The infielder hooked on with the Dodgers in February of last year on a minor league deal.  Miles would go on to make the big league roster and make 490 plate appearances with a .275/.314/.346 slash line.  The veteran's agent, David Schwartz, told MLBTR in April that his client hoped to play in 2012 and in May he hooked on again with the Dodgers.

For his career, Miles hit .281/.320/.352 across nine big league seasons with the White Sox, Rockies, Cardinals, Cubs, and Dodgers.  Baseball-Reference pegs his career earnings at roughly $8.77MM through 2011.

Miles, 35, hit .275/.314/.346 in 490 plate appearances for the Dodgers last year. Last month we learned that the David Schwartz client aimed to play this season. Miles is a .281/.320/.352 career hitter who has played primarily second base, though he has experience at several other positions as well. The Dodgers are currently without utility man Jerry Hairston Jr., who is on the disabled list with a hamstring injury.

Miles became a fixture on last year's Dodgers team, hitting .275/.314/.346 in 490 plate appearances. He hasn’t played much shortstop in recent years, but Schwartz says his client can fill in at short, second and third if necessary. Miles spent considerable time at second and third last year, and appeared briefly at shortstop, a position he hasn't played much since 2008.

"I say the most dramatic way we can improve the offense, that would be the way we would go," Colletti said.

Obviously, that could be an allusion to Prince Fielder or Albert Pujols, but the Dodgers' uncertain ownership and financial situations make a signing of that magnitude a stretch. Dilbeck points out that Colletti has never signed a player to a $100MM+ deal, and that Kevin Brown is the only player in Dodgers' history to receive such a contract. At the same time, however, Dilbeck also notes that the Dodgers do have $25MM in contracts coming off the books, so a run at one of the Top 2 free agents isn't necessarily unfathomable.

In the likely event that neither player comes to the Dodgers, Colletti says that James Loney is someone they'd "love to have back." Loney's overall numbers don't appear all that productive, but he's batting .355/.435/.653 with seven homers in his last 37 games. A strong finish could persuade the Dodgers to bring him back, although doing so would require giving him a raise on this year's $4.875MM salary — a risk given Loney's mostly underwhelming numbers.

Colletti also mentions re-signing Hiroki Kuroda as a priority; even if they were to retain Kuroda though, they'd require a fifth starter. Nathan Eovaldi and Dana Eveland can both be candidates, and of course the free agent market figures to offer plenty of low-budget reclamation projects that could be brought in to fill that role as well.

Beyond that, role players such as Tony Gwynn Jr., Casey Blake, Aaron Miles, and Juan Rivera may all return "in the right situation." For what it's worth, Gwynn told Dilbeck's colleague Jim Peltz that he hopes to return to the Dodgers next season.

3:54pm: The Dodgers signed Aaron Miles to a minor league deal and invited him to Spring Training, the team announced (on Twitter). Miles, 34, can provide depth up the middle behind Jamey Carroll, Rafael Furcal and Juan Uribe.

The eight-year MLB veteran drew interest from other clubs, including a former team of his, the Rockies, before heading West. He'll arrive at Dodgers camp with a career .282/.321/.354 line. Last year was a typical one for Miles, who hit .281/.311/.317 for the Cardinals while playing second, third and short and chipping in with two scoreless pitching appearances.

8:16pm: Utility infielder Aaron Miles is drawing interest from multiple AL and NL teams according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post (on Twitter). The Rockies were rumored to be one such team, but they signed Alfredo Amezaga to a minor-league contract earlier today. The Nationals had interest in Miles earlier this offseason as well.

The 34-year-old hit .281/.311/.317 in 151 plate appearances for the Cardinals last season, not all that far off from his .282/.321/.354 career batting line. He has plenty of experience at both middle infield spots and has dabbled at third base and in left field in his career. Miles also has five career pitching appearances (3.60 ERA) to his credit, so he can always do that in an emergency as well.

The team would also like to sign a left-handed reliever to a minor league deal. Matt Reynolds (21 career appearances) and Franklin Morales (88 career appearances) are the team's current options, so they’re eyeing veteran help. Former Rockie Joe Beimel does not appear to be an option, according to the Denver Post.

Alfredo Amezaga, Cristian Guzman and Aaron Miles are among the backup infielders the club is considering. The Rockies appear to prefer Amezaga to Miles, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post. The Rockies still have interest in a higher profile infielder: Michael Young. Young will earn $16MM in each of the next three seasons and the Rangers say they expect him to stay in Texas. 

Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine told  Mike Ferrin and Morgan Ensberg on MLB Network Radio that  “we’re looking at [Young] as our primary DH but also a guy who’s going to play all over the infield.” The team expects Young to get plenty of playing time, even though they just acquired former division rival Mike Napoli.

The Rockies also signed veteran catcher Chad Moeller to a minor league deal, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America.

Bloomquist, 33 this month, said at the end of the season that he wanted to play every day in 2011. He batted .267/.299/.380, so it seems doubtful that teams would see him as a regular. Instead, clubs will presumably ask Bloomquist to move all around the diamond as he did last year, when he played all four infield positions and all three outfield positions.

Miles, 33, batted .281/.311/.317 for the Cardinals last year. He played short, second and third and even pitched two scoreless innings (lowering his career ERA to 3.60).

The Reds have had preliminary talks about re-signing Cairo, who batted .290/.353/.410 in 226 plate appearances last year. The 15-year veteran played five positions for Cincinnati.

That 30-day deadline passed yesterday, but Booher says the contract was extended after Miles spoke with St. Louis GM John Mozeliak.  Miles will continue to play for Double-A Springfield so he can receive regular playing time, and Mozeliak said that he and manager Tony La Russa will meet and discuss if a spot can be found for Miles on the Cardinals' roster. 

Miles has a slash line of .318/.400/.386 in 52 plate appearances for Springfield.  Though his bat is less a consideration than his defensive versatility, the scuffling St. Louis offense could use as many hot bats as they can get right now.  (Regular second baseman Skip Schumaker has just a .634 OPS this season.)

• Milton Bradley left the Mariners in the middle of last night's game, reports ESPN's Mike Salk.  The distractions become difficult to tolerate when he's hitting .214/.313/.371. GM Jack Zduriencik says Bradley asked the organization for help following last night's incident and will sit out for a few days while he works out personal "issues," according to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times.
• Bradley, for his part, texted Peter Gammons (Twitter link) to say: "Any reports I said I'm packing up and leaving are 100% fabricated."
• The Cardinals aren't sure yet whether Aaron Miles will work his way up to the bigs, writes Andy Jasner at MLB.com. The team is evaluating Miles' progress after signing him to a minor league deal last week.
• Baseball fans are mourning the loss of Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell, who was 92. A public viewing will take place Thursday night at Comerica Park.
• Barry Zito's 2014 option for $18MM vests if he starts racking up 200 inning seasons, reports Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Even if it remains a club option, the Giants face a hefty $7MM buyout.
• Baseball America's Jim Callis says Texas high school righty Jameson Taillon is the consensus #2 in the June draft.  Will the Pirates spring for him?  Will the Orioles have a shot at #3?

Miles, 33, was released by the Reds two weeks ago, and had garnered interest from the Rangers before signing with St. Louis. The switch-hitter was owed $2.7MM this season by Cincinnati, who will likely now pay $2.3MM of that figure, with the Cardinals picking up the remaining $400K.

Miles struggled through an injury-plagued 2009 season with the Cubs, hitting .185/.224/.242 in 170 plate appearances, but has enjoyed some success in St. Louis in the past. From 2006 to 2008, Miles posted a .289/.335/.363 slash line in 1328 plate appearances as a utility player for the Cardinals.

Miles could fill in for the injured Ian Kinsler, though he'd be unlikely to approach anything like Kinsler's production.

For instance, Miles has 16 career home runs in 2,423 plate appearances. Kinsler hit 31 home runs in the 2009 season alone.

Sullivan says that Miles would likely begin at Triple-A.

Miles joins the free agent ranks; he'll likely be signed for $400K with the Reds paying the remaining $2.3MM on his contract.  The 33-year-old infielder hit .185/.224/.242 in 170 plate appearances for the Cubs last year, battling shoulder and elbow injuries.  He was acquired twice during the offseason - by the A's to help facilitate their acquisition of Jake Fox, and by the Reds as a way of dumping the inferior contract of Willy Taveras.

Balentien, a 25-year-old outfielder, hit .234/.305/.385 in 295 plate appearances for the Mariners and Reds last year.  He's flashed big power at various minor league stops and was a well-regarded prospect as recently as 2008.

The Mariners designated Balentien for assignment last summer, before the Reds acquired the outfielder leading up to the trade deadline. The Reds would acquire Miles six months later for Adam Rosales and Willy Taveras in a bad contract swap.

Miles hit .185/.224/.242 in 170 plate appearances for the Cubs last year and followed that up with a .152/.222/.212 performance this spring. It's hard to imagine any team claiming him. Balentien hit a more robust .327/.353/.571 this spring; in 295 plate appearances last year, he hit .234/.305/.385.

• The team has released Kip Wells, according to the club's official Twitter page. They had signed the veteran right-hander to a minor league deal earlier in the winter.
• Aroldis Chapman is among the players listed in the same tweet that will head to the Reds' Triple A affiliate in Louisville.
• Mike Leake, Cincinnati's first round pick in last year's draft, has earned a spot in the rotation as the team's fifth starter, according to MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. Sheldon points out that Leake will be the first drafted pitcher to skip the Minor Leagues entirely since Darren Dreifort, and ESPN.com's Rob Neyer adds that no starting pitcher has pulled off the feat since Jim Abbott in 1989.
• John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Wladimir Balentien and Aaron Miles remain on the roster for now, but will not be on the team. GM Walt Jocketty says that the club will try to trade them in the next few days, if possible. Fay adds in a tweet that the pair will be designated for assignment on Sunday.