Danny was a dumb pick

[Thisnamewasntaken]

He was mediocre when we selected him and it was a stupid pick. Who knows if he will come back from the injury and be legit. I was so angry when we picked him and now I'm even more mad. He isn't even on BP top 10 for our organization.

 

[seahawksfan234]

As much as I love to criticize any move the front office makes I'm not sure you can label him a stupid pick until he plays in the majors. In 7 starts last year he had a 2.05 ERA and has a 2.82 ERA in his minor league career over 32 starts.

Wait until he makes it to the majors until you call him a wasted pick, he has not even had a shot yet.

 

[cezero]

Hultzen was having as good a year as any SP in the farm before the injury.

 

[unlvmariners]

Of our top minor league pitching prospects Hultzen is my least favorite. I don't think he will be an ace or anything even close to an ace, and IMO if you are going to draft a guy in the top 5 he needs to be ace material or at least have the potential to become one.

I think he can pitch at the ML level but I think it would be as a 3-5 starter not 1 or 2. If he can get healthy and look like he is pitching well again then I think we should try and trade him.

 

[cezero]

I'm not on any player's bandwagon. But Hultzen's ERA was 2.02 in his 6 starts in 2013, 5 of which were at AAA.

After doing well at AA, he got roughed up in AAA in 2012, but it was still his first year pitching, so it's kind of ridiculous to be so negative about him since he was clearly on the right path in 2013 before getting hurt.

Paxton was equally roughed up in AAA in 2012, and it continued into 2013 with his 8-11 record and 4.5ish ERA. Hultzen was outperforming him handily this year until the injury.


I'm worried about Hultzen's shoulder for sure, and it may spell doom for him, but it's far too early to be pegging any of these kids for spots in rotations yet. They all have a lot to show before that can be done realistically.

 

[Thisnamewasntaken]

He's Vargas 2.0 watch....mediocre 3-4 starter. STUPID for a #2 pick!

 

[cezero]

Vargas was better than everybody on our starting staff except Felix and Kuma this year...you know, Felix, who won a Cy Young and is a perennial contender for the award year in and year out, and Kuma was just nominated for the award this year.

Vargas is going to be making 10 mill/year wherever he ends up, and is a bona fide quality #3 starter for most teams above .500, and a very good #4 for most playoff teams.

Some of you act like that's nothing, which is ridiculous, especially if you're an M's fan.

Getting 1st round pitching draft picks to develop into aces or #2 guys in the starting rotation is exceedingly rare. There is absolutely no guarantee that Paxton or Walker will become that, either.

Comparing Hultzen or Paxton or Walker to Vargas is, if anything, a huge compliment, and sets the bar high for them all.

 

[Thisnamewasntaken]

No no no... See I like Vargas and there's nothing wrong with being a #3 starter... The problem is wasting a #2 pick on a pitcher that doesn't have that high of a ceiling. We should have selected someone like Bubba Starling, Javier Báez or Rendon. We messed up.

 

[cezero]

In my opinion, it's not a waste of a first round pick if Hultzen pans out to be a decent #3 starter.

And it's just silly to trash Hultzen like this when his numbers and path have been virtually identical (actually better) to Paxton's.

The shoulder injury is scary, but Hultzen was developing very well, and was giving every indication that he was right there with Paxton and Walker...both of whom have a long way to go before proclaiming their positions in any starting rotation.

 

[wazzu31]

In my opinion, it's not a waste of a first round pick if Hultzen pans out to be a decent #3 starter.

And it's just silly to trash Hultzen like this when his numbers and path have been virtually identical (actually better) to Paxton's.

The shoulder injury is scary, but Hultzen was developing very well, and was giving every indication that he was right there with Paxton and Walker...both of whom have a long way to go before proclaiming their positions in any starting rotation.

I agree we shouldn't trash Hultzen but I disagree with it not being a waste of a high draft pick on a guy who does not have an all star ceiling. Potential is what a first round pick is for, safe picks are for later rounds or late first round picks. Ackley had great numbers but also had great potential, I think even you can agree Hultzen does not have a ceiling of an ace which is what the 2nd pick is for.

 

[cezero]

It's like Ackley all over again with people who don't know anything about baseball proclaiming "ceilings" about players.

If he ends up being a "wasted" #2 pick, then so be it. I'm not optimistic about any kid "developed" by M's trainers and staff.

It's moronic to trash him right now. This isn't rocket science.

 

[Thisnamewasntaken]

So the majority of you want to "wait & see" alright then lets see what he does. Glad to see other people's opinions even if they aren't in line with mine.

 

[wazzu31]

It's like Ackley all over again with people who don't know anything about baseball proclaiming "ceilings" about players.

If he ends up being a "wasted" #2 pick, then so be it. I'm not optimistic about any kid "developed" by M's trainers and staff.

It's moronic to trash him right now. This isn't rocket science.

I know you have to have at least a tiny bit of knowledge of baseball, but are you really trying to say there are not ceilings on players?

 

[dude82]

Let's be realistic about this for a minute... Hultzen was never going to be the ace for us as long as Felix is in a Mariners uniform. No matter how good he, Walker and Paxton turn out to be, Felix is the ace until he isn't here anymore (which, depending on his health, could be another 10-15 years), so when evaluating how good these guys can be, that has to be factored in.

The highest spot any of them are going to see in this rotation so long as Felix is here is the #2 spot and as long as Iwakuma is here and pitching like he's pitched since entering the rotation in 2012, they probably don't make it up that high in the rotation either. Not for a little while anyway. Obviously when you draft a starting pitcher in the first round, you'd like to see him be the ace of your staff at some point (and the earlier, the better), but with Felix here, that just was not going to happen whether Hultzen was having control/injury issues the last two seasons or not. You could argue that with Felix here, it was pointless to draft a starting pitcher that high in the first round to begin with, but since they did and since Felix and Iwakuma are here, it's difficult to see having Hultzen, Walker and Paxton in the 3-5 spots in some order as something to be disappointed in/angry about without coming off as whiny.

It's like having a 5-car garage and being given five really nice to awesome cars to put in that garage, and getting pissed that your newest really nice car is having a little trouble starting and might not end up being the nicest car in your garage like you thought it would. Nobody is going to feel sorry for you because it still has the potential to be a freaking sweet car in a garage full of really nice to awesome cars. Nobody is gonna want to hear any complaining from M's fans about Hultzen if he turns out to be the worst pitcher in a rotation with 3 or 4 outstanding starters in front of him.

 

[seattlefan75]

I wouldnt say he is a wasted pick he has just been injury prone he was lights out when he was playing. Its not like the other prospects are blooming into major league stars. Jose Fernandez had a good rookie season but we dont know if he will be the next justin verlander there were plenty of pitchers that start off well but dip.....

 

[wazzu31]

Let's be realistic about this for a minute... Hultzen was never going to be the ace for us as long as Felix is in a Mariners uniform. No matter how good he, Walker and Paxton turn out to be, Felix is the ace until he isn't here anymore (which, depending on his health, could be another 10-15 years), so when evaluating how good these guys can be, that has to be factored in.

The highest spot any of them are going to see in this rotation so long as Felix is here is the #2 spot and as long as Iwakuma is here and pitching like he's pitched since entering the rotation in 2012, they probably don't make it up that high in the rotation either. Not for a little while anyway. Obviously when you draft a starting pitcher in the first round, you'd like to see him be the ace of your staff at some point (and the earlier, the better), but with Felix here, that just was not going to happen whether Hultzen was having control/injury issues the last two seasons or not. You could argue that with Felix here, it was pointless to draft a starting pitcher that high in the first round to begin with, but since they did and since Felix and Iwakuma are here, it's difficult to see having Hultzen, Walker and Paxton in the 3-5 spots in some order as something to be disappointed in/angry about without coming off as whiny.

It's like having a 5-car garage and being given five really nice to awesome cars to put in that garage, and getting pissed that your newest really nice car is having a little trouble starting and might not end up being the nicest car in your garage like you thought it would. Nobody is going to feel sorry for you because it still has the potential to be a freaking sweet car in a garage full of really nice to awesome cars. Nobody is gonna want to hear any complaining from M's fans about Hultzen if he turns out to be the worst pitcher in a rotation with 3 or 4 outstanding starters in front of him.

I get and agree with most of your post and the injury isn't my issue. My only issue was, in my opinion, his potential is a nice solid middle of the rotation starter regardless of Felix. Most real fans were down on it because they had a great pick and used on a position that is not a glaring weakness. I equate it more with your 5 car garage that you have filled with cars but instead of buying tools or fluid to make the other cars run you just buy another car in case of those other cars break down.

 

[Destroydacre]

I really don't care anymore. If the Mariners had drafted someone other than Hultzen, he'd probably be recovering from labrum surgery right now, just like every other pitching prospect the Mariners have ever had who was supposed to be any good.

 

[unlvmariners]

It's like Ackley all over again with people who don't know anything about baseball proclaiming "ceilings" about players.

If he ends up being a "wasted" #2 pick, then so be it. I'm not optimistic about any kid "developed" by M's trainers and staff.

It's moronic to trash him right now. This isn't rocket science.

LOL... You clearly don't get it.