Yankees promote 1B Miranda
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Sep 16, 2008 
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Here’s a little news: The Yankees have summoned Juan Miranda from Triple-A Scranton. Not sure whether he will arrive in time for tomorrow’s game or not.
Miranda is a 25-year-old Cuban defector who signed with the team in 2006. He hit .287/.384/.449 for Scranton in the regular season with 12 homers and 52 RBI in 99 games. I don’t know that anybody considers him the first baseman of the future but maybe he’ll get a few at-bats down the stretch.
The only other healthy 40-man roster players not in the majors are Ian Kennedy, Shelley Duncan, Chase Wright, Jeff Marquez and Justin Christian.
No word on whether any of those guys will be called up. Shelley should be in case any kids in Boston need a ball signed.
niCe…let him and Ransom compete for 1B for next seson. since im going to tomorrow’s game, hopefully i will see his debut.
LOL, Ransom is not an everyday player.
Brandon: No. Whatever you can think of, Billy Beane won’t do it!
Miranda can definitely be a good platoon player. There’s no reason to think he’ll be able to hit lefties, though. I’d like to see Wright and Kennedy called up to take starts from Pavano. It is unnecessary to give him starts and can only help Wright and Kennedy.
YES !! The Cuban import is here !
Brandon, debes celebrarlo
you lied to me pete… you basically told me he had no chance!!!! apparently the kid kills right handed pitching (maybe LHP.. one of them lol)
Rebecca, yo trabajo manana.
howard and delgado do not deserve nl mvp. it belongs to the poo man, albert pujols.
ugueth your right. It’s MVP not MVT. I’d give it Pujols.
Brandon: Hah! No necesitas cerveza para celebrar…pues, lo te ayudas…
Also, Carlos D. and Ryan H. were pretty terrible in the first 3 months of the season, whereas Albert P. was great all year long.
NL MVP just might go to the NL Rookie Of The Year…Giovani Soto.
If it goes to anybody but Pujols, it will be a joke.
Brandon, I think Ramirez will go in a trade before Veras does.
I agree GB I think Robertson and Sanchez are going to take his spot next season. Hey …would Beane entertain Kennedy,Cox and Ramirez for Ryan Sweeney ?
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Actually, I was thinking San Diego for Kouzmanoff and a good minor leaguer for Kennedy, Igawa, Ramirez and Cabrera. Then look to move Damon, Geise and Rasner to another NL team. The NL would be perfect for those guys. Maybe to Milwaukee. Milwaukee has enough to make one more run in the NL Central and Damon could help them.
Soto made a winner out of the Cubs. They wouldn’t have made the Post Season with Henry Blanco as the catcher.
just curious, what position would you play kouz at?
“Soto made a winner out of the Cubs. They wouldn’t have made the Post Season with Henry Blanco as the catcher.”
Soto has had a good year. But do you really think he has provided more wins to his team than Pujols has to the Cards? The Cardinals wouldn’t have even sniffed contention for the first 5 months if Pujols wasn’t around and they just had an average first baseman. The Cubs still would have been a good team with an average catcher behind the plate.
He’s played some games at first base in the minors (6). It’s better than 20 mil plus for 6-7 years with Teixiera. He’d be easier to move when Brandon Laird is ready.
Not that I am against the kouz idea, but what do you think about moving Nady to 1B and finding another OF? Maybe a better short-term OF is available than the short-term 1B that are available. Nady has played like 80 or 90 games at 1B in the bigs, I think.
Miranda = lefty version of Andy Philips
The Cubs “average catcher” is 37 year old Henry Blanco. There was nothing else available at the start of the season. You have a very good defensive catcher with power (22 homers) and drives in runs and will end up with 90 plus. Not bad for a rookie catcher. Pujols is a great hitter, but, they didn’t win. Other than average (Soto at .285), the other numbers are pretty close considering the disparity in the number of at bats.
My error. The at bats are close, but, the position Soto plays warrants the MVP
Miranda = lefty version of Andy Philips
Andy Philips wishes
John H, I’m just looking at a way to move what NYY has an excess of and what a team like San Diego or Milwaukee needs. These guys aren’t going to be super stars but, in that park, the pitchers should do well. I’d even think that some cash and NYY picking up one of their heavier contracts would work. Giles and Gonzales won’t be moved, nor, will Peavey or Hoffman. Not sure what the status with Khaile Greene is, other than they aren’t happy with him.
Nice to see Miranda finally but to think hes anything more than a bench player is a bit ridiculous the Yanks need a real 1B next season.
“Pujols is a great hitter, but, they didn’t win”
“the other numbers are pretty close considering the disparity in the number of at bats.”
Are you kidding me? Pujols is hitting .360/.465/.650. in 592 plate appearances. Soto is hitting .288/.365/.506 in 476 plate appearances. Pujols has better rates than last year’s ARod performance (.314/.422/.645), and certainly you must remember how dominant that was to watch. Pujols is having one of the greatest seasons in recent memory, and he is also an excellent defender.
Also, the RBi difference is significant for the following reason: Soto has come to the plate with a total of 404 runners on base, and he has driven 81 of them in. Pujols has come to the plate with 392 runners on base, and he has driven in 101 of them.
This should make you aware of one other thing – The 24 other players on the Cubs are way way way better than the 24 other players on the Cardinals. This is out of Pujols control and should not be a knock against him when it comes to MVP. Just look at that RBI stat – Soto has had a dozen more runners on base in 116 fewer plate appearances. The Cubs offense is a monster, but Pujols has been much more efficient at driving runs in.
And your point about the replacement catcher also doesn’t work. There is a stat that measures this very idea – VORP. it takes positon into accounts and measures value over a “replacement level” hitter at that position. Pujols has a 90.8 VORP and this is the best in baseball. Soto has a 39.8 VORP, which isn’t even the best for catchers in the NL. Soto’s importance over a replacement catcher isn’t even half of what Pujols’s importance over a replacement first baseman.
And the Cubs wouldn’t have gone the whole year with Blanco as their catcher. They would have made a trade in the offseason for a better catcher. You can’t just assume Blnaco would receive most of the playing time at C. Obviously, they were comfortable with him as the backup catcher because they knew Soto was a solid player. But if Soto was not around, they would have made a move.
This isn’t even close.
i apologize – soto has been to the plate 542 times, so it is about 50 times fewer than pujols, not 116 like i claimed. this doesn’t change my argument though. pujols is still much more efficient at driving the runners in.
” I’d like to see Wright and Kennedy called up to take starts from Pavano. It is unnecessary to give him starts and can only help Wright and Kennedy.”
Right on Greg!! Why is Pavano even being allowed to set foot in Yankee Stadium? He’s been nothing but a headache from the first day we signed him.
LET THE KIDS PLAY, GIRARDI.
Who gets called up is a decision Cashman makes.
I didn’t say any thing about who had a better season…it’s about who’s the biggest help to a winning team. As far as those poor Cards not giving Pujols any help, how about Ankiel, Ludwick, Glaus, Molina and Schumaker? That looks like a lot of help to me. They’ll end up with 3 guys at or close to 30 homers and 100 RBIs and 2 more with over 20 homers. Love Pujols all you want, but, don’t try telling me that he had no help.
“Shelley should be in case any kids in Boston need a ball signed.”
What?
I hope that’s not true. That’s messed up if it is.
Soto had much better help than Pujols. Soto saw 404 runners on base in front of him in 50 fewer plate appearances. That’s all the proof you need.
And look at the pitching staff of each team. The Cards doesn’t come anywhere close to the Cubs in the rotation or bullpen.
Pujols has provided more value to the Cards than Soto has prvoided to the Cubs.
“it’s about who’s the biggest help to a winning team.’
Clearly you are excluding Pujols and all players from noncontending teams. I completely disagree with this idea. But even so, why didn;t you just say this from the start. You were grasping at straws with positonal value and rbi difference not being as meanignful. And clearly you were wrong. So now you throw out the lame “his team isn;t in the postseason” crutch. And this is because Soto has the following players on his team: Lee, Soriano, Ramirez, DeRosa, Marmol, Wood, Dempster, Harden, Zambrano, Lilly. Pujols’s surrounding cast isn’t nearly as talented, and you know it.
So I guess you also would have given the AL MVP to Magglio last year if the Tigers snuck past the Yankees for the wild card.
The bottom line is that Pujols has an extremely high value to his team this year and Soto doesn’t come close to matching it.
“…I didn’t say any thing about who had a better season…it’s about who’s the biggest help to a winning team…”
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BTW, the St. Louis Cardinals ARE a winning team. They are 78-72. The Dodgers are 79-72. They are essentially just as successful at winning as the Dodgers are.
Also, the Cards offense is pretty close to the Cubs offense in overall production, as GreenBeret stated. However, there is an extreme diference in the performance of the pitchers on each team. The Cubs have an elite rotation and an elite bullpen. The Cardinals are mediocre in the rotation, and below average in the bullpen. The overall difference in the pitchers is very signficant.
Ulitmately, I can understand the desire to not give the award to a guy on a poor team. But the Cardinals are not a poor team. They are a good team and have a winning record. And Albert Pujols is having one of those seasons for the ages that should not be ignored simply because his pitchers are not very good compared to the Cub pitchers. There is no doubt on this one. Soto is probably the most valuable Cub hitter, but Pujols is the clear cut most valuable player in the National League. He has had a truly remarkable year.
Lance Broadway?
Come on, Phil HAS to pitch better than ‘Lance Broaday’.
It’s too bad that Shelley’s autographing for Lil’ Beaneaters probably won’t mean squat this year, but it’d still be great.
(& I gotta say, “Lance Broadway” is ridiculous but great; too bad we/NYY can’t match him with “the Dazzler”.
This may be a totally crazy thought, but Manny should get some serious consideration for the MVP. He hasn’t been there the whole season, but his numbers with LA are absolutely ridiculous .401/.481/.745. He’s the reason the Dodgers are going to the post season. If that’s not the MVP I don’t know what is.
“If that’s not the MVP I don’t know what is.”
Manny has been impressive, but Pujols has been godlike in almost 600 plate appearances. Manny can’t match that. Pujols is the mvp.
a player with 22 hr/83 rbr/63 runs scored will not win an mvp especially with all the talent around him
“This may be a totally crazy thought, but Manny should get some serious consideration for the MVP.”
If he’s so freakin’ valuable, how come Boston played .670 baseball AFTER he was gone?
Ramirez has been a godsend for the Dodgers, but 2 good months doesn’t make it. Pujols is all that separates the Cardinals from being the Nats this year.
GB:
Like the idea of Soto as possible MVP. I’ve seen it suggested by a couple baseball talking heads in the past, but wonder how much legs his candicacy has. He’s made a huge difference for that team.
Now is the time to sit Giambi with the exception of one final token appearance Sunday for the last game at the Stadium on Sunday night.
It’s a foregone conclusion that he won’t be back so let’s see how Miranda does with a few opportunities. Nothing to lose by it.
“I’d like to see Wright and Kennedy called up to take starts from Pavano. It is unnecessary to give him starts and can only help Wright and Kennedy.â€
Right on Greg!! Why is Pavano even being allowed to set foot in Yankee Stadium? He’s been nothing but a headache from the first day we signed him.
LET THE KIDS PLAY, GIRARDI.”
Why? Blow Pavano’s arm out. He has been about as useful as the pinkie toe on my foot to the Yankees, so make him pay for it. Let him pitch as much as they feel will burn in the message of how much of a failure he was with the Yankees.
And all this talk about NL MVP shouldn’t be happening. Pujols is the best hitter in Baseball, and his season is deserving of the reward. Delgado and Howard are good candidates, but Pujols is the best candidate. Soto, great rookie, but no MVP.
Ya, whats the shelly duncan thing about?
His energy is cool, but can he be an every day or platoon player?
He didnt show too well earlier in the year, in the field or at the plate…can he grow,,or is he a perpetual minor leaguer at this point?
hes no youngster..
One of the first things I heard about Miranda is that though he has some pop he is NOT A GOOD DEFENSIVE 1st baseman; haven’t we seen enough poor defense at 1st base?
Kennedy was the losing pitcher last night – while he wasn’t awful neither was he great and this is with a AAA team. I don’t want to ever see Kennedy again but I must admit I never cared for him.
Marquez is healthy now but wasn’t for a good part of the season, same for Shelly, and Christian isn’t good. Watching Chase Wright last night made it clear that he is still not ready for the majors.
Melancon looked good but with any/all of them it probably has something to do with innings limits and hopefully they learned a lesson about bringing these kids up too early.
If Miranda can so much as pick a ball in the dirt at 1B, then he deserves a shot next season. Get someone like Mientkiewicz or Blake as a utility man with a little pop, someone who can fill in full-time at 1B in case Miranda can’t hack it at the big league level. Those numbers in AAA are too good to not have an opportunity.