Tag Archives: Nick Franklin

by | February 1, 2011 · 4:58 pm

Catching Up

The Good Guys’ are a little busy lately, and you may have noticed by the lack of posting.  Last week was the busiest week of my life.  Matthew is in school, observing school, about to teach school, and working all at once.  Joe is keeping up his busy life.  And Dan trumps us all by being a new father.  That should explain the lack of fresh material.  So, here’s the short end of what we missed this last week (going by teams):

Seattle Mariners: We didn’t miss much… They signed Jamey Wright, which is fine and fits in with all the other minor pieces that add depth to the roster.  They had FanFest, which is pretty cool.  Chone Figgins was about to be traded, and then he wasn’t.  Maybe the most exciting bit of news that’s coming out lately is all of the prospect lists that include Mariner prospects.  Most of the “Top 100 Prospects”  lists include 3 Mariners, and those are Dustin Ackley (second baseman), Michael Pineda (starting pitcher), and Nick Franklin (shortstop).  There are still some pretty significant lists to come out, but all of them are sure to include these 3 players.  Ackley has generally been in the top 5-20 prospects.  Pineda is usually somewhere in the top 10-30 prospects and Franklin generally comes in around 35-50.  This is something to be excited about if you’re a Mariners fan.  The depth in the organization is in a better place than it has been in years and is further proof that I think Jack Z is one of the best GM’s in the game despite the lack of results the big-league club has shown.

Spring Training starts in a couple of weeks and that will give us more meaningless news to talk about.  Yes, you read that right.

Husky Basketball: A week after a very strong showing against the Arizona Wildcats, the Huskies played their worst game of the season in losing to Wazzu on Sunday night.  It was not fun to watch, which is something we don’t say about this team very often.  They played extremely sloppy and couldn’t make a shot to save their lives in the 2nd half.  Lots of people are pretty worried about the way the team looked, I’m not.  That was the most hostile environment the Huskies will play in all year (don’t get me started on their fans), and the Cougars played the best I’ve seen them play.  Frankly, I think the dawgs just had an off-night.  I also think it’s pretty telling that the Huskies played their worst game of the year, the Cougars played one of their best and it was still only a 7-point loss.  We’ll get them back at Hec. Ed.

Husky Football: Here’s what we really missed.  Every year in college football, recruiting gets more hectic, and that has never been more telling than the last 2 weeks.  I won’t go into detail about recruits who will be signing tomorrow (because I plan to be having a live thread throughout the morning and afternoon that will be about the recruits) but there seems to be a new rumor every hour.  Today’s special rumor includes De’Anthony Thomas (who some services have as the number 1 recruit in the nation) coming to UW along with about half his team.  I’d be willing to bet a lot of money that this won’t happen, but it’s nice that the Huskies are in the center of all these rumors and shows that the program is becoming relevant again.  I have a feeling that tomorrow could yield some special surprises.  And if not, this class is still great!

By the way, tomorrow should be a national holiday.  I plan to make it a holiday for myself.  I will be running a live thread throughout the day (aside from going to one class for a test and having to stop by work for 15 minutes).  If you have any questions on recruits or anything Seattle sports related, stop by and put something in the comments.  If all goes as planned, I should be starting around 7 or 7:30 in the morning, so stop by!

Thanks for reading!

Andrew

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by | October 26, 2010 · 11:57 am

Your 2011 Mariners- Shortstop

Shortstop is currently in the worst shape of any position on the Mariners roster, outside of maybe catcher.  There’s a bright star in the minors, but the next couple of seasons are going to require some creativity if Jack Zduriencik wants to improve the position.

Shortstop

On the Roster

Jack Wilson– Wilson brother #1 will receive $5 mil. in the last year of his contract.  I don’t even know what else to write.  I can’t see any way they could trade him at all, much less get any salary relief or anything good in return.  He can’t stay healthy, and if he is on the field, he can’t hit.  He’s still a slick fielder, if not quite at his previous level.  The Mariners hope has to be that he’ll revisit the retirement thoughts he had briefly this season, but that’s pretty doubtful as well.  Despite all that, I’d say the odds are 50-50 that he’s the opening day shortstop.

Josh Wilson- This is so depressing.  Wilson #2 is pretty much like #1, giving away some defense for durability.  I guess I might prefer Josh to Jack, but does it really matter?  At least he’s cheap.

In the Minors

Nick Franklin– Finally, some hope.  Franklin, a 19-year-old 2009 first rounder, put together a huge season at Low-A Clinton this year to jump into the discussion of the top shortstop prospects in the minors.  Viewed as a switch-hitting baseball rat with a good bat but little power, Franklin proved all that true expect the power.  He started hot and ended with 23 homers and a .485 slugging percentage.  His defense doesn’t sound elite, but it shouldn’t be an issue to stay at the position.  He ended the year at Double-A to help out in the playoffs, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he stayed there in 2011, skipping High-A altogether.  There’s been talk that he’ll be in Seattle at some point next season, but that’s pretty premature.  Not impossible, but I’m not planning on anything before 2012, and even that might be too soon.  He’s entering just his second full season in the pros and has issues to work on with his swing from the right side, but his future is extremely bright.

Carlos Triunfel– Carlos, the perpetual prospect.  I’m not going to rehash his whole story, so here’s the short version: been around forever because he started playing at 17. Looked like a mega-star in the making. Injuries and a lack of production have taken the tarnish off.  Has great contact ability, but can’t take a walk and the power hasn’t come around.  Not likely to stay at shortstop long term.  Still time, as he’s only 20 and lost a whole year to a badly broken leg, but he needs to show big improvement this year or the system’s going to pass him by.

Analysis

Not too be too dramatic, but the situation’s pretty dire.  Ideally, the team would find an average stop-gap they could sign for a decent price who would fill in until Franklin is ready.  Basically, what they tried to do with Jack Wilson.  I thought Hiroyuki Nakajima, a Japanese star, might be that guy, but reports differ on how good he is, if he can play short in America, and whether he’ll even be posted for major league teams.  Otherwise there aren’t a ton of options.  This position needs a massive upgrade, but I just don’t know if it’ll happen.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they go with the Wilsons again for next year until Jack’s contract expires, but I’m sure they’ll look everywhere possible for an upgrade first.  Jack Z., our prayers and hopes are with you.

-Matthew

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by | August 26, 2010 · 9:10 pm

Y2012M!

Last March, Matthew started a series called “Y2010M!” (standing for Your 2010 Mariners).  It provided the reader with information on players from the 2010 Mariners.  It seemed like a logical thing to do at the time.  The Mariners were supposed to be good, and there was more optimism in Seattle than there had been in quite a while.  This season didn’t work out though.  Frankly, Y2010M’s suck.  In fact, you probably don’t want to call them yours.  I don’t want to call them mine.  While next season will certainly be a little better, it can’t get much worse, it isn’t something that we should be extremely excited about.  Playoff chances will be slim and the casual fan probably won’t enjoy watching as the young players progress next season.  On the plus side, the Mariners could have about 3 legitimate candidates for Rookie of the Year.  Because of that reason, I am led to 2012.  The Mayan’s aren’t the only ones predicting big things that year.  Unlike the Bavasi years, there is actually hope in the future now.  Z has put good prospects in the system and the future looks much brighter than it did when he took over.  Yes, I know the future doesn’t make the present any more bearable, but at least there’s some hope.  So, lets take a way too early look at your 2012 Mariners.

Starting Rotation
The starting rotation is the place where we know the least about so I’ll start there.  Obviously, you have Felix as your ace.  I don’t need to say anything about him because he’s awesome and everyone should know it.  Then, almost as certain, we have Mr. Pineda.  Pineda is a top 3 prospect in the Mariners system and is a top 30 prospect in baseball.  He is better than everyone in Seattle’s rotation right now, aside from Felix.  No one’s a safe bet, but Pineda is about as close as they come.  He is one of those rookie of the year candidates.

After Pineda, it gets a little blurry.  There’s Vargas and Fister, who are very solid back of the rotation guys.  I think Vargas stands a better chance to still be around in there just because he has better pitches.  That’s not to say Fister isn’t capable.  He could be a very good 5th starter.  That leaves the 2nd, 3rd, and/or 4th spot in the rotation open (assuming Felix is the ace, Pineda is either the 2nd or 3rd starter, Vargas at 4th or 5th, and Fister maybe at the 5th spot).  So, who will fill either one or two spots?  I wouldn’t be surprised to see an innings eater (like a Kevin Millwood) added via free agency.  But, there are several options in the system.

Ryan Rowland-Smith has been much better in Tacoma lately but I wouldn’t count on him.  Same goes for Luke French.  There’s Mauricio Robles, who has more upside than both of those guys but has a longer way to come.  Robles was acquired in the Washburn trade and has the upside of a 3 starter.  He’s a short little guy who throws pretty hard and is left-handed.  He has high strikeout rates but also has high walk rates.  If he can learn to control his stuff, I think he’ll be in the rotation at some point.  If not, he may be moved to the bullpen.  Nick Hill was once highly thought of but he’s struggled this year.  There are also this years draftees but counting on the starters by 2012 isn’t a very good bet.

The 2012 rotation will depend on the emergence of Pineda and the ability to sign or trade for a veteran.  If Pineda is as good as we think, the rotation could be quite good.

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