All the Wrong Moves: Nix nixed, Jimenez up, Ruf in Right

So yesterday we all heard that Antonio Bastardo had been among those being suspended for their connection to Biogenesis. This seemed like a great opportunity to call up Phillippe Aumont to see if he has his pitches under any kind of control, or perhaps to see what you have in Mauricio Robles. Instead Ruben Amaro Jr. decided to instead call on Cesar Jimenez, a Lefty currently in the Lehigh Valley Bullpen. I had the "pleasure" of watching Jimenez pitch quite possibly the most excruciating inning of relief I've seen in a few years earlier this summer. That's saying something considering the bullpen work I've watched this year. It's probably coloring my view of this call-up some, but I didn't see much of anything to like in Jimenez. Still it was one game, and his numbers suggest he may be usefull as a LOOGY. Which is great news, since one thing we know about Charlie Manuel is that he loves strategically utilizing Left Handed Pitchers and keeping them away from Right handed hitters.

Ruben was not yet done making moves though. In good news Dom Brown was activated from the 7-day DL today. Given his performance on his rehab stint in Lakewood, he's ready to go. To make room on the roster Amaro Designated for assignment the completely useless, and utterly redundant Delmon Young Michael Martinez Michael Young John McDonald Laynce Nix. Laynce Nix was awful this year, so there's no complaining about cutting him, but honestly if Amaro had up a picture of his bench and threw a dart to decide who to DFA, his chances of getting it right would be pretty good.

So, with Brown back in the lineup, where do you now play Darin Ruf's bat? That's easy at First and sit Michael Young in Left and move Dom back to Right, where he could stick long term with his cannon arm in Right where, well the baseline is Delmon Young Defense, so it's a pretty low bar to clear. I appreciate that the team wants to keep Ruf on the field, but Ruf in Right might be worse Defensively than Delmon. He's every bit as slow and his arm is good, but it's not Delmon's. Also, the guy's been playing Outfield for a total of 6 months, all in Left, and on a whim they're moving him to play his first game in Right in the Majors? That's a tough spot to be in.