Is this:
The Mariners had six prospects in my top 60 this year, which is a heck of a nice backbone. Beyond that, the depth isn’t particularly great, but there are several intriguing high-risk, high-reward players in the lowest levels of the minors. They could use more depth at catcher and second base, and the pitching has a fairly sharp dropoff after the top six or so arms. In a lot of ways, this is a similar system to the A’s, with a number of big headliners (especially on the pitching side) but merely average in other areas.
So we graduated Michael Pineda, Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak, Mike Carp, Kyle Seager and Tom Wilhelmsen last year, traded Campos and Lueke and still have SIX prospects in the top 60 - with high-reward players still in the low minors?
Jeez...
What's a guy have to do to win another MLB Executive of the Year award?
The pitchers are legit, Doc. Really, really legit. Y'all know I was against drafting Hultzen since Rendon fit our need for an offensive 3B perfectly...
But if Catricala can stay at 3B he won't have the glove of Rendon but might reproduce most (or even all) of the bat.
80% of Rendon + 100% of Hultzen is a good deal, if both guys we have can hold up their end.
It's why I don't expect to draft Marrero this year. Yes, we need a SS, but we have Franklin, Miller and Kawasaki to compete there. If Cat can't play third then F-Mart, Liddi and Miller are competing there too.
I don't need an okay college SS who's mostly pro-ready. Just like I don't need a mediocre starter like Beavan as more than just injury depth.
We're stocking up with Real Players (tm) and I can't WAIT to see it all come together.
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Have you noticed the swag on all our young talents? Can that many mostly-white guys have swag?
Ackley, Catricala, Carp and Franklin all act like they own the joint even as they soak up every drop of info they can wring out of the major league staff and players. Did you catch Franklin's quote about making the roster?
"It's a lot to take in, but I love it," Franklin said. "I think this is where I should be, and it's fun to be around these guys and a great ballclub. I'd love to spend the rest of the season with them, but I'd say it's going well and I'm just looking to get started."
Franklin believes he belongs in the bigs. Carp got angry that other people didn't believe it. Catricala and Paxton have both given interviews where they are chomping at the bit to show they're major leaguers.
Smoak is a different sort. He had a lot of quiet confidence to start last year ("Too much pressure to hit MOTO? I've ALWAYS hit MOTO...") and I expect that back this year. Montero's the same, so much so that his stats suffered when the Yankees sent him back down when he obviously thought he was ready to go.
Paxton, Hultzen and Walker all go out to eat together, discuss their results in the inter-squad games together, and believe they'll be here SOON. To start the year or to finish it, it sounds to me like they all believe they should be throwing major league innings in 2012. They're brimming with confidence.
We have a dozen BMOC who swagger through the minors and into major league camp with the same confidence in abilities that led them to dominate lower competition.
There aren't a lot of guys who have been shown to press. Not a lot of Saunders types. Trayvon might be the closest.
It's not just talent. Confidence without Ryan-Andersonesque braggadocio flows through the veins of this organization now.
It's kinda beautiful when the two come together in such abundance.
~G