Crazy (to not) like a Fox

Per the Associated Press:

"The Chicago Cubs activated infielders Aaron Miles from the disabled list and optioned infielder Jake Fox to the minors on Wednesday."

I'm going to mention here that the Cubs are currently carrying a ridiculous 12 pitchers, a luxury that, more than Miles' return, made Fox a casualty. David Patton -- who the Cubs are trying to hide on the active roster as a Rule 5 pick -- has been on the team all year and has appeared in just three games since May 9, throwing a total of four innings. Jason Waddell was called up on May 27, and has seen action in all of two games, logging a whopping inning-and-a-third in the process. Before today, Jose Ascanio had pitched in one game in June. On the bright side, with just two more underutilized bullpen arms, the Cubs could have a complete five-man rotation of expendable pitchers.

So on its face, demoting Fox sounds like a terrible move. However, according to the Sun-Times' Gordon Wittenmyer:

"The Cubs wanted Fox to play every day as they approach interleague road games in two weeks, when they'll look at bringing him back to DH."

The Tribune's Paul Sullivan wrote basically the same thing, and it stems from comments by manager Lou Piniella:

Piniella said Fox is likely to be recalled before the Cubs begin six games on the road June 23 at U.S. Cellular Field and Detroit.

"He just needs to get some at-bats. If we sit him here, he'll lose some of his sharpness. I was pleased with what he's doing."

The issue, really, is that Jake Fox is an atrocious defensive player, even at first base, where he would be behind Derrek Lee and Micah Hoffpauir anyway. In the minors, Fox played virtually every position and was found to be wanting with the leather at all of them. So sneaking him into the lineup as a designated hitter is the best solution. Unfortunately, the Cubs play in the National League. But they do have those interleague road games coming up.

Until then, couldn't they at least try shifting Mike Fontenot back to second and giving Fox a shot at third? Since Aramis Ramirez went down, Lou Piniella has been constantly bemoaning the Cubs' total lack of offense -- in going 8-14 over their last 22 games, the Cubs have scored two runs or fewer 12 times -- yet he is the one insisting on playing a defense-oriented player (usually Andres Blanco) at second. When things aren't going well, shouldn't they at least try something different? Sure, Fox might be a complete disaster at third. But what's the worst thing that could happen? They'd lose games 8-7 instead of 2-1?

Since they've decided to forgo a Fox-at-third experiment, is sending him to the minor leagues to get more at-bats even the best remaining solution? I suppose it might be, if the Cubs are planning on giving Fox the bulk of those upcoming DH AB's. But where does that leave Hoffpauir? Assuming Milton Bradley is healthy (ha!), the Cubs would probably be best served utilizing a DH platoon, with Hoffpauir in there against righties, and Fox the lefties. The two AL-road series the Cubs will play are against the Tigers and the White Sox. With Dontrelle Willis presumably re-banished, the Tigers have zero lefty starters; the White Sox have three, but they don't pitch consecutively, meaning the Cubs will face, at most, two lefties in the six games.

Two games does not seem like a whole lot of impetus for losing your best pinch hitter for two weeks while he toils in the minors. Wait. WHAT? Yes, you read that right. Although he's been in the majors only two weeks this season, Jake Fox has been the Cubs' most effective pinch hitter. Here are the pinch-hitting stats for the guys who aren't regular starters:

Jake Fox, 5-for-6
Micah Hoffpauir 4-for-12
Bobby Scales 3-for-6
Aaron Miles 1-for-7
Reed Johnson 1-for-7
Ryan Freel 1-for-3
Koyie Hill 0-for-1
Andres Blanco 0-for-0

Hill and Johnson have positional value -- and both have hit reasonably well as starters to boot -- so they're in. Hoffpauir, though he hasn't hit nearly as well this year as last, probably deserves a spot too. With Freel currently on the DL, it comes down to Fox, Scales, Miles, and Blanco. Or does it, Lou?

According to Sullivan, Piniella said:

"It was either [Fox] or send Scales out. Those were the two options."

Sullivan also added that Scales "got the nod because the Cubs lack infield depth." They do? How many backup middle infielders do they need? Let's call Blanco the de facto starter at second with Fontenot subbing in for Ramirez at third. Even if they don't want to try him as a starter at third, I have to believe Fox could play there in a pinch -- it'd probably be ugly, but it would only have to be for a portion of one game -- leaving the Cubs three options in replacing middle infielders: Fontenot, Scales, and Miles. I don't know, but that seems excessive to me.

But hold on. Why the hell were Fox and Scales the only two options? Let's compare the four players I mentioned a few paragraphs ago, in batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage for the season. I'll even leave them unidentified -- you know, for dramatic effect:

Player A: .417/.429/.583
Player B: .250/.323/.357
Player C: .232/.328/.464
Player D: .206/.250/.265

Player A is Fox, and his numbers are based on 14 plate appearances, hardly a significant sample size. Player B is Blanco, and as I said Piniella apparently loves his defense. So that leaves us with C and D.

The battle between C and D is a complete and utter blowout. Ignoring the 199-point edge in slugging, the 78-point gap in OBP alone is enough to make it a no-doubter in Player C's favor. Player C is Scales. Player D is Miles. Now granted, these numbers are only over 64 and 110 plate appearances, respectively. But Miles career line is .285/.325/.360. Is there any reason to believe that in his Age 32 season he is going to post numbers better than his career norms? Moreover, Miles' stats have been bolstered by having a sizeable chunk of his home games at Coors Field; his career marks on the road are .260/.299/.344. And before you say that perhaps Miles has traditionally been a good pinch hitter, he hasn't. In fact, Fox's five pinch hits this season represent the same number Miles had last year... in 31 at-bats. For his career, he's 27-for-113 for a .230/.267/.301 line.

So why, when Miles has clearly been the lesser player, would Piniella say that it came down to Fox or Scales? Because it probably did. And I have 5.5 million reasons why.

For the Cubs to have considered letting Miles go instead of Scales, Jim Hendry would have to admit that he wasted about $5 million of Sam Zell's/Ricketts family's money. That he signed Miles to a 2-year, $5.5-million contract when he had a more productive alternative in his minor league system who could be had for the league minimum. Which would be quite the blunder, one that would paint Hendry in a less-than-competent light with a new ownership group looming. A group that just might be anxious to bring in their own guy anyway. So no, it had to come down to Scales and Fox.

Thereby leaving the Cubs completely outFoxed. (Sorry.)