Dodgers Sign Aaron Miles

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Look who’s a Dodger again. It took a couple of months, but finally utility infielder Aaron Miles has settled on a team, and has re-signed with the Dodgers, agreeing to a minor-league deal. He is working out at the team’s spring training facility in Arizona.

Miles, 35, came to the Dodgers last season as a free agent, and really surprised many, posting a line of .275/.314/.346, which was right on par with the .281/.311/.317 he posted the year prior with the Cardinals, but it was the three home runs and 45 RBIs that got people talking.

What might this say about the rest of the Dodgers roster?

For starters, Adam Kennedy is hitting .167/.316/.167. At the very least he is going to be replaced by the hitter he was seemingly taking over for. The Dodgers sought an opportunity for Kennedy to resurrect his career in Los Angeles, but it hasn’t worked out. Instead fans are calling for an end of his time as a Dodger.

Jerry Hairston, Jr. hit the disabled list yesterday prompting a call-up of Justin Sellers. I know that the Dodgers want Sellers to play more, so perhaps the signing will allow for Justin to return to Triple-A Albuquerque so that he could get that extra developmental time. A line of .150/.261/.250 can hardly be judged as he’s played in just 10 games this season.

In the minors last season Sellers hit .304/.400/.537 with 14 home runs and 49 RBIs in Albuquerque, numbers the Dodgers hope to see at the big-league level in the near future.

Then there’s Juan Uribe, who finally connected on his first home run of the season last night. Still, he is hitting a pedestrian .247/.293/.338, and losing favor with the fans by the day. Under the old ownership of Frank McCourt there might be pressure to continue to play Uribe because of the $8 million paid to him. However, I fully expect Stan Kasten and GBM to do what’s right for the team, and sit Uribe in favor of Miles if the trend continues.

All-in-all, welcome back Aaron, who I immediately gained a lot of respect for, and added to my list of favorite Dodgers. He was reliable and efficient. While he won’t be a superstar for the Dodgers hitting game-winning home runs, he almost assuredly will get those pivotal base-hits setting up the table for big innings that can be completed by Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp.

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