IMO, anyway. This is Jack doing with Seager what I want done with him - make him a 10th man who can float all over the infield. He'll get 300 ABs, is a lethal-ish bench bat, and is a gamer who can actually HIT, unlike Bloomie.
Nick Franklin is trying to be that SS who can club and do well enough in the field to succeed. He's Stephen Drew.
Brad Miller would love that shot too, but he's got a coupla years in the minors coming up to show who he is and what he can do. He's still my odds-on favorite for 3B in 2014. I'm not convinced on Liddi, I think Seager should be a great benchie who can start at 2B for several teams (just not ours) and I still can't buy in on F-Mart.
But while we're waiting on Franklin and shuffling through Liddi and co at 3rd, Brendan Ryan has a bulging disk, a running injury concern and is a guy who is harder on himself than anyone else could be. When that kind of guy comes down with a debilitating injury, bad things tend to happen. I can absolutely see him Cirillo-ing himself into a downward spiral.
Gotta have a guy who can play short in the meantime. I think Franklin is in AAA next year, since he simply hasn't had the ABs to shore up his issues as a switch-hitter or seen enough big-league quality breaking balls yet. I expect him to take the year to round into shape; hopefully it's an awesome shape, but he's really raw still.
Seager is a bridge. If he proves to be more, great - I'd love that. But I don't think he's better than Franklin, I know he's not better than Ackley, and he's gonna be squeezed in our infield. Ackley's 8th in baseball in BA and OPS among 2nd basemen (350 PAs and up), btw. Funny that that's basically his floor...
As for Kyle, I'm glad he can put in the work to not be embarrassing at SS - that makes him REALLY valuable to us. I feel kinda bad for him, because for the Cards or somebody he's a starting 2B.
But unless we trade him - and this little SS audition is proving his value to other teams too y'know - I don't think he's a starting anything for us.
A 95 OPS+ benchie is a good thing. I hope we get a SS and a 3B who can force him to the bench - it means very good things for our offense, IMO.
We're gonna try that route, at least - if he can hold a starting position anyway, more power to him...and us.
~G
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