Your opinions on the young guys

[Logicallylethal]

Nick Franklin
- This kid looks like a legit major league hitter. He shows good patience at the plate, has a good enough glove, and for such a little guy he has some pop off his bat. Will probably never hit 25-30 hrs but I can definitely see .290 15-20 hrs 70-85 rbis hitting in the 2 hole.

Mike Zunino
- I love him behind the plate. He just looks like a catcher who knows what he's doing behind the plate compared to Montero who was so slow footed and just not natural behind there. With the bat however, he doesn't look like he's completely ready for the majors just yet. Some people are wary about him being called up so early, but I think the major league experience will be good for him. He'll slowly develop as a hitter.

Brad Miller
- Exciting player to watch. Two triples today!? People are wary about his glove but he's so athletic and can make so many plays out there...he'll grow into his role defensively and with time he'll develop into a good fielding short stop. With the bat...I'm not sure what to make of him just yet. Those first few games he looked like he was completely overwhelmed, but recently he's had some real nice games. I was hoping to see some power from him, but at this point anything better than Ryan's .200 avg is a positive.

Dustin Ackley
- I was really pulling for this guy. I was following him every game in triple a seeing him hit the ball well. And I wanted so badly for him to carry that back into the majors again...but man it just hasn't resulted in any improvement in the majors. Ackley is really fringing on being a bust now...

Justin Smoak
- I really love how patient he has become at the plate. He sees the ball so well and is always working himself into good counts. The one thing with Smoak is, it seems like when he does get that 3-1 count or 2-1 count or 2-0 count he doesn't get a good swing on the fast ball and grounds out. Smoak has been picking up his average of late, but I still want to see some power from him.

As for our young pitchers...I'm ready to see Erasmo back up. From what I've read about his starts in triple a...he's the most ready to come back to the majors. I hope Bonderman and Harang continue pitching well so we can ship them off and bring up some of the young guns.

Hultzen I want to see them ease him in and not rush into it. Maurer...let's give him another shot in August or Sept. Walker...man the kid feels like he's ready now and he's been dealin...I wouldn't be against seeing him later on this year...but I wouldn't be disappointed either if we waited another year to bring him up to the majors.

 

[cezero]

I'm worried about Hultzen's shoulder.

He didn't pitch much after a couple of months off before it acted right back up again.

Really not good.

 

[seahawksfan234]

Nick Franklin: I agree with what you have to say about him. Although I will say that I believe the potential for future power is there. I'm not sure what he is listed at by the Mariners but he has a lot of room to fill out his frame, I'm not the only person who thinks he is built like a 9th grader. I'm happy with his performance and I feel like there is even more upside from him.

Mike Zunino: Once again I agree. The only thing I'm concerned about is the possibility of his current struggles possibly getting in his head and impacting him long term. Baseball is one of those sports where you can really hurt yourself by just being in your head.

Brad Miller: I'm hoping he starts improving at the plate. He is better to have up there than Carlos Truinfel and will likely hit better than Brendan Ryan but I don't think it would be a bad idea splitting time between Ryan and Miller. Although Ryan has been terrible at the plate, he's still likely the best defensive SS in the game.

Dustin Ackley: I was encouraged by how well he was hitting in AAA before being called up but it does not look like he has improved at all. Strange how these things work out.

Justin Smoak: Once again I agree. I'm happy to see that his OBP and BA is so improved, now if he can mix in some power with that he can redeem himself. He has the natural strength to do it, I'm just hoping he can hit for power without sacrificing his BA/OBP.

 

[unlvmariners]

Nick Franklin- I have really liked Nick Franklin since we drafted him and he had the big year his first full season in the minors. I think he is a good hitter that is patient and swings at good pitches. I think he is athletic and has good range at 2nd base but still needs some work with the glove. Should be exciting seeing him develop at the major league level.

Zunino- Like what he can do behind the plate. Don't like what he is doing at the plate. I like Zunino but my expectation for him is to be a good hitter and to be a good catcher. He is for sure one of those things so far but in my opinion if he doesn't hit its a failure. I do think he will eventually be able to hit well but for the time being I would rather him be in AAA, unfortunately injuries have forced his call up.

 

[unlvmariners]

Brad Miller- This guy is going to hit!!! I am not worried about him at the plate he has hit well at every level so far. I don't expect a ton of power but some. I see a high average guy. His glove does need some work, if he gets better at D or not is still up in the air. Should be fun to see him play the rest of the way.

Dustin Ackley- Glimmer of hope during time in AAA. Hope left when he looked exactly the same in the majors. I like that they moved him to the outfield.

Smoak- Very happy with his approach at the plate right now. He needs to keep it up for an entire season.

Pitchers-
Walker, I say wait until next season. The kid looks good though.
Hultzen, I think cezero is right. Injury should be concern.
Paxton, Not a good season unfortunately. Hope he gets back on track.
Maurer, May be a case of having a good spring training thats all. I think he needed to pitch in AAA before he faced mlb hitters.
Erasmo, I think he is a good pitcher. Sounds like injuries have held him up this year. This is a guy that can help this rotation.

 

[wazzu31]

Brad Miller- This guy is going to hit!!! I am not worried about him at the plate he has hit well at every level so far. I don't expect a ton of power but some. I see a high average guy. His glove does need some work, if he gets better at D or not is still up in the air. Should be fun to see him play the rest of the way.

Dustin Ackley- Glimmer of hope during time in AAA. Hope left when he looked exactly the same in the majors. I like that they moved him to the outfield.

Smoak- Very happy with his approach at the plate right now. He needs to keep it up for an entire season.

Pitchers-
Walker, I say wait until next season. The kid looks good though.
Hultzen, I think cezero is right. Injury should be concern.
Paxton, Not a good season unfortunately. Hope he gets back on track.
Maurer, May be a case of having a good spring training thats all. I think he needed to pitch in AAA before he faced mlb hitters.
Erasmo, I think he is a good pitcher. Sounds like injuries have held him up this year. This is a guy that can help this rotation.

Franklin-will end up being the best all around out of all the young guys...including Seager
Zunino-I see a better hitting version of Dan Wilson. Nothing extra special but so far he has looked the part defensively
Smoak-trade him, he is getting a better average but has yet to show the power you need. Trade him while there is still some value.
Ackley-same boat, trade him while there is still some value. I love they finally switched him, but to this point he does not look like he has the arm to be a solid outfielder and with Smoak, he is now is a position that the M's need power or at least solid doubles
Pitching-all of them need to be held off one more year. I do however think Walker is the most ready out of all of them including Ramirez. Hultzen still scares me with his control. He doesn't throw especially hard and when he relies on his fastball he gets hammered.

 

[Logicallylethal]

Man...what is up with Wedge benching Smoak two games in a row. I know we're playing in the NL with no DH but Smoak is coming off games where he had 2 hits and then 3 hits. You gotta keep him in the lineup to keep that bat going...

 

[cezero]

I still don't understand why people were ooohing and aaahing about Ackely hitting well in AAA when he got sent down.

We already knew he could hit AAA. His OPS was 900+ when he got called up in the first place.

How could anybody expect more of the same at AAA to translate to MLB success?

In short, he did well when he was new for half a season. Everybody figured him out. He struggled for a year and a half, getting dominated by every 5th starter. Going down to AAA and doing well was not going to be a panacea for his MLB woes.

 

[mcnabb7542]

Nick Franklin
- This kid looks like a legit major league hitter. He shows good patience at the plate, has a good enough glove, and for such a little guy he has some pop off his bat. Will probably never hit 25-30 hrs but I can definitely see .290 15-20 hrs 70-85 rbis hitting in the 2 hole.

Mike Zunino
- I love him behind the plate. He just looks like a catcher who knows what he's doing behind the plate compared to Montero who was so slow footed and just not natural behind there. With the bat however, he doesn't look like he's completely ready for the majors just yet. Some people are wary about him being called up so early, but I think the major league experience will be good for him. He'll slowly develop as a hitter.

Brad Miller
- Exciting player to watch. Two triples today!? People are wary about his glove but he's so athletic and can make so many plays out there...he'll grow into his role defensively and with time he'll develop into a good fielding short stop. With the bat...I'm not sure what to make of him just yet. Those first few games he looked like he was completely overwhelmed, but recently he's had some real nice games. I was hoping to see some power from him, but at this point anything better than Ryan's .200 avg is a positive.

Dustin Ackley
- I was really pulling for this guy. I was following him every game in triple a seeing him hit the ball well. And I wanted so badly for him to carry that back into the majors again...but man it just hasn't resulted in any improvement in the majors. Ackley is really fringing on being a bust now...

Justin Smoak
- I really love how patient he has become at the plate. He sees the ball so well and is always working himself into good counts. The one thing with Smoak is, it seems like when he does get that 3-1 count or 2-1 count or 2-0 count he doesn't get a good swing on the fast ball and grounds out. Smoak has been picking up his average of late, but I still want to see some power from him.

With the five players listed above, in five years this can be a huge part to the M's success if the front office doesnt panic and listen to fans whining or pull a foolish trade for an over hyped player from another organization.....

I know people are sick of the losing,(so am I) but I still believe in Z and Wedge, I like the way Smoak is hitting now, they pulled Ryan for Miller, is Miller a real shortstop? Who knows, but he shows he can play there, Ack, might of lost his postion cause of his hitting but if he can regain his bat, and Saunders hitting like crap there could be a spot in the outfield for Ack. Zunino, he's one year removed from college, if he goes out and handles the pitching staff the way he has the last couple of weeks then I'm willing to wait two more years for his hitting, Dan Wilson was a .260 hitter...

Seager is solid ( and clutch) you keep Morse, and resign Ibanez, (DH) then you look real hard at the younger guys (pitchers) these pitchers were suppose to be the key to this franchises farm system, they havent proven squat.......

 

[wazzu31]

With the five players listed above, in five years this can be a huge part to the M's success if the front office doesnt panic and listen to fans whining or pull a foolish trade for an over hyped player from another organization.....

I know people are sick of the losing,(so am I) but I still believe in Z and Wedge, I like the way Smoak is hitting now, they pulled Ryan for Miller, is Miller a real shortstop? Who knows, but he shows he can play there, Ack, might of lost his postion cause of his hitting but if he can regain his bat, and Saunders hitting like crap there could be a spot in the outfield for Ack. Zunino, he's one year removed from college, if he goes out and handles the pitching staff the way he has the last couple of weeks then I'm willing to wait two more years for his hitting, Dan Wilson was a .260 hitter...

Seager is solid ( and clutch) you keep Morse, and resign Ibanez, (DH) then you look real hard at the younger guys (pitchers) these pitchers were suppose to be the key to this franchises farm system, they havent proven squat.......

Can you explain what gives you any faith that Jack be the main guy in any major league organization?

 

[mcnabb7542]

Can you explain what gives you any faith that Jack be the main guy in any major league organization?

Its not like he's done any worse then Bavasi, and Bavasi pretty much gave away the farm system with foolish trades for overvalued veterans....

Wazzu I honestly believe when Jack took over this orginzation there wasn't squat in the farm system, he's the one that has slowly built it back up. Between Bavasi and Gilick they depleated the youth or missed on picks...

The other isssue is who (if Jack isn't the right guy ) do you bring in? I mean lets face it ownership isnt the kind to go out and spend money, plus there is still a need for younger talent, so now your looking at a couple more drafts....

 

[wazzu31]

Its not like he's done any worse then Bavasi, and Bavasi pretty much gave away the farm system with foolish trades for overvalued veterans....

Wazzu I honestly believe when Jack took over this orginzation there wasn't squat in the farm system, he's the one that has slowly built it back up. Between Bavasi and Gilick they depleated the youth or missed on picks...

The other isssue is who (if Jack isn't the right guy ) do you bring in? I mean lets face it ownership isnt the kind to go out and spend money, plus there is still a need for younger talent, so now your looking at a couple more drafts....

Agree about the farm system, which was the problem in my eyes of bringing in a guy who has only dealt with prospects. Bavasi was brought in to try and keep the roll the big club was on and neglected the farm system and prostituted it for attempted playoff runs. Jack was brought in to restock the farm system but has neglected the big club outside of Chone Figgins and a couple of rental free agents. I guess I may be hard on Jack but I have yet to see one reason why he deserves to be a GM.

I guess my big problem is Jack seems to lack any foresight at all and I preached it when Seager started tearing it up in the minors. They wasted so much time with Ackley becoming a 2B but nearly all of the position player prospects were 2B. Seager, Franklin, Miller. It's nice they moved Seager but now with drafting Pederson there is a road block there. The Montero situation now with Zunino. I just don't see a direction when you cluster all your talent with minimal potential to switch positions.

 

[Cloud]

Nick Franklin for me has been the most impressive guy. Definitely encouraging.

Justin Smoak's steady improvement since being re-called is definitely a positive for him and this organization. It may be time where he turn things around now.

Mike Zunino impressive behind the plate.

Dustin Ackley has been a continued disappointment.

 

[unlvmariners]

It's nice they moved Seager but now with drafting Pederson there is a road block there. The Montero situation now with Zunino. I just don't see a direction when you cluster all your talent with minimal potential to switch positions.

I question if Peterson will stay at 3rd base, I could see him being moved to first if need be.

I really don't see the "cluster' you mentioned. Are you saying we are weak at other spots in the farm system? Or we have a buildup of similar player types?

The area in the organization that I viewed as the weakest was the outfield. With this current draft I think the Mariners tried to improve the outfield with Austin Wilson and Tyler O'Neill in the second and third round picks but I think they are still missing big time prospect. Hopefully one or two of the guys from this current draft class can emerge as a legit outfield prospect.

I guess I don't see the issue with having multiple prospects at the same position. It allows the organization to pick and choose who is the best. Not all players make it. It also puts depth at positions. If you loose a player to injury, trades or free agency you have the ability to replace. You also have the ability to trade the prospects to strengthen your major league roster.

 

[cezero]

I question if Peterson will stay at 3rd base, I could see him being moved to first if need be.
.

I think that will be his best destiny.

I saw he and Justin Seager play at a local A game last week.

Peterson is a big dude. Tree trunk arms.

 

[johnfree63]

I think that will be his best destiny.

I saw he and Justin Seager play at a local A game last week.

Peterson is a big dude. Tree trunk arms.

Did you get to see Austin Wilson? He's an intriguing prospect but, I always worry about position players out of Stanford. They teach a sort of inside out swing that tends to kill power there.

 

[cezero]

Did you get to see Austin Wilson? He's an intriguing prospect but, I always worry about position players out of Stanford. They teach a sort of inside out swing that tends to kill power there.

Yeah, he looked good, too. I wasn't paying as much attention, though.

For the record, I like inside out swings. A guy who can go up the middle and the other way making solid contact for a base hit is better to me than somebody who flies out a lot pulling.

No matter what, I wish most of our guys would take a page out of Boone's book when they get to a 2-strike count. He would switch his stance and hands on the bat to try to hit inside out, and it worked out really well.

Also, some people are naturally better at hitting inside out and get more power that way. It's a timing thing.

 

[mcnabb7542]

Agree about the farm system, which was the problem in my eyes of bringing in a guy who has only dealt with prospects. Bavasi was brought in to try and keep the roll the big club was on and neglected the farm system and prostituted it for attempted playoff runs. Jack was brought in to restock the farm system but has neglected the big club outside of Chone Figgins and a couple of rental free agents. I guess I may be hard on Jack but I have yet to see one reason why he deserves to be a GM.

I like that "prostituted" comparision...

Minus Figgins and lets face it that was a big strike on him, but the guy's hands are some what tied with this ownership, its proven! Griffey, Piss Rod, and Randy Johnson!

Heres my thoughts on this, I dont want a one and done, ( one season make a serious run then back to crap ball) I want the youth movement, I want the log jam of outfielders, a major gets hurt they call up a guy from the minors and people are asking, " where the hell did this guy come from?" It's time for this orginzation and the fan base to understand, this ownership will not over spend, its been proven, and seen, but that doesnt mean they cant compete, the Twins, the A's, heck the O's are running that card now.

Is Jack Z the guy to take this guy to the next level? I dont know, maybe someone else can come in and get really lucky with draft picks but until then, why screw with something that in the small faze has been somewhat working? I mean it could be worse, then could only have 20 wins this year, I'm not saying there going to pull a miricale here, but they do compete, and if they had a pitching staff past the frist two starters, who knows where they could be sitting as of today...

 

[Logicallylethal]

Nick Franklin for me has been the most impressive guy. Definitely encouraging.

Justin Smoak's steady improvement since being re-called is definitely a positive for him and this organization. It may be time where he turn things around now.

Mike Zunino impressive behind the plate.

Dustin Ackley has been a continued disappointment.

Smoak continues to impress me with every at bat. He just looks like he knows what he's doing up there. Hit a big hr opposite field today too. If he can keep this up for the rest of the year...and develop into a solid 25-30 hr guy...the Cliff Lee deal will no longer be criticized as much.

As for Ackley...I remember him telling reporters and our radio guys that heading back to the majors he was going to be more confident and be more aggressive at the plate. See the ball and hit it instead of trying to anticipate pitches and look for specific locations.

Yet...it's the same ol Ackley. Pitchers are throwing him fastballs up the middle first pitch...and he'll just stare at it. Then they'll work on him with breaking balls or two seamers running away and he'll swing.

 

[seattlefan75]

man nick franklin has been balling sense being called up to the majors I think this guy may be in the running for rookie of the year for the american league if he gets over 400 at bats and continues to produce.

I like both Zunino and Miller, but as far as hitting they havent been doing all to well but are hands are tied there has been 0 production at their respective positions same thing with CF they had to move ackley there. I will say this though zunino can call a heck of a game better than montero i believe harang, joe saunders and bonderman both have done better on the mound lately maybe do to him being behind the plate.

As far as pitching goes i have been on record saying that erasmo ramirez should have been in the back end of the rotation opening day he pitched well late last season i dont know why he even had to compete for a spot in spring training. regardless he got hurt and hultzen was smoking batters in AAA before his injury they would have gotten the call up last month if it wasnt for that. Paxton has been doing terrible which was a shame because I thought this was the season where he was just going to do a few starts in AAA and get the immediate call up but instead he is getting tossed around.