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"which of these young players do you NOT expect to hit better?:"
Ackley (99 OPS+) Honestly, nothing Ackley could do next year would surprise me. He could hit 220 with no walks and no power and I'd feel like that made sense. He could go 310/380/490 and that would make sense. I think it's most likely that he's a league averageish hitter again, so no I don't think he'll improve much at all really.
Austin Jackson (54 OPS+) He'll probably be better. True.
Miller (88 OPS+) He'll probably be better. but I wouldn't be shocked to see a bunch of playing time for Chris Taylor who'd I expect to be a lot worse next year.
Zunino (.199 AVG) His approach is bad enough that I actually don't expect him to improve at all and I'm worried he's going to crater. He pretty much got worse and worse as the season went on last year and I think that's because it became more and more clear that there was no reason to ever throw him anything he could hit because, given the chance, he'll get himself out on sliders off the plate. I think everyone is waaaay to sanguine about the idea he's going to improve. I think the approach his approach is fundamentally broken and there's a decent chance he's going to turn into JP Arencibia.
Morrison (111 OPS+ on year, but 127 in 2H) Ehhhh... career wRC+ of 109. I think OPS+ of 110 or so sounds right for next year.
Jones (71 OPS+) Can't hit breaking balls, no power. I wouldn't expect him to improve much at all really.
D.J. or Kivlehan or somebody Ehhhhhh. Are we sure Peterson is really that good? Mediocre numbers in AA, struggling a bit in the AFL. He did most of his damage in A+ on the road, none of the big national prospect guys seem that big on him. I'm no scout, so what the hell do I know? But I think everybody assuming he's going to just hop in and be awesome... I just don't see it. For a guy who's whole value is tied up in his bat he seems ... ok. We'll see. Kivelhan I'm more excited about, but between Vinnie Catricala, Stefan Romero, and Jabari Blash (too soon to count?) the Mariners track record with guys like him who look great in AA is not awesome. So I guess we'll see.
So Miller and Jackson are the only guys who I really expect to improve much at all. More innings from Michael Saunders would certainly help, if the team is smart enough to, you know, do that. Seager and Cano will probably be a touch worse (not falling off a cliff or anything, but they were really good this year...) I'm not really sure how much we can expect the offense to improve on its own, without a push. I guess, it's probably safe to assume the we'll get better production from the DH spot if only because it can't really be any worse there, no matter what they decide to do there.