Literally, judging by the contract.  :- )

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The comparisons around the nation seem to have settled in on Robin Ventura.  That's the .300 - 75 walks - 25 homers template, 125 OPS+ in a neutral park.

Here is an article in which Keith Moreland goes ballistic on Ackley:

"He's as good a hitter as I've ever seen," Moreland said. "He has a beautiful, balanced swing to all fields with power. He reminds me a lot of (Oklahoma State's) Robin Ventura."

"As good a hitter as I've ever seen" is an odd comment from a man who sat in the dugout with, and played with, Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, Ryne Sandberg and Bill Buckner. 

If it were 2018, how good would a AAA hitter have to be before you said he was at least as good as Ichiro ever was?

In that article, a competitor was more than a little amazed from field level:

"We'd all heard about him, but that guy can flat-out hit," Ewing said. "He hits the ball where it's pitched, he has great hand-to-eye coordination and you can't strike him out. That was a show he put on today."

=== Linkage ===

Matty has an 8.17.09 post up on Ackley. 

He points out that at $9.5M (or is it $7.5 to $10.0 now, depending on time to the majors?), Ackley need only provide 4 "wins above replacement" to earn his contract.  And that's at the $2.2M-per-win young player cost, not the $4.5 to $5.1-per-win free agent cost.

As we've often argued, you could give a 1st-rounder 2x, 3x, or 4x the slot rate and score a huge bargain.  The draft is set up to hose young players, and that's the way the union wants it.

It goes without saying that $9.5M is only a fraction of Ackley's value UNLESS you start calculating in the domino effect, if you break slot and the entire industry winds up paying more for future draft picks.

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What I love, is that Jack Zduriencik was able to strike a deal with his overseers.  He agreed with them, before the draft, to save $$ on later picks, but still, Lincoln, Armstrong & Co. wouldn't have done this for Bill Bavasi, I don't think.

Zduriencik's authority is evidently a lot more comparable to Pat Gillick's than to Bill Bavasi's.  Awesome.

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I also like Boras' middle ground about taking a low salary (in absolute terms) for the first five years -- but then getting Ackley to his FA payday sooner.  I think that's fair.  Draftees get hosed.  Boras isn't asking too much, to get to FA quicker.

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Here is our article on Ackley playing the infield, if you're in the mood. 

And here is a volley back to some of the arguments against it.

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Here is our May post on Ackley when he first popped up on M's-fans' radar.  We were very happy about Ackley being:

• Not a pitcher
• A left-hand hitter
• An OBP-first player
• A college player
• A guy with a verrrrrrrrrrry high % chance of helping in the majors
  

We called Ackley "the quintessential Dr. D #2 pick."  That's assuming that Tim Lincecum wasn't available this year at the #2.  >:- }

As compared to the other non-Strasburg players available, Ackley must have literally twice the chance of being a good major league player.

Loooooooove the fact that he's a lefty OBP hitter.  I would love Capt Jack if for nothing else than his relentless focus on left-handedness. 

Chess games are won when you plow through the "noise" to execute a Grand Theme, in spite of distractions going on all about you.  The Mariners are going to make this lefthandedness happen, and then they're going to score runs.

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Here is the Mariner Central thread on Ackley, starting with post #100, after the signing.

Here isn the essential G-Moneyball summary of the contract situation.  I guess that we have Ackley for five years pre-paid, then one arb year, and then he's a FA.

Personally I am 100% with Capt Jack about writing Ackley into the lineup ASAP.  I think that college players -- assuming they are the very cream -- can be written in, just like AAA hotshots can.

Ackley's a lefty, OBP player, with speed, and I like his chances as well as any Rainier's.  Capt Jack wants his own crew in here, and here it comes.  Standing O.

:daps: to G-Money's last line in that post.  :- )

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I'm super psyched about Capt Jack's willingness to trust his own judgment about a college player.  He's not encumbered by the cliches that "Ackley hasn't done anything in the pros yet." 

That's always been D-O-V's attitude, that the Lincecums and Morrows and Ackleys and Oleruds were PLAYING in tougher leagues than they got credit for.

Capt Jack thinks Ackley can hit, and he's going with him.

Gotta Love It,

Dr D