I got the same vibe, Doc:
Ackley is not yet a lock in LF and it may be B. Miller's presence that makes that the case. I love the Zobby role for Miller until everybody just buys in that his bat carries him at SS and he will be quite fine there.
Saunders is somewhere between Purgatory and a ticket to Boston or TB or the other points east.
Farquhar is going to be pushing Rodney, hard. He's better than Rodney...which is the reason he might not be the closer this year. Oh, that and $10M.....
Romero is not completely dead. He's just almost dead. I think the thing with him is you have to invest the 40 games where he starts everyday and let him hack his way into your hearts and minds. There's a Miracle Max out there waiting to revive him, I think. But with Kivlehan and Deej hard-charging, he has to hit soon or be part of some Saunders trade.
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Want an "awesome opinion" on Dustin Ackley .... in 5,000 or 10,000 or 20,000 words? No problems there, mate. You and I can play ping-pong as much as we feel like, running up and down the sideline, cataloguing the good and the bad.
The problem comes when somebody asks us to commit to a position, short and sweet. Where are you on Dustin Ackley? You think he's going to become a star, or do you not? Dr. D runs screaming into the night. Lack 'a commitment, that's why nobody goes to his website, either that or the fact that insecure LrKr's never LnK us-all here at DoV.
That syndrome, the fear of commitment, is the reason I enjoyed Bob Dutton's 40-man offseason rundown so much. He gives you his opinion on each of 40 Mariners, and within a number of letters that could get you printed up at Kinko's for a bumper sticker.
Well, not really. We don't mind commitment as much as all that. It's still tough to do it in ten words, though :- )
........
So what's the quick take on Ackley, from the 5-yards-away view rather than from the 30,000-foot view? "Projects as LF, but needs to avoid another slow start."
Pause.
That's a pret-ty decent way to sum it up, if you want it that short. And let's be honest here. Dr. Detecto is fine with long evaluations. He runs from short evaluations like Iraqi insurgents from high-payload mosquito drones. (Yes, really.)
I love the feel for the game, but we're left with a question. What if Ackley does look bad in April and May? What then? McClendon showed some impatience with him in 2014, as we recall. But, like, what do you do?
.........
Is Stefen Romero going to do a Mike Carp or what?
Hm. Dutton sez "Missed chance to grab regular job, faces longer 2015 odds." Another clean single up the middle for Mr. TNT.
Players need three round trips to Tacoma, usually. Sometimes there just isn't time. It's a catch-22. That's why any good organization has tons of ex-players who are playing elsewhere in the league.
..........
Brad Miller? Let's see what Bob's got for us there. Wait! What would be your bumper sticker? Hmmm... :: taps chin ::
Bob goes with, "Bat has pop, but position change likely to OF or 1B." Cool. Right there, Dutton gives you his "access" take that Chris Taylor is in there. He also gives you several other CONCLUSIONS within a phrase or two. Count 'em up.
Did you miss this article in which Lloyd McClendon waxed ecstatic -- in Lloyd-speak -- over Miller? They're gushing over Miller's outfield play -- based on his Crazy Legging his way around pregame warmups.
The article also points out that the two highest SLG's after the All-Star Break were not Seager and Cano. They were Ackley (.476) and Miller (.464). Remember the John Benson rule: the way a guy played when you last saw him, the 2H, that's who he is. At least right now.
Dr. D wants Miller to do the Zob-rin-ator just until he jells such that the Taylor/Miller Wars are declared dead.
............
Here's a favorite summary from the TNT article. Danny Farquhar?
"No-prisoners style makes him perfect fit as backup closer." That's it exactly. In case you never noticed this, all you really need from a closer is Strike One.
.............
On Danny Hultzen, you like the vibe that Dutton takes from the front office. "Finally healthy, he could provide a big boost next season." That's about what he'd said about Paxton, "big boost."
Here is an article in which Zduriencik and McClendon take it as a given that Hultzen will pitch well in the AL; the challenge is to keep him on the mound. "He's as good as anybody when healthy." Dr. Detecto doesn't disagree; he has pointed out that the Cole Hamels (LHP fastball-plus changeup) template is almost failsafe in the ML game.
In spring training 2015, if Hultzen lights it up, he has every right to dream about a ROY type season. That's a very realistic possibility.
Golfclap,
Dr D
Comments
Dr. D, Now that my Sooners are out of the National championship picture as of Saturday, I realized as I read your posts this that I am now ready to move the Mariners off of the back burner on to the front. Being a fellow glass-half-full fan, your post did that with a vengeance. How many days until the four most anticipated words in the English language are uttered?
I didn't get to read the Dutton piece yet - been crazy busy lately...maybe one of you guys who's read the piece can tell me how similar my comments are:
C) MIKE ZUNINO - Would see AAA time in 2015 if not for defensive game - concerned for major regression due to bad contact.
C) JUSES SUCRE - Will lose back-up gig to Hicks by mid-season - Brendan Ryan minus walks at the plate.
C) BRANDON HICKS - Solid approach at plate and behind it - high stop-loss, minimal upside
1B) LOGAN MORRISON - Confidence, already a strength, increased in the crunch, comparable to young Lyle Overbay
1B/LF) PATRICK KIVLEHAN - Late arrival to baseball, ceiling not yet established, needs to improve strike zone control - LoMo blocks him in 2015
2B) ROBINSON CANO - Probably never going to hit 30 HR for Mariners, but who cares, really?
3B) KYLE SEAGER - Franchise hero in oh so many ways - defensive value likely a bit overstated in 2014
SS) CHRIS TAYLOR - Equals Erick Aybar
SS) BRAD MILLER - Much more dynamic than Taylor offensively, but Taylor the superior SS and the less likely to implode. If he can supersub, he can play.
UT) WILLIE BLOOMQUIST - This should be his final season, if he's smart - skills eroding despite high BABIP in 2014.
LF) DUSTIN ACKLEY - Dismal September casts a huge doubt on second half surge - watch groundball spray chart for pulled choppers in ST
CF) AUSTIN JACKSON - Swing well and truly fouled up and lifeless in 2014, but no sign of loss of reflexes, should rebound
RF) MICHAEL SAUNDERS - Breakout in 2015 likelier than ever (that is to say, was 10% likely, now 20% likely. :) ) - can he stay healthy?
OF) ENDY CHAVEZ - Had one of his hot streaks in 2014 - not buying it for 2015
OF) FRANKLIN GUTIERREZ - Last chance to make it as a bench player...will be fighting uphill from AAA
OF) STEFEN ROMERO - Missed chance to start, probably never will again in Seattle - plate skills VERY raw and unreliable
OF/1B) JI-MAN CHOI - My sleeper pick to click - would have debuted in 2014 if not for roid bust - to paraphrase scouts "The hitters friggin' hit"
3B/1B) DJ Peterson - Up with the big club by September at the very latest, see the last comment from scouts
We're lucky to have him.
Nice job. I'll bet you that's exactly what McClendon would wind up considering, about May 1, would be handing a healthy portion of Ackley's time to Miller.
Baseball people react well to Taylor's "scamper-y-ness." He looks more like a waterbug out there.
........
But it says here that Brad Miller is absolutely an average-solid glove SS. I'm talking the #14 defensive shortstop out of 30. That's my $0.02 I could be wrong.
Dewan's fielding bible plus-minus has Miller as +1 over the last two years, and +7 at the critical plays to his right. Miller can go into the hole just as well as most glove-first SS's.
You wonder sometimes if Miller's booming bat creates the assumption that he must be a bat-first SS.
"Puh-lay Ball-lll"?
Had Mercy, Shed Percy?
Victor Martinez Press Conference?
Sooners Scored on Texas?
:: baffled ::
It seems (anecdotally) that Miller "kicks a puppy" (flubs an easy one) now and again AND that is what people remember.......the boot.
Heck, that's the nature of the position just because you get soooooo many chances. I've always thought he was fine there.
UZR says so, too. 1.4 UZR and 2.0 UZR150. They have Taylor at 4.4 and 14.2....but I didn't think he was that much better than Miller. Perhaps I'm missing something.
but Miller is more than fine...and he's got that pop. Stuff to like there.
If the Sox ask about Saunders, does Jack ask for Cespedes back? They've been pretty close wOBA-wise the past two years, but Cespedes does it from the right side. Saunders is probably the better player, but Cespedes has been more durable.
He has at least one option year left doesn't he? If so, I would just stick him in Tacoma, play him 5 days out of 6 in an outfield corner, and see what happens with his bat. Sure, if someone wants him in a deal for a major piece, then that's fine too, but if you can keep him, just stick him down in Tacoma and let him play every day.
The right handedness would be nice. But Saunders is probably the better player, has more team control. And it's not like you can just pencil Cespedes in for 150 games either.
The Red Sox are likely looking to clear an out field spot anyway, not move one piece for another so it's probably moot.
"Pitchers and catchers report"! Best four words in English!
I think Miller's OF time is likely going to come at the expense of Saunders, myself.
"Pitchers and Catchers Report!" How old are you? All us old folks know that.
Take the offer and run......giggling all the way.
Then you use Cano as your Roc Nation liason and try to sign cespedes. If not, you've added your RH bat and given all the MiLB guys time to get ready.