If Ackley is a good shot at Lynn/Helton, then Franklin is the bargain attempt at Craig Biggio. You watch him. He's a tall-and-teenage Craig Biggio. IIRC he didn't lift any weights til last season, which significantly increased his power. He's still a rail. He does not have A-Rod's body, but getting a guy with grit has become a slur in Seattle. Tulowitzki has grit, but he also has talent. I guess I've heard more good things about Franklin than others have.
Remember, we "blew" that Adam Jones pick on a reach. So is Franklin more of Jones or Nomah's little Garciaparra brother? Bodywise, it's more like Little G. But Green from USC couldn't buy a HR this year and people are talking about him filling out and hitting 15-20 HRs a year for Oakland - and he's 3 and a half years older with the same frame. *shrugs* I've heard enough good things about Franklin to stay interested, and our MIF production has been so pathetic recently that I guess my 2B/SS expectations are low. Mid-range is David Bell, high is Biggio. Not the worst pick to me. We had our pick, and we picked him. It wasn't scraping the bottom of the barrel - he's the guy we wanted. So I guess Z is a believer in him reaching some significant part of that high.
Franklin should also be a cheap slot sign, as should Baron, which might be necessary to get Ackley and whatever international free-agents we want to sign on the dotted line. I won't even try to project Baron. But it's nice to get the catcher first and not the athlete trying to be a catcher (thank you Ben Davis). Catchers take so long to mature I'm not worried about what Baron will or won't do. He'll have PLENTY of time to work on his swing in the minors. I would never have drafted Baron that high, but you know how i feel about drafting catchers not named Mauer early.
If my catcher can give me great D and a .750 OPS why quibble? Our catcher drafted #3 can't do that from the backstop position. The former Padres catcher drafted #2 can't do that. #7 draftpick Dan Wilson could sometimes do that. Varitek can, but didn't mature into a pro catcher until his late 20s. He was also a first rounder.
I don't need great offense from my catcher. It'd be great, but getting it is rare and we've never had it. I need acceptable offense. We haven't even been able to get that recently. We tried to draft an offense-first catcher, after trading for someone else's high-draft-slot, big-bodied C. Nothin.
It's a hard position to fill. Hopefully Baron in 5-6 years can fill it more adequately than any of our other attempts have been able to, but I'm not holding my breath.
But as for wishing we'd taken some arms here instead of bats...why? Today is the day for arms. I've spent my years wishing we would draft more bats early because their curves are more easily projected and their injuries less likely to be career-ending, and then load up later on tons of arms and let the odds play out, so changing my tune now would be silly.
Can't argue with taking a bunch of bats when everyone else was going with arms, if you really believe the bats will be something. Tho I'd still have taken Scheppers with the Baron pick.
Still, if we drafted them believing they were org filler, then that's a whole other issue, but I can see why we drafted Franklin at least. Lookin forward to seeing the kid play.
~G
Jack Zduriencik and their team are proven grandmasters of the amateur-draft chess game. I ain't. I ain't even *interested* in amateur players, much less knowledgeable about them.
So this is chat, not analysis, and it's offered in the spirit of a Class-C hack trying to kibitz the play of Yasser Seirawan in the skittles room. Hey, what's a blog for?
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=== QUICK PENNANT, JUST ADD WATER Dept. ===
When I was a kid, the Red Sox instantly became terrific when they suddenly added two Rookies of the Year* at once. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/BOS/1975.shtml
JIM RICE debut'ed in 1975, driving in 102 runs back in an era when 100 RBI meant that you were a cleanup hitter.
FRED LYNN also landed in 1975, and for the next four seasons, set the gold standard for just how good you can be hitting 15-20 home runs. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lynnfr01.shtml
This is my dream for Ackley: top 10 in AVG, top 10 in OBP, top 10 in doubles, great defensive OF, classy attitude, fluid and graceful playing the game, runs well ... I got your "all-around player" right here, pal. Not Willie Bloomquist: Fred Lynn.
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Personally, I haven't forgotten Jeff Clement just because he has to Bondo in his strike zone holes. If Clement were to come up this September, get comfortable, and then next season pound the long ball, he would be the Jim Rice to Ackley's Fred Lynn.
Not saying it's going to happen, of course. But we are talking about a #2 and a #3 overall here -- both lefty, both perfect for Safeco, both s-p-e-c-i-a-l talents. The Mariners have spent astronomically-high picks on two super-upside lefty hitters, and if they pan out, well ..... you should see what two guys like that can do.
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As demonstrated in our Ackley Timetable post, it's not in any way unreasonable to *hope* for Ackley to help the Mariners next season, like Zimmerman, Olerud, and other college guys did very quickly.
He'd have to murder the minors most foully, and then look like ARod next spring training -- not only hit great, but *look* great doing it. Then, he could break camp in the starting lineup.
Considering his agent is Boras, don't expect for him to get started quickly. And again, more *typical* would be for next season to be spent in the high minors. But these M's need offensive help very badly. If Ackley did sign, and rampaged this summer, I'd be thinking next year, not the one after.
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=== NICK FRANKLIN, SS ===
Is universally acknowledged to be a guy who:
1) Will not hit for power
2) Will not hit for average, either
3) Will play nice (not great) defense
4) Will show no weaknesses, being an "all around" ballplayer
5) Will work like a madman to get better
6) Has a great chance to be a fringe ML'er, or maybe a starting SS on a terrible team
See the first paragraph of this article: Capt Jack is the grandmaster here.
But I don't see the scenario in which you win, if you draft a HS Willie Bloomquist with a 1st-round pick. IF Franklin turns out to be everything he's supposed to be, THEN: I don't want him here.
In principle, it is a terrible, terrible pick. We'll see if the specifics of the M's evaluations trump the principle.
Nick Franklin was a FIRST-round pick! That pick was important.
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=== STEVE BARON, C ===
Is universally conceded to play pretty defense, with a questionable bat.
So, one of you Jack's-Always-Right lurkers out there explain to me: if Baron turns out to be everything he's supposed to be, that's Rob Johnson, right? Rob Johnson is a very professional defensive catcher. He's in the org because he's very talented behind the plate, and that talent has translated into game-in, game-out major league defense.
You're not accusing Baron of being so incredibly talented defensively, that he's going to be Jim Sundberg? He's simply accused of having the defensive talent to play quality defense in the bigs.
Again: supposing Baron hits double-sixes and turns out to be Dan Wilson, THEN: I don't want him here.
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You do need players whose value will always be at org level. I just don't know why you're spending the #27 and #33 on your minor-league teams.
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Once again: this is prima-facie baseball chat. I'm sure that the Brewers, er, Mariners, could tell you over lunch just exactly why they drafted Franklin and Baron. I'm just telling you, from a strategic-template standpoint, what my sense of proportion argues back.
.... the Brewers may have had the best drafts of any organization over the next several years. This historical excellence doesn't mean that we should conclude that every move they make is great. These two, I'll have to see to believe.
Positive spin? If Franklin and Baron eventually become, say, #5 org prospects, then they'll provide better trade fodder than most #27 and #33 picks do. Maybe that's the line along which Jack is thinking: it never hurts to have resources.
Comfort yourself with the fact that Capt Jack's team is better than we are. It's incumbent on a master to see things that an amateur does not.
Cheers,
Dr D
Comments
You weren't run over by a bullpen golf-cart! Awesome!
This is the counter that I was hoping to read, that Franklin DOES have upside.
It's not what the scouts say on the internet, but if you're saying it, well... kewl. Compelling images with Biggio and Jones they'ah.
:daps:
I've heard a Daniel Murphy type comp with the bat on Franklin. Murphy is another guy without any real above-average tools, he just has good strikezone control and pitch recognition and maximizes his talent at the plate.
If Franklin adds a little meat and turns into an above-average defensive SS with an 800+ OPS swith-hitting stick (Franklin is stronger from the left of the plate) thats an excellent player.
I don't know...my gut says this is a good pick. Although ya, I hate the Baron pick and I'm lukewarm on the others.
We'll see though..Ackley alone makes this draft a HUGE success.
That's Zduriencik's philosophy...in one simple line. He drafts guys who are smart about the game...who play hard and who work their butts off to get better.
That's what Franklin is...that's what Baron is...I like the concept of drafting FIRST for baseball players and worrying about the tools later...but I'm not sold on the execution of their strategy.
Though the org does badly need middle infielders, so it's not a horrid idea to draft one early.