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for sure, with all that talk about leadership and character, and very little about raw tools. But everything I read and hear about Zunino suggests his upside is somewhere around Carlton Fisk or Darrell Porter, and his lowside is Dan Wilson. In fact, I would say he has a better chance at being Fisk or Porter than Buxton or Correa have of being Griffey or ARod. Yeah, I'll take it: a "baseball rat" catcher who is a collegiate superstar, a natural leader on the diamond, hits with power. Yeah, the swing may be a tad long. We may have to settle for 15 home runs a season. I can see us winning our championship with a catcher like this young man.
At the same time, the Mariner record for picking up first round catchers is less than stellar. Remember Christiansen? Oh, sorry. Shouldn't have reminded you all. Well, there will be all sorts of future Seagers and Catricalas and Nick Franklins to acquire and develop. But leaders of the kind this kid has demonstrated at the collegiate level? Hey, if you got a chance to draft for leadership, and get a good catcher besides, seems to me that's a good way to use a first round draft pick. Lord knows we've drafted a lot of toolsy guys up there over the years who didn't pan out, either as a player or a leader.