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TJM sez,

With MLB blacked out locally was forced to watch the Angel's broadcast of this series. Mark Gubicza, one of their color guys and a pretty good sinker-slider righthander before injuries slowed him down, repeatedly made the point during the broadcsts that Ackley, Franklin and Miller all try to cheat to pull the ball at bat after at bat and end up pulling off the ball instead of pulling it. He's completely right. These guys apparently think their value is derived from hitting homers into the right field corner. Why would three guys who came up as middle-infielders think they had to be power hitters in order to stick in the majors? Gubicza said he would never thrown anything inner half to any of them. Throw it away and let them get themselves out. This seems so obvious you wonder why these guys keep doing it.

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Very convincing, Mr. Pulitzer my friend.  Coming from Mark Gubicza you know that is what the Angels pitchers are thinking too, and that's kind of relevant.

We've talked about the "greed for success" that is epidemic with some of these prospects.  But Gubicza said it better.

Let's not be too hard on the M's infrastructure, either, for the attitudes of the Golden Boys.  If Zduriencik & McNamara & co. get blame for these three, then they also get credit for Mike Zunino, whose success effectively is cancelling the failures of the three names given ... I'll give you a SS, a backup SS and a backup 2B :- ) for Kyle Seager, Mike Zunino and Roenis Elias...

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Flavor text:  Mark Gubicza was one of the quintessential 1970's-1980's Royals, the beloved team of the Founding Father.  Those Royals were known for intelligence and gutsiness.  Although the franchise was born only a few years before the M's were, the Kansas City Royals, and Gubicza, were the "anti-Mariners" of the 1970's and 1980's. 

Bill has since (painfully) given up on the Royals as a fan, I believe, "divorcing" them because after 2 decades of genuine pathos, he just couldn't watch any more.  Times change, leadership changes, and we'll cheerfully take the Mariners since Junior :- )

But you see why Gubicza's remarks are poignant to a senior M's watcher.

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SABRMatt sez,

concurred tjm - I was talking to my wife while watching there game last night...I spoke for about forty straight minutes on the lack of upside in most of our prospects based on the data - Smoak is never going to change. Ackley is never going to change. No amount of instruction by the Mariners is going to cure them of what I now believe are innate character flaws that can't be fought. If the upside with Ackley is either a) a guy who finally stops pulling the ball but gives up on hitting for power at all to do it (.280/.340/.380) or a guy who hits occasional line drives and XBH but can't hit for a high average (.250/.300/.400) and we have to put up with long periods of ineptitude to see it - do you want that guy?

It does seem like an innate character trait that is unsolvable, doesn't it?  ... the other day Art Thiel grumped that Franklin's cockiness "borders on irritating."  Borders on it, eh, Art ... are you saying you are not yet irritated?  :- )

Cockiness can be good; the kid has seen ML pitching and he still thinks he'll be a HOF'er.  That counts for a lot.

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It's a funny thing in sports.  One day somebody says something to you in just a certain way, and the light clicks on, and you're a different person.  

The story goes that the young Martina Navratilova was having trouble with her volley game at the net.  She was looking the wrong way at the wrong time, like at the sideline as the ball came in.  A fellow women's tennis player said, "No peeking.  This isn't a math final where you get to copy from your neighbor's paper," or somesuch.

For whatever reason, the visual of "NO PEEKING!" made all the sense in the world to her, and her volley game transformed.

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Ackley, Miller, and Franklin no doubt feel entitled to hit glory homers and jog triumphantly.  But one day the right person may say the right thing.  Baseball's a tough game, isn't it?

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