Comments on: Welcome to Seattle, Nick

By: cdowley

cdowley — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:37:58 +0000

Franklin reminds me quite a bit of Jed Lowrie. Patient hitter, good-but-not-great tools pretty much across the board, and just all around someone who screams “baseball player” when you watch him play, unlike some of the super-prospects who are mostly high-upside athletes moreso than pure ballplayers.

Given how much I’ve stumped to try to get Lowrie (or someone much like him) in the past year and a half or so, I’m very happy with this pick. Little bummed that one of the better arms didn’t drop (besides Scheppers, but I wasn’t sure about him one way or the other), but happy otherwise.

Will he stick at short? Maybe, maybe not. I think a lot of that depends on whether or not Triunfel winds up needing to move to third, as has been discussed. Even if he moves to second, he can still be an excellent asset to the organization.

By: joser

joser — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:06:32 +0000

“Average” does not mean “mediocre”. A league average shortstop is a pretty valuable player, as TIF says.

It’s interesting that Washington, a LH 2B, went to the Rays just 3 spots after Franklin. So there were other MI available (or at least other founding fathers — get Jefferson and Adams and complete the set!) But an SS is more valuable than a 2B, everything else being equal, and a switch hitter is a bit better than a lefty bat (though I don’t know whether Franklin hits better LH or RH). Is Franklin likely to stick at SS?

By: tmac9311

tmac9311 — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:51:58 +0000

Wouldn’t you rather have a SS who could field and bats .245 than Yuni? A switch hitter average shortstop sounds very appealing to me.

By: pensive

pensive — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:50:55 +0000

Let me go out on a limb and say thank you Dave for the time today and the draft days to follow.

It is great to be able to be informed about the later picks.

Thanks

By: Dave

Dave — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:49:52 +0000

The Mariners have been drafting athletes with upside forever. The team needs baseball players. Franklin is a baseball player.

By: Typical Idiot Fan

Typical Idiot Fan — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:45:25 +0000

Potential average shortstop = valuable.

By: Jeff Nye

Jeff Nye — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:45:12 +0000

Average across the board is a good player.

By: RealRhino

RealRhino — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:41:11 +0000

At 27, don’t you shoot for more than average arm, average range, average athleticism, average bat?

I’m not a scout, but he looks like just a guy.

By: idahowriter

idahowriter — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:38:30 +0000

Nice pick. We need some infield depth. Good call, Dave!

By: Typical Idiot Fan

Typical Idiot Fan — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:38:04 +0000

Does this mean they go BAP at 33 instead of Baron?