player in his career. He doesn’t know how to take a walk. He’s slow. He has no power. No reason to waste money on him. The Cubs want to bat him lead off. All I have to say is: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Good luck with that!

Stunned is all I can say! This guy was the quintessential Cardinal. Played anywhere, played anytime, played hard always, never complained. Good luck Aaron, sorry management didn’t appreciate you the way us fans did. Unbelievable…..

Miles was a good Cardinal because he showed up to play every day for whatever role TLR needed him to play. If the Cards don’t add some talent to their starting pitching, LHR and closer, they will not hold up over the loooong season. Their lineup is not to bad, but it won’t be able to overcome the pitching holes if moves are not made to fill them.

I have had it with the Cardinals this off season. One thing they have not been afraid to do is to keep hitting up the season ticket holders for their money. Seems like it gets earlier and earlier every year. They probably do this because they know they are not going to make any major moves and afraid the faithful will say they are done. What has happened to the loyalty of the team that use to be there. Personally, I thought they handled the David Eckstein situation from a year ago horribly. This off season the lack of respect was clearly shown for both Miles and Springer. Is it too late to perhaps offer Kennedy to the Cubs and maybe we can get Miles back? Kennedy is a joke for a middle infielder. At least with Miles you knew he was going to come to the ballpark and give it everything he possibly can give it. Kennedy is a career .200 batter in St. Louis and his glove can at times even be worse than this. Oh well, at least we will have one more season to enjoy with LaRussa before he makes his exit to go back with Jocketty. Who can blame LaRussa for wanting out of St. Louis when you look at the way things are being handled. At least with Jocketty you know that loyalty means something, in addition to he is not afraid to go after players on the free agency market. DeWitt is going to run this team into the ground.

Miles is this years So Taguchi. He is not worth starter money, he is a backup player. He will be replaced just like Taguchi was. Last year the same was said about Taguchi, we didn’t even miss him.

David, thanks for playing the game the right way, the Cardinals way. You will be missed.

I completely agree with Fredbird27. As a die hard Cardinal fan, this ownership disgust me. They have done nothing to upgrade the team for the past two years. The things that have worked, were just by accident. They were trying to get off cheap and claiming to let the youth have a shot. It’s funny how the only youth we give a chance are 27 years old and making nothing in the league.

If we have a top prospect we never give them a chance. We need starting pitching and Jake Peavy stated he would like to play here. The guy is one of the best in the game and we won’t give up Rasmus. Why are we keeping him if he’s never going to play. We need a closer and instead of giving Jason Motte and Chris Perez a shot all we heard about was Brian Fuentes. A guy who wanted a long term deal. Now we just let go Aaron Miles. I know he’s not a superstar, but he’s a better second basemen than we have.

I will not by one ticket to a cardinals game this year. Like last year, I will only go for free.

so the cubs subtracted derosa and added miles…why?!?!

derosa plays more positions and production #’s much higher than miles good job cubs!

Miles always hustled…even when others stopped trying. He was a constant positive on a team that seems to have fewer and fewer positives, and adds more and more negatives - Khalil Greene and Trevor Miller come to mind. We’ve quickly moving our way towards a solid hold on second division status. It looks like stupidity rules…I feel bad for the season ticket holders.

This is just ‘No Moves Mo’ being ‘No Moves Mo’(Mozeliak). ‘No Moves’ and ‘Not Now Luhnow’ are a gruesome twosome to strike fear and horror into the souls of Cardinal fans for the New Year. After a year plus as GM the only noticeable moves that ‘No Moves Mo’ has made is that he got myriad of new suits so he can look like a big time GM. I say bring back Walt Jocketty. Walt had imagination, was pragmatic and could PULL THE TRIGGER on a deal. The bottom line is Jocketty had many successful trades and ‘No Moves Mo’ has had ZERO! ‘No Moves Mo’ is afraid on his own shadow and has to consult too many people to make something happen. He should be in the ticket booth selling tickets.

I think ‘No Moves’ and ‘Not Now’ Luhnow have missed their true callings in life…they should have gone into show business. ‘No Moves’ would be perfect for the part of Don Quixote in the play ‘Man of La Mancha’. ‘Not Now’ Luhnow can play the part of Don Quixote’s trusted squire Sancho Panza. Quixote is the mad knight who sees windmills as 4 armed giant monsters that he attacks. To save DeWitt money they can both sing ‘The Impossible Dream’ during the 7th inning stretch. They have both have been following their own Impossible Dream thinking Carpenter and Wainwright (don’t forget Mulder and Clement) were coming back quickly as starting pitchers and would be at their October 2006 optimum effectiveness.

I am tired of hearing from ‘No Moves’ spew out babble instead of definite answers to a questions.

I’m surprised so many people are getting this worked up about Aaron Miles, and I can’t believe Miles is running his mouth like he’s relevant. I mean, really? People look at his BA and think he can hit, but that’s why BA doesn’t tell you much. The difference between Miles hitting .317 last year or hitting .269 was 18 hits…or 3 a month. Surely they can replace that.

Miles doesn’t walk and he doesn’t steal bases. He’s a utility infielder who can play exactly one position - despite TLR putting him at SS where he doesn’t belong. This guy is replacement-level talent, and if the Cubs want to pay him $5M over the next two years - almost $3M of that in 2010 - good for them. That’s a waste of money. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not real happy with this offseason, and Mo is starting to look like he can’t pull the trigger on anything of consequence. Rolen for Glaus doesn’t tell us much because that was such a no-brainer my dog would have made that deal.

I can understand being torqued off over losing out on Fuentes, or the fact that they don’t seem to be going harder after quality starting pitching. Would anyone really be surprised if Matt Morris shows up in camp as a non-roster invitee and ends up as the fifth starter? But don’t waste your energy getting mad about Miles. He’s an occasionally useful but extremely replaceable spare part, and you don’t overpay for guys like that.

It’s days like today where I wonder how St. Louis got a reputation for having the smartest fans in baseball. A 32-year old middle-infielder was not retained and the “fans” here are acting like they just lost all hope of winning in 2009.

Are you serious? Aaron Miles is a huge loss? Why? What are you going to miss? All the singles, the below average defense at any position not second? How about the slumps he went through when LaRussa overexposed him.

Miles was/is a fine player. He does what he does, but let’s not rewrite the record books here. He is a utility player. In the Cardinals market, they can’t afford a 2-year $4.9 million contract for a bench player. It’s not smart economics. Why pay someone on the downside of their career (players peaks usually stop early 30s) when you have cheaper alternatives who can do the job. Sure Ryan, Barden et. all have flaws, but they will be cheaper and will provide the Cards with more financially flexibility.

Just because Miles played hard, got dirty and “hustled” — which is code for not being talented — doesn’t make him an All-Star. Just like someone else said, these same “best fans” were crying last year when Taguchi left and Ludwick, Skip and the others sure made up for his “loss.”

Stop bashing Mo just because its the chic thing to do. This team has a plan. In the market of St. Louis, you can’t win without a plan. Give it time.

I would agree with Aaron Miles 100%. You non-tender a player twice who was willing and able to be a utility player, end up as a starting second baseman, hit over .300 and even pitch a few innings. What employee would want to stay with a management that acted towards them like apparently the Cardinals did with Miles? None. Management should also know with the way they’ve presented themselves, from promising an “aggressive and creative approach” to this passive and stingy approach is making Cardinal fans feel more like Aaron Miles does.

Sad, very sad. Miles is a winner. We need to replace more like him with 100 plus strikeout artists.

Sounds like Edgar.

The thing I liked about Miles, besides his go-to attitude and flexibility, was that he was a clutch player in a team desperate for clutch players. Miles could usually be depended upon in the clutch to get the hit that bridged to one of the big guys or extended the inning or moved a man over. There is a lot more to hitting than BA, but there’s also value in just getting a hit to move a man into scoring position, something, you may recall, that the Cards had a great deal of trouble with last year. If I had a dime for every time the Cards left a man on 2B or 3B, I’d be as rich as DeWitt. Miles is a loss and he’s illustrative of a disturbing trend in the way the Cards treat their FA’s. Worse, the direction things are moving in this offseason is disturbing. I think Mo has a different definition of the word “aggressive” than the rest of the world.

Aaron Miles will be a GREAT GREAT SUPERSUB for the Cubs just like he was for the Cardinals. The CARDINALS are NOT as good now as they were when the season ended!!!!!! We got K.GREENE for short,GREAT MOVE!!!! Then lost MILES,Springer,Looper,Lopez. Other than Ben Sheets,Oliver Perez,@Derrick Lowe is there any better pitchers on the free agent market than Looper @ Springer that we ALREADY HAD?????? The Rumor out of BALTIMORE is the Cubs will trade Jason Marquee to the Rockies then TRADE for ORIOLES 2nd baseman BRIAN ROBERTS @ LEFTHANDER closer George SHERRILL then sign Milton Bradley. The CARDINALS could USE ROBERTS @ SHERRILL but we WILL FINISH 2nd in that trade to!!!!!!!!!!!

MO. How about REALLY REALLY TRY to trade some of the minor league prospects to the Os for BRIAN ROBERTS @ GEORGE SHERRILL !!!!!!!!!!! 2009 is the CARDINALS LAST chance at the World Series till 2011 or 2012. After the 2009 season We LOSE as FREE AGENTS Glaus,Greene,Ankiel,Kennedy,LaRue,Pineiro,Wellemyer,Franklin, @ not sure who else!!!! That would give us our leadoff man/2nd baseman Roberts @ lefthander that can close or set up in Sherrill!!!!! Trade say some combonation of Adam Kennedy,Skip Schumaker,B.Ryan,David Freese,Nick Stavinoha,Clayton Mortensen,Mitch Boggs,Blake Hawksworth,Fernando Salas,Nich Webber. Give us our LAST CHANCE in 2009 to win the wourld series BEFORE you turn the 2010 ST LOUIS CARDINALS into the AAA Memphis RED BIRDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Ray-

Can you tell me who made the Rolen for Glaus trade?

(I’ll help. Mozeliak did.)

Can you tell me who signed Kyle Lohse to pennies on the dollar in spring training prior to the 2008 season? Same answer for the guy who gave him a big deal when he succeeded in Cardinal red?

(I’ll help, it was Johnny Mo again.)

Meanwhile, you complain about nothing being done in a market where the Yankees are the only ones spending (mad) money.

No offense intended, but I think I’ll leave better judgment to the folks getting paid to do this than the wild-assed opinions of ‘No Evidence Ray’.

When you think about it, one way for the Cubs to win the World Series is to become the Chicago Cardinals.

DG - methinks the Cards are mishandling the offseason sales job. They tell us that Fuentes isn’t a 3 yr $10M + per guy but they’d really like to have him for a shorter period at a little less. Then he signs with LAA for 17.5 for two with a club option for a third at 9M.
Miles could have been tendered and probably retained at a lower rate than he got from the Cubs. 32 yrs old or not. Starter or not. He was an important role player and emergency pkug in at 5 - 6 positions. That flexibility is worth something and certainly garners him more than just back-up middle infielder money.
No real action on a pitcher. Hendrickson - admittedly a project but a big hard trhrowing lefthander - signs a 1 yr elsewhere. Is he the
“answer”? Absolutely not. But he could be part of the puzzle. It’s time for the Cards to start filling in the missing pieces.
I’m beginning to wonder if Moze is just straight-up bald-faced lying to us or if he is just incompetent.

AAron Miles was nothing more than a backup. You DO NOT pay stater money to a backup. He was a good defensive 2nd baseman, a fair SS. His batting avg. would go down when exposed for too many games. He was not a starter. I’m not saying I like Kennedy any better. He is getting paid too much for the production. If the Cubs want to pay that much for a platoon player, let’em. Sure I’d like to have had him back - as a BACKUP! & paid as a backup.

Gee, I’ll sure miss Aaron’s pitching!

Cubs fans ought to be the ones screaming WTF? Trading DeRosa, and then signing Miles in his place? I’m still laughing over that one.

Hmmmm, I wonder if Cleveland will take Kennedy for DeRosa?

2003: 12ABs, 4H, .333BA
2004: 522ABs, 153H, .293BA
2005: 324ABs, 91H, .281BA
2006: 426ABs, 112H, .263BA
2007: 414ABs, 120H, .290BA
2008: 379ABs, 120H, .317BA

A career .289BA. Got around 400ABs in each season in St. Louis. HIs BA wouldn’t stay at .317, but it’s hard to see why it wouldn’t go back to around his career BA of .289. Miles batting .317 was his best, but not a fluke.

The Cardinals give the fans a new stadium and a World Series championship the same year. Everything since has been downhill. It seems like the front office is more than willing to be mediocre with the firing of Jocketty and hiring Mozeliak. You want to keep La Russa? This isn’t helping. You want to compete with the Cubs for the division? Having Adam Kennedy as your starting second baseman doesn’t do anything positive.
Aaron Miles was a great part of the team the past couple years and I think TLR maximized his abilities. I’m not so sure Piniella will utilize him the same way and certainly he won’t be a starter. I hope it blows up in the Cubs’ faces but at the same time, they appear more serious about winning recently.

Miles is somewhat better than a dime a dozen — say maybe 20 cents a dozen. We can find a replacement easily.

Aaron Miles is gone and who do we have now at 2nd base???Adam Kennedy!

He is not impressive, effective or obviously not trade material to any of the other clubs. He asked to be traded but the Cards could not find a club that wanted him so the Cards keep this ineffective person and let Miles go —why?

Kennedy is not now or will never be an effective 2nd baseman. Did the Cards keep because he is cheap? Tony did not play him, shouldn’t that say something to management?

I am very disturbed by this latest turn of events. I may just become a Cubs fan; Two of my favorite players are Cubs.

At the beginning of the past couple seasons, a lot of fans and media were critical of the Cardinals for saving a roster spot for Miles. The same was often true of W.S. MVP David Eckstein while he was here. I would like to have kept them both, but neither were worth what they got elsewhere, and though Miles would have signed here for less, we have other options to put in that position, just as we have other options in the bullpen. Other reality checks: Fuentes wanted Anaheim, we are not a large market team, the economy still sucks, the market is coming down in price, plenty of time and opportunities for Mo to placate the whiners.

I don’t think losing Miles is the worst thing to ever happen. But I *do* think it’s a metaphore for how upper management treats the Cardinals’ fans. Instead of making actual deals for players we need, they make a half-hearted attempt at the 11th hour and stand back and wonder why 1. they don’t score the deal and 2. why other players aren’t jazzed about coming to the Cardinals anymore.

Did we NEED Fuentes? No. But letting TLR go out and say he’s our #1 priority and then MO making a feeble attempt at signing someone who didn’t want to play with us is sad.

Miles…he was a great sub, even an okay every day player for stretches…but instead of investing any confidence in him, MO non-tenders him and then signs him when other teams pass. No one wants to be the kid picked last to be on a team.

Management: You’re not going to endear the fans to you with your cock-and-bull “see, we tried” management style. Someone smart and green once said EITHER DO OR DO NOT. THERE IS NO TRY.

Obviously Yoda never met MO. All he is ‘try.’

I have one thought….Mozeliak is an idiot. Why would you let Miles go? And now the Cubs have him. I hate the cubs, but now i hope they win the series.

With a non-baseball person in the GM spot there is little we can expect from St. Louis in the personnel dept. I too will not be attending any games in 2009.

GET A GRIP CARD FANS! Do u really think Mo doesn’t know what he’s doing? He only learned from one of the best in the business named Walt. He is stuck with somethings like Kennedy at 4 million and Glaus at 10 million and Carpenters huge contract. So shut up! Miles can barely hit a double! Fuentes hates the midwest and wanted to play for the Angels! Stupid fans some of u r a disgrace to Cardinal nation! We will win the division next year and u stupidos will forget all of your ADD/short term thinking—a little P.S. for u guys LARUSSA–DUNCAN—OQUENDO–MCKAY===10 to 15 more wins a year because they R THE BEST STAFF IN ALL OF BASEBALL LAST YEARS TEAM WOULD HAVE BEEN IN LAST PLACE IF NOT FOR LARUSSA ETC..!!!!!!

DERRICK … WHAT DO YOU THINK MILES MEANT BY SAYING “AND PLAY THE GAME THE RIGHT WAY”….?

I don’t really care about Miles, but Mozeliak has proved nothing. I repeat nothing. This teams greatest need last year was bullpen help and he did zero to help the team. This off season it takes him a month to finalize a deal with a left handed releiver with a “slightly” torn labrium. Come on, this is supposed to be his profession. Meanwhile the Mets sign K-Rod for three years $36 million, what a steal. Izzy made about $11 million last year. So why can’t he get something done, anything? And I am getting tired of this ‘we don’t want to mortgage the future’ bull. If you can’t make a decent deal then maybe it is time to find a new line of work.

NOT RESIGNING MILES……………..SLAP…………LOSING HIM TO THE NORTH-SIDERS………….THAT’S A KICK TO MY FACE!!!!!!!!! If any of the Cards Brass reads this………..GET A CRAYON, FINGER PAINT, SLIT YOUR WRIST, WHAT EVER IT TAKES, take notes of the following………….SIGN SOME PLAYERS OF VALUE………………I’M GOING TO STOP WASTING MY TIME WAITING TO SEE WHO YOU PEOPLE SIGN. It’s similar to beating my head against a brick wall, what a let-down! I’m going to burn ALL my Cardinal appeal!!! ALL of it!!!

gianni. I think you are wrong. We are not stuck with Glaus or Carpenter. Glaus IS one of the best 3rd baseman in the majors @ we need to resign him for at least 1 more year 2010. Carpenter was 1 of the top pitchers in the majors till he got hurt. Getting hurt is part of the game. I DO AGREE that LaRussa,Duncan,Oquendo,McKay ARE the BEST in Baseball and are good for 15 wins a year!!!!! BUT like Glaus,Greene,Kennedy,Ankiel,Wellemeyer,Pineiro,Franklin,@ LaRue, Duncan,LaRussa,McKay WILLBE free agents at the end of 2009. LaRussa,Duncan,@McKay WILL be with WALT as a RED in 2010!!!!!!!!!!!! The way we are going PUJOLS will be a Yankee or CUB in 2012!!!!!

New flash: Aaron Miles was terrible. Just sayin’.

Some answers/comments about the interesting dialogue that has developed on this entry as we move from 2008 to 2009:

– Don’t read anything into the “right way” comment. That was no jab. Miles is one of La Russa’s biggest fans, and his “right way” comment was only meant to laud the Cubs and play to the audience, not lob a verbal grenade back into the foxhole he just emerged from.

– I don’t recall “a lot of media” being critical of the team bringing Miles back the past couple seasons. I know of a few members of the media who follow the team who felt that way, but “a lot” isn’t accurate. I actually think a majority of the media saw Miles as a necessary member of the roster, esp. with uncertainty about Spiezio’s presence, Eckstein’s health, Kennedy’s performance …

– The Cubs will miss DeRosa, no doubt. He’s a strong fielder at several positions and carries a bat potent enough to be a threat — especially later in the order. Put it this way: The Cardinals hope to get from Khalil Greene in 2009 what the Cubs got from DeRosa in 2008. Miles may play the same position, but he won’t replace DeRosa.

dg
-30-

Hi ‘Pitchers Hit Eight’:
The Rolen/Glaus trade came about because Toronto was concerned about the decline in Glaus’s production. Glaus career year was 2000 47hr, 102rbi, 120runs and 112walks. Glaus last year in Toronto 2007 20hr, 62rbi, 60runs and 61walks with a $10.5mil salary going to $12.5mil in 2008. With the precipitated decline in productivity and increasing salary Toronto had no takers for a trade!
Rolen stated he wanted out of St. Louis and Tony La Russa wanted him gone too. Rolen career was 2004 34hr, 124rbi, 109runs, 72walks. Rolen last year in St. Louis 2007 8hr, 58rbi, 55runs and 37walks with a $12.3 salary dropping to $11.625. With the precipitated decline in Rolen’s productivity St. Louis had no immediate takers for a trade without eating salary! Both players also had questionable heath records.
Rolen, TLR and DeWitt had ALREADY MADE THE DECISION (NOT ‘No Moves’). How many people do you think where on the dance floor for this transaction? (I’ll help you. TWO!) ‘No Moves’ just carried out the orders given him.
On your block buster signing (no trade) Kyle Lohse was a last minute signing on March 14, 2008 signed a one year deal worth $4.25mil. Can you tell me why? (I’ll help you. The 2008 season started March 31 and the music was going to stop and Lohse did not have a place to land. Teams had their starting pitchers rotations set two weeks before opening day. Teams did not want to dance with Lohse who was demanding $40mil for 4 years!) The March 31 game was rained out and was played April 1st.
Why could ‘No Moves’ swoop in to make the deal? (I’ll help you. Everybody else had left the dance floor!) Why? (I’ll help you. Lohse 2006 record at Min 2W-5L with a 7.07ERA and opposing hitters hit .308 against Lohse. 2006 record after Min moved him to Cinn 3W-5L, 4.57ERA, opposing hitters hit .288. 2007 Cinn 6W-12L, 4.58ERA, opposing hitters hit .280. After Cinn moved him to Phil 3W-0L, 4.72ERA, and opposing hitters hit .276. With the Cardinals 2008 he had a career year 15W-6L, 3.78ERA, and opposing hitters hit .272 plus gave up 18 homers. In 8 seasons Lohse has given up 175 gopher balls, 4.67ERA and opposing hitters hit .282. Average of 22hr per year. He did not draw any attention from any team for $10mil/year and the 2008 season was starting in ONLY TWO WEEKS. Only two people were on the dance floor again! Hey ‘Pitchers Hit Eight’, your dog could have done this deal too.) ‘No Moves’ had to have DeWitt (‘No Moves’ puppet master) sign off on it.
Now if ‘Pitchers Hit Eight’ wants to compare ‘No Moves’ to Walt Jocketty let us do it.
Jocketty during his time as Cardinal GM, the Cardinals compiled six National League Central Division championships (1996, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006), two National League Championships (2004 and 2006), and one World Series Championship (2006). The Cardinals had seven straight winning seasons under Jocketty, including 100+ win seasons in 2004 and 2005. Jocketty has been named the Executive of the Year in MLB twice, in 2000 and 2004.
Jocketty deals obtained the following players: Dennis Eckersley, Mark McGwire, Edgar Renteria, Darryl Kile, Pat Hentgen, Fernando Vina, Jeff Weaver, Ron Belliard, Adam Wainwright, Jason Marquis, Ray King, David Eckstein, Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, Will Clark, Steve Kline, Woody Williams, Larry Walker, Mike Timlin, Todd Stottlemyre, Royce Clayton and others. Jocketty was also instrumental signing Tony La Russa, Chris Carpenter, David Eckstein, etc.
The magnificent Whitey Herzog had far more deals done in his fist year that your boy ‘No Moves’. Herzog secured the following players: Ozzie Smith, Jack Clark, Darrel Porter, Willie McGee, Bruce Sutter, Rollie Fingers, Joaquin Andujar, Lonnie Smith, Gene Tenace, Jim Kaat, etc. Whitey also found Tommy Herr buried in the minor and installed him at 2nd base. Herzog won the 1982 World Series and the National League Pennant in 1985 and 1987. Plus Whitey was not only the GM from 1980-1982, he was also the field manager!
What is your EVIDENCE your home boy ‘No Moves’??? What happened in 2008 after the all star game when TLR was begging for an impact bat, another started pitcher and Loogy in the pen? ‘No Moves’ lived up to his name (again), ‘No Moves’ made NO MOVES! Under the infinite guidance, imagination and pragmatism of your boy ‘No Moves’, the Cardinals tanked and ended up in fourth place in the division behind the Cubs, Milwaukee and Houston.
When Herzog and Jocketty talked to the press they had to something to say and said it. ‘No Moves’ just spews out cold baby pablum of last year’s news and no definite answers to any question.
Well, ‘Pitchers Hit Eight’ there is the evidence. Your evidence is SKIMPY but that is why you are hitting in the 8th hole. Or maybe you just had 3 sheets into the wind at 3A.M. New Year’s Day. If think your buddy ‘No Moves’ is seriously doing a great job so be it. You have just have lower expectations but finishing 4th does nothing for me. I am not going to spend any more time connecting the dots for you but ‘No Moves’ volume of work is INADEQUATE and it will be reflected in revenues it something does not change in the immediate future.
No offense intended but did ‘No Moves’ Mozeliak pay you to defend him or are you a family member? Full blooded or did you marry into the family?

Why wouldn’t we want to keep Miles? I’ve wondered for weeks why the FO would not sign him. He had a great 2008. I don’t agree at all with the fans who say we won’t miss him. In the TLR system, a solid utility player is a must to allow TLR to shuffle his lineups on an almost daily basis. I’m sure having Miles was a main reason the Cards were able to carry an extra pitcher for a good part of the season last year. I’m seeing fans write that multi-position 300+ hitters are a dime a dozen. I find that hard to believe. Derrick, is there any way to measure how Miles stacks up with other utilty players in the game? I thought the off season was a time to shore up your weaknesses and improve yourself for the upcoming year. I don’t think there is any question the Club has taken a step backwards by not retaining Miles for this year. I wish him the best with the Cubs.

This was a pretty sorry move by management to let him get away. With all the positions that he could play and being a stand up guy this was just not a smart move.

I cannot believe that the GM let Miles get away…He was one of our best and most underappreciated….Next to Albert and Yadi, he was the man to have the bat in game situations…He was a tough out. He played hard all the time…He was an old time type of player…humble and hard working…not flashy…but very steady..Tony is going to miss him and the Cubs fans are going to love him…He might help the Cubs bring it all home ..and if the Cardinals can’t measure up..I hope that he does. What a
penny pinching shame…I am going to miss him…Good luck Aaron Miles..you
are still one of my families favorites and I will be following your career with the Cubs..just like we do with Kurt Warner and the Ariona Cardinals.
…Ken Fortner..St. Louis, Mo….Just another puzzled 50 year fan..

I do not understand the logic in not keeping aaron miles. In baseball you go with the stats. you have a good ball player and you want to dicker around with him. this little guy is going to beat you. Just wait and see. STUPID: STUPID: STUPID:
CARDINAL FAN FOR OVER SIXTY YEARS

Damn, Ray, that’s three hours of your life you’ll never get back.So any good move Mo made was blind luck, basically? Who traded Haren for Mulder? Who resigned Edmonds for two years? Who resigned Mulder again? Who signed Ron Gant, and Tino? I may be mistaken on this one, but I think Jocketty signed Piniero to his current contract. I’m not arguing that Jocketty didn’t rock, but Mo has been the man for only 1 friggin’ year. And he is also constrained by the owners. I remember last year at this time, there was a lot of criticism for resigning Miles, now he is suddenly irreplacable. Kennedy (another Jocketty signing) and Brendan Ryan should do just fine at second. And when they do, what will the Aaronites have to say? I also remember a lot of people whining that Tony should play Ryan more. Well, he will, unless Kennedy, in his walk year, produces, which he should.