CLEVELAND — When the Cleveland Indians activated All-Star infielder Jason Kipnis from the 10-day injured list, they had to clear a roster spot, and the front office did so by designating for assignment second baseman Brad Miller.
Miller was not happy about the move and in a story posted on ESPN.com Tuesday afternoon, he expressed his belief that the organization is not interested in having the best players on the 25-man big-league roster.
“They acknowledge that it wasn’t fair, but I’m just a player,” Miller said, according to ESPN. “I go out there and play my hardest and play for the guys next to me. Obviously, they don’t want the best guys up here, so I’m just trying to take it somewhere else and see what we’ve got.”
A career .240 hitter, Miller batted .250 in 13 games for the Indians this season.
In 36 at-bats, Miller had nine hits, including three doubles and one home run, with four runs batted in, four runs scored, one stolen base and four walks for a team with a collective average under .200. Miller had .325 on-base, .417 slugging and .742 on-base-plus-slugging percentages with the Indians.
Kipnis had a red-hot spring last season, but struggled out the gate offensively and posted a career-worst .230 batting average over 147 games for the Indians in 2018.
In 530 at-bats, Kipnis had 122 hits, including 28 doubles, 18 home runs and one triple, with 75 runs batted in and 65 runs scored. Although Kipnis struck out 112 times, he drew 60 walks and had a .315 on-base percentage.
This year, Kipnis suffered through multiple nagging injuries in spring training and started the year on the 10-day injured list.
In 1,001 regular-season games with the Indians, Kipnis has registered 1,009 hits, including 229 doubles, 22 triples and 106 home runs, with 465 RBI and 542 runs scored with a .263 batting average, 410 walks and 128 stolen bases.
Kipnis returned to the lineup prior to Monday’s 6-4 road win over the Seattle Mariners and went one for three with an RBI and walk in four plate appearances out of the No. 6 spot in the lineup.
“I’m a player,” Miller said. “I really enjoyed playing for Tito (Francona). That’s why I’m frustrated. I want to be here. I like this group. It’s a good team and I was hoping I’d be a part of it, but they have other plans.
“I think the writing was on the wall from the get-go. I just hope I can go somewhere else and get after it.”
