Is it time to send Miller to Tacoma to get his stroke back

[seattle]

After watching Miller struggle with his bat most of the season, then his fielding has suffered, and his throwing.Do you think its time to send him down and bring Franklin up. He cant do any worse then batting .154 or does anyone else have any other ideas

 

[seahawksfan234]

I think that Willie Bloomquist, Nick Franklin or even Chris Taylor would be an upgrade at this point. Miller is having a lot of problems and it doesn't appear he is going to be able to work them out with the Mariners, some time in AAA may do some good for his confidence once he starts to figure things out again.

I'm not sure what the Mariners seem to have against Franklin. He is currently hitting the cover off the ball in AAA (27 G 7 HR .384 AVG .479 OBP), it would appear he has earned some regular MLB playing time back with how Miller has performed at SS. IMO Franklin still has high upside, I don't see how he would be worse than Miller.

Chris Taylor is another option. He's currently hitting .372/.414/.593 in Tacoma with 9 SB and 3 HR in 35 games. Last year in 134 games between A+ and AA, he hit .314/.409/.455, had 8 HRs and 38 SB. He can play SS and 2B.

 

[WizardHawk]

Miller is one of the worst batters in the league, has way too many errors and mental lapses in the field to be worth losing those at bats on, and even got throw out running the bases the other day.

What is he actually giving the team that warrants him still being here?

 

[SeattleCoug]

The true issue is there isnt a viable alternative to Miller. I know Franklin has a high AAA batting average but he has always hit there and we have seen him struggle up here. However a change is needed because you dont want it to get so bad where Miller never recovers.

Sadly Miller's doing so bad that his average is not only the worst in AL among SS but its the worst by 65 points. (.154) next lowest Jonathan Villar at (.220). OBP is the worst by 64 points and his SLG is the worst by 45 points.

 

[WizardHawk]

It really doesn't matter if whoever they gets also struggles. I mean how can anyone struggle more than hitting .154?

If he is left up here much longer I'm not sure he will ever be able to recover. I know Franklin isn't great at SS and the only other decent SS prospect is in AA and would be coming up way too soon, but we just can't leave Miller in this situation.

 

[PolarVortex]

After watching Miller struggle with his bat most of the season, then his fielding has suffered, and his throwing.Do you think its time to send him down and bring Franklin up. He cant do any worse then batting .154 or does anyone else have any other ideas

Most of the people in here want the Mariners to spend $8-10 million to sign Kendry Morales. But, they are targeting the wrong guy. If the team is going to dump $8-10 million on a player, why not fill a position of need? Stephen Drew would give the team a larger upgrade at SS than Morales would at DH.

I don't know how many more auditions we are supposed to give Nick Franklin and most of the people in the organization seeem to think his arm is too weak for SS anyway. But, Chris Taylor has been pushed off of SS in Tacoma as they try, once again, to get Franklin ready for another call up. So, it won't be much longer. Maybe another week, and we will probably see Bloomquist at SS a few times before Franklin gets called up.

 

[mcnabb7542]

Gotta do something! it's mid May and there still in this thing, ( shocker I know)
granted he's not the only problem on this team, but his head is so swollen his defense has gone to crap...
Send him down and bring up Nicky, him and Bloomquist can platoon the ss spot for a while to give upper management to find a better solution...

 

[gowazzu02]

Rinse and Repeat. Replace "Miller" with ANY Mariners offensive prospect of the bast 15 years.

 

[PolarVortex]

Rinse and Repeat. Replace "Miller" with ANY Mariners offensive prospect of the bast 15 years.

Maybe they need to get their AAA affiliate out of the PCL, or out of Tacoma at least, and groom them in a park that more resembles Safeco Field in hitting difficulty. Or maybe they just need to fire all of their scouts and start over from scratch.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Another thing to note on Franklin. He got yanked in the middle of the game a couple of nights ago for a "mental lapse." Also didn't start the next game which seems to suggest he may be in the doghouse. I don't see them rewarding that with a promotion, especially since he hasn't proven anything at the MLB level.

 

[cezero]

Another thing to note on Franklin. He got yanked in the middle of the game a couple of nights ago for a "mental lapse." Also didn't start the next game which seems to suggest he may be in the doghouse. I don't see them rewarding that with a promotion, especially since he hasn't proven anything at the MLB level.

Yeah, he's a mess at SS a lot of times. He's been better overall lately when I've watchedon MiLB, though.

You're right about the viable alternatives for Miller, though. Options there are just extremely limited.

 

[SeattleCoug]

And now Chris Taylor just went on the DL. So in a nutshell unless there a free agent SS out there not named Stephen Drew, Miller is our guy for the time being.

 

[NWinAZ]

Like mentioned above:

6h[/ame] Regarding SS issue: Franklin is a possibility but in doghouse for mental lapses at Tacoma. Club doesn't want to reward that...

 

[navamind]

I think that Willie Bloomquist, Nick Franklin or even Chris Taylor would be an upgrade at this point. Miller is having a lot of problems and it doesn't appear he is going to be able to work them out with the Mariners, some time in AAA may do some good for his confidence once he starts to figure things out again.

I'm not sure what the Mariners seem to have against Franklin. He is currently hitting the cover off the ball in AAA (27 G 7 HR .384 AVG .479 OBP), it would appear he has earned some regular MLB playing time back with how Miller has performed at SS. IMO Franklin still has high upside, I don't see how he would be worse than Miller.

Chris Taylor is another option. He's currently hitting .372/.414/.593 in Tacoma with 9 SB and 3 HR in 35 games. Last year in 134 games between A+ and AA, he hit .314/.409/.455, had 8 HRs and 38 SB. He can play SS and 2B.

Bloomquist is debatable

 

[wazzu31]

Like mentioned above:

6h Regarding SS issue: Franklin is a possibility but in doghouse for mental lapses at Tacoma. Club doesn't want to reward that...

If he is in the doghouse then trade him. There is no point in having him in the organization, he is a better option at SS than Miller is right now. It shows how stupid the organization is if they hold a guy down because of mental lapses in AAA. It's Tacoma, not Seattle. Having the big club have a doghouse for minor leaguers just shows how inept the organization is with their farm system.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Bloomquist is debatable

Couldn't be worse than Miller at this point. I don't think anyone could be worse than him.

 

[cezero]

Couldn't be worse than Miller at this point. I don't think anyone could be worse than him.

Bloomquist's numbers at SS are some of the worst I've ever seen. His bat would make up for some of it over Miller at this point, though.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Even with Chris Taylor on the DL, Franklin is starting in RF tonight, not SS. That should tell you what the organization thinks about Franklin's future as a SS here. Not happening.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Even with Chris Taylor on the DL, Franklin is starting in RF tonight, not SS. That should tell you what the organization thinks about Franklin's future as a SS here. Not happening.

Judging by how the Mariners treated Franklin after the Cano signing, I don't believe the organization holds Franklin in high esteem.

 

[SeattleCoug]

Judging by how the Mariners treated Franklin after the Cano signing, I don't believe the organization holds Franklin in high esteem.

And judging that he is still here and not traded I dont think other teams value him that high either. Its just become a very weird situation.