On Sundays, I'll profile a player whose card I've obtained that just barely qualifies as a Cub. I'll bet only the most hopeless of Cub fans (like I consider myself) will recognize these names. Let's delve in then, shall we?:
Miguel was a Cub for all of 6 games in the last half of 2012. The only reason he really found his way onto the club was roster jenga (hey, sounds like a good name for a blog). Pictured here is his 2013 BBM card, documenting his time spent in Japan. Sidenote, I am fascinated with Japanese baseball cards as I love the thought of owning something not available on this side of the Atlantic.
Signed by the BoSox out of Venezuela in 2004 with a power arm, he was traded to the White Sox in 2008 for David Aardsma (another ex-Cubbie) before being granted minor league free agency after the 2011 season, still not having sniffed a MLB roster.
He signed with the Baltimore Orioles for the 2012 season, eventually working his way to the bigs for 6 underwhelming appearances, tossing 10.1 innings of relief with a 6.97 ERA. This lead to his being DFA'ed in August.
The Cubs and their then-new boy wonder Theo Epstein claimed him on August 23rd, likely because they were familiar with him from his Red Sox days. Plus, with the Cubs' bullpen in shambles, if you throw enough crap at a wall, some of it will stick.
He didn't stick. His 6 innings of 4.50 ERA ball failed to leave much of an impression. After being cut, he spent 2013 with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp in Japan. This season, he's in camp with the New York Mets, trying to scrape his way onto the roster.
There you have it, the first Short Stay Sunday is complete. I'll be back tomorrow with another new feature I'd like to try, Older Than Moses Monday! I'll let that percolate a bit while I head out to dinner.
I bought that card after Miguel signed with the Mets. I like him. I hope he sticks. So far this spring, he hasn't been scored upon and he's 1-0, which is more than you can say for old man Valverde. From what I've seen this spring, there's no way Farnsworth makes the Mets (or any team). Valverde shouldn't make the Mets. Which makes Miguel a very strong dark horse candidate for our bullpen. FWIW, he only signed to play a half season with the Carp. In 11 games in Japan, his ERA was 0.79.
ReplyDeleteI find it had not to root for the NRI guys like Miguel. Seeing as how I would sacrifice my first born (ok, not really) to play in the MLB, I just don't want to see their dream come to an end. I can barely believe Farnsey is still in the league though, seeing as the best thing he's ever done was tackle Paul Wilson back in 2003. As for Valverde, I'm forever reminded of this meme from his Tiger days: http://cdn.mlbmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/551_10151116612858877_1089822784_n.jpg
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