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This kills me, and I realize this is off-topic, BUT: we're sitting here with the number 2 pick in the draft; and we not only have to analyze the overall talent of said pick, but also very specific talents, specifically as they relate to our major league stadium...talents that are so difficult to discern that we end up twisting ourselves into pretzels just trying to figure out if a specific hitter is actually a fit for the Mariners by the time he is ready to hit the major leagues.
Every single RH hitter that is drafted or signed into the M's system has to be filtered through psychological profiles of hitters that have come before in Safeco...do we think this player has more mental aptitude than Jeff Cirillo? Richie Sexson? Beltre? Can he definitely hit the ball out to right field like Boone, so will it matter? In effect, it is as if every RH that enters the system has to be evaluated against the only comp that seemed to manage the stresses that Safeco places on RH-ers: Edgar. So if they aren't Edgar-like (or Edgar-lite), their skill set gets devalued to the point of why bother?
The upshot of this, is that we end up making reaches for lesser talent that other clubs do not have to worry about. It isn't "all things being equal, take the LH" - it's a much heavier devaluation of RH hitters that has to take place. The general consensus of baseball drafts is to not draft for need, but draft the best talent available. If you have a tremendous SS at the MLB level, and the best player when you pic is a SS, well, a lot can happen in the 3 years it takes that 'spect to reach the major league level. The M's can't do that, if the "best talent available" is a RH-hitter, because handedness doesn't change.
Again, the permutations of working this out in advance of bringing someone in - and this includes free agent signings too - are not limited to strictly physical tools, if a player can "use the whole field", but extend into the psychological effect the stadium has on the player. Player development takes on a whole new dimension.
Safeco Field is hindering the M's efforts to put the best product on the field. It's no less of an obstacle than the altitude of Coors Field or the summer heat of Arlington. It introduces too many variables into talent evaluation, and either causes the team to overlook the best possible talent or actively discourages the best possible talent from coming here. The boost that the pitchers get from the ballpark is not enough of an offset. Building a ballclub in this environment takes too much un-balance and skews the methodology to a point that it's difficult to compete with other teams on an equal basis.