The Diamondbacks now have 10 days to either trade or release Jeff DaVanon.
His absence from the roster gives the D-Backs just three outfielders. One
of those outfielders, the newly-promoted Justin Upton, has only been playing
outfield for the past year and a half. Upton is the new starting right
fielder despite having played just ten professional games there at the time of
the Cirillo acquisition.
Jeff Cirillo will have a difficult time finding playing time with Conor Jackson, Chad Tracy, Mark Reynolds, and Tony Clark all occupying the two
positions that Cirillo can play, and all having superior offensive seasons to
Cirillo. There is a good chance that Jackson, Tracy, and Reynolds will
each see extensive time in the outfield now, as all three have at least some
outfield experience in their professional careers.
But even if this move did make sense from a roster makeup standpoint, it
doesn't from a let's-add-quality-players-to-our-team standpoint. It might
have been a good move for the Milwaukee Brewers to make, however. Cirillo
has posted an OPS above the league average with the Brew Crew in seven of his
eight seasons with the team, only missing that distinction in his 126-at bat
rookie campaign. In his six seasons with non-Brewers organizations,
however, Cirillo has never posted an OPS above the league average.
The one argument that someone could make for Cirillo is that he could bolster
the Diamondbacks' league-worst batting average against southpaws. But
while Cirillo boasts a career .305 mark against left-handed pitching, that is
only 9 points higher than his .294 mark against righties. And since he has
been a .258 hitter over the past six seasons, if he's only hitting a couple of
ticks higher against southpaws, he's not going to really benefit the team that
way.Jeff Cirillo, 2002-2007:
| AB |
R |
Hits |
2B |
3B |
HR |
RBI |
BB |
K |
SB |
CS |
GDP |
| 1419 |
167 |
366 |
74 |
2 |
18 |
151 |
119 |
181 |
16 |
8 |
38 |
| BA |
OBP |
SLG |
OPS |
SB% |
AB/HR |
| .258 |
.321 |
.351 |
.672 |
66.67 |
78.83 |
Cirillo does still possess good hands at the hot corner, albeit with limited
range. It is hard to fathom that his service as a late-inning defensive
replacement there would justify his inclusion on the 25-man roster.
But as a 14-year veteran, Cirillo can bring some invaluable veteran
leadership that could lead a young Diamondbacks team to the postseaon, right?
Nope. Cirillo's teams have never made the playoffs.
In related news, a record number of chins were bruised yesterday in the Phoenix
area, as Diamondbacks fans jaws all hit the ground in astonishment of this
baffling move.
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