Oakland Ballers Add Member of St. Louis Cardinals 2006 World Series Team to Coaching Staff

No, it's not Albert Pujols

The Oakland Ballers (a.k.a B's) have announced their latest addition in Aaron Miles, who will serve as the team's infield and third base coach for the 2024 season. Miles played parts of nine years in the big leagues, including being on the 2006 World Series winning St. Louis Cardinals. Miles went 4-for-7 that postseason.

Miles was drafted by the Houston Astros, then plucked from them in the Rule 5 Draft by the Chicago White Sox and was eventually traded to the Colorado Rockies for Juan Uribe. Two years later he was traded by Colorado to the Cardinals. He eventually ended up with the Chicago Cubs, who traded him to the A's, who traded him to the Cincinnati Reds for fan favorite Adam Rosales before he could play a game for Oakland.

The most interesting part of his journey was that trade from Colorado to St. Louis, because part of the return the Rockies received was Ray King, who is now serving as the B's pitching coach. 

Miles also attended Antioch High School, was born in Pittsburgh, and is a former coach and manager of the now non-existent Pacific Association, so he has deep ties to the East Bay. 

Vice President of Baseball Operations Don Wakamatsu said of Miles, “When we talk about bringing in a winning culture to the team, Aaron is just the kind of coach we envision. He’s got so much experience from his long career, he’s learned from some of the best managers in Major League Baseball, and you talk about what it takes to play and win at the highest level, well he’s been there. And he represents the East Bay well so we’re very pleased about that too.”

Miles also released a statement after the announcement that he was joining the B's. “I’m really thrilled to be part of the Ballers organization. It means a lot to me to be involved in bringing minor league baseball to Oakland. I was born and raised in the East Bay and grew up watching guys like Rickey play. So I’m really looking forward to getting after it and I can’t wait to see the fans at the ballpark this season.”

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