Can Nick Franklin play right field?

[Logicallylethal]

He's on fire in triple a right now hitting .474 with 3 hrs and 7 rbi and a 1.471 ops

I don't wanna give up on Nick Franklin just yet. He looked like a .280 20 hr 80-90 rbi in the first couple months in the big leagues. Then the league figured him out a bit and he lost his confidence.

If he can adjust and get his confidence back...he would be a better option than Logan Morrison for sure.

 

[cezero]

he said he was willing. played a little out there in spring training, even.

m's have to decide if he can yield more in a trade, imo. if not, then they might try to convert him later this year or next year.

 

[Logicallylethal]

I say convert him and get him some big league playing time.

Even if we don't plan on keeping him in the future...at least showcase his bat on the major league level again to show people that his first couple months wasn't a fluke

I personally don't think it's a fluke. And if we can showcase him, up his trade value...we can bring back a good player/prospect.

The worst thing the Mariners could do is give up on Nick and trade him for some middle of the road reliever over 34.

 

[cezero]

could happen

we'll see

 

[wazzu31]

I say convert him and get him some big league playing time.

Even if we don't plan on keeping him in the future...at least showcase his bat on the major league level again to show people that his first couple months wasn't a fluke

I personally don't think it's a fluke. And if we can showcase him, up his trade value...we can bring back a good player/prospect.

The worst thing the Mariners could do is give up on Nick and trade him for some middle of the road reliever over 34.

Unless the M's give him a legitimate spot on the big club they won't get more than a scrub player in return because the other team has all the leverage in trade talks.

 

[seahawksfan234]

SS and 2B are a hell of a lot harder to play than OF. Anyone who has the athletic ability to play the middle infield can easily handle the outfield. He obviously has higher trade value as a middle infielder, but the Mariners need to decide if they want him to ever play in a Mariners uniform again because 2B is locked down for 10 more years and Brad Miller is looking like a long term SS. If Nick Franklin is going to be a Mariners regular ever again, it is going to have to be in the outfield.

I believe Franklin would be a big upgrade over Logan Morrison and think they should have him playing OF full time down in AAA and bring him up to replace Morrison.

 

[pistlpete]

SS and 2B are a hell of a lot harder to play than OF. Anyone who has the athletic ability to play the middle infield can easily handle the outfield. He obviously has higher trade value as a middle infielder, but the Mariners need to decide if they want him to ever play in a Mariners uniform again because 2B is locked down for 10 more years and Brad Miller is looking like a long term SS. If Nick Franklin is going to be a Mariners regular ever again, it is going to have to be in the outfield.

I believe Franklin would be a big upgrade over Logan Morrison and think they should have him playing OF full time down in AAA and bring him up to replace Morrison.

Agree completely and send Saunders somewhere, anywhere. He's never going to amount to anything.

 

[cezero]

SS and 2B are a hell of a lot harder to play than OF. Anyone who has the athletic ability to play the middle infield can easily handle the outfield. He obviously has higher trade value as a middle infielder, but the Mariners need to decide if they want him to ever play in a Mariners uniform again because 2B is locked down for 10 more years and Brad Miller is looking like a long term SS. If Nick Franklin is going to be a Mariners regular ever again, it is going to have to be in the outfield.

I believe Franklin would be a big upgrade over Logan Morrison and think they should have him playing OF full time down in AAA and bring him up to replace Morrison.

i'd be fine with it, but honestly, i'd rather not have our outfield consisting of almonte and 2 converted infielders with extremely limited time at the positions for anything more than is absolutely necessary. ackley's range out there isn't good. negative uzr, and quite low in several other sabermetrics.

i'd much rather add a real quality outfielder in the offseason or later this season through a trade, though.

at any rate, it'll be tough for the m's front office to figure out what to do with franklin. frankly, i'm scared no matter what.

 

[seahawksfan234]

i'd be fine with it, but honestly, i'd rather not have our outfield consisting of almonte and 2 converted infielders with extremely limited time at the positions for anything more than is absolutely necessary. ackley's range out there isn't good. negative uzr, and quite low in several other sabermetrics.

i'd much rather add a real quality outfielder in the offseason or later this season through a trade, though.

at any rate, it'll be tough for the m's front office to figure out what to do with franklin. frankly, i'm scared no matter what.

I don't think the Mariners could land an impact player for any package centered around Franklin. I believe Franklin still has upside and would probably be an upgrade defensively over Logan Morrison. Morrison's bat is not looking too impressive, he is terrible defensively and does not have the upside that Franklin has.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what quality outfielder there is that can be had at a reasonable price via trade. Not many guys come to mind off the top of my head, do you have any ideas?

 

[cezero]

it would take giving up some pitching, and i have no idea what will be available near the trade deadline, but there will be some for sure.

if we convert franklin to outfield and put him out there this year, i'd hope to god that it wasn't something we were planning to use after this season. the outfield is a huge liability right now that needs real solutions if we want to contend long-term.

 

[Logicallylethal]

I think it all depends on how the M's project Franklin as a hitter

If they see him as someone who is capable of .270 ish 15-20 hr 75-80 rbi type guy then we need to plug him in the lineup in whatever way we can.

Unfortunately, at this point, I think the M's are enamored with Morrison's power potential and want to give him a shot before giving up on him.

Btw though...has Michael Saunders fallen off the face of the earth or what? This guy has all the tools physically to be good...he's tall, he's fast, he's good defensively, he has solid power...but the guy just can't hit. His bat speed is so slow and he has no idea what he's doing at the plate.

Tonight in the 9th he took a first pitch fast ball right up the middle and then swung at the next two pitches way out of the strike zone

 

[Logicallylethal]

On a side note...Brandon Maurer is destroying the competition in triple a right now

Granted it's only 6 innings but he has a 1.42 era with 14 ks. I like him better than Luetge or Noesi at the long reliever role. He has good stuff. We just brought him up too early last year trying to use him as the 5th starter.

 

[NWinAZ]

I said it in the off season and that is if we want to receive a legit OF then Seager has to be the guy traded. Franklin moves to 3B until if/when Peterson is ready. Otherwise we are getting a prospect with questions on if he an play in the majors back for him or a middle ceiling vet OF.

First we have to get Seager hitting again to even debate this.

 

[NWinAZ]

On a side note...Brandon Maurer is destroying the competition in triple a right now

Granted it's only 6 innings but he has a 1.42 era with 14 ks. I like him better than Luetge or Noesi at the long reliever role. He has good stuff. We just brought him up too early last year trying to use him as the 5th starter.

He has always been a very good AAAA pitcher.

 

[seahawksfan234]

it would take giving up some pitching, and i have no idea what will be available near the trade deadline, but there will be some for sure.

if we convert franklin to outfield and put him out there this year, i'd hope to god that it wasn't something we were planning to use after this season. the outfield is a huge liability right now that needs real solutions if we want to contend long-term.

It really depends on the player we are trading for. I don't know who you had in mind and I'm not sure who is rumored to be available, but I'd be hesitant to include Paxton or Walker in any trade deal as I believe both could be top tier starters. Plus, Iwakuma is in a contract year and if we were to deal Walker or Paxton we'd be looking really slim at pitching.

I said it in the off season and that is if we want to receive a legit OF then Seager has to be the guy traded. Franklin moves to 3B until if/when Peterson is ready. Otherwise we are getting a prospect with questions on if he an play in the majors back for him or a middle ceiling vet OF.

What about trading Peterson? He is rising pretty quickly and I think the scouting agencies have him underrated. I believe Seager will turn it around and revert to his old form, but perhaps it is better to consider trading prospects for a proven commodity.

In 64 career games in the minors, Peterson is hitting .306 with 14 HRs. In 14 spring training ABs he hit .286 with a home run and 4 RBIs. He could be a on the fast track to the majors.

 

[NWinAZ]

What about trading Peterson? He is rising pretty quickly and I think the scouting agencies have him underrated. I believe Seager will turn it around and revert to his old form, but perhaps it is better to consider trading prospects for a proven commodity.

In 64 career games in the minors, Peterson is hitting .306 with 14 HRs. In 14 spring training ABs he hit .286 with a home run and 4 RBIs. He could be a on the fast track to the majors.

I guess I pick Seager is because he has the most value since he has shown he can hit on the MLB level, he is a 3B which is hard to find these days, and it is a position we can fill and do so with a RH hitter. He will also start to get more expensive here real soon and will be 27 at the end of the season.

Peterson won't have the same trade value because of being unproven on MLB level and some question his ability to stick in the majors at 3B.

I like Seager and would be happy to keep him and just sign a freakin RH OF that is proven himself in the majors, but do you realize we have only had 1 legit RH OF (Cameron) since 2000 worth even a 3 WAR in any one season? That is so hard to believe and I am not talking a RH DH put in the OF. Talking a real RH OF worth even average WAR.

 

[Logicallylethal]

You know who would have been a good option at right field that can provide us with some power?

Mike Morse

Not sure why we took on a project like Morrison who has no track record of consistent production and totally did not try to resign Morse

So far in 2014 Morse is hitting .351 with 2 hrs and 10 rbi

 

[johnfree63]

You know who would have been a good option at right field that can provide us with some power?

Mike Morse

Not sure why we took on a project like Morrison who has no track record of consistent production and totally did not try to resign Morse

So far in 2014 Morse is hitting .351 with 2 hrs and 10 rbi

Morse can't stay healthy and is a worse defender then Morrison. He's pretty good when healthy but hes only played more then 110 games in a season once.

 

[seahawksfan234]

You know who would have been a good option at right field that can provide us with some power?

Mike Morse

Not sure why we took on a project like Morrison who has no track record of consistent production and totally did not try to resign Morse

So far in 2014 Morse is hitting .351 with 2 hrs and 10 rbi

He was a guy I really wanted the Mariners to give a 1 year deal to. I thought he had a down year last year due to injuries and could have come back to have the year he is having now. He does have the injury concerns as John mentioned, but at a 1 year $6m deal it wouldn't have been a bad addition.

I guess I pick Seager is because he has the most value since he has shown he can hit on the MLB level, he is a 3B which is hard to find these days, and it is a position we can fill and do so with a RH hitter. He will also start to get more expensive here real soon and will be 27 at the end of the season.

Peterson won't have the same trade value because of being unproven on MLB level and some question his ability to stick in the majors at 3B.

I like Seager and would be happy to keep him and just sign a freakin RH OF that is proven himself in the majors, but do you realize we have only had 1 legit RH OF (Cameron) since 2000 worth even a 3 WAR in any one season? That is so hard to believe and I am not talking a RH DH put in the OF. Talking a real RH OF worth even average WAR.

Seager does have higher value, but I've reached the point where I'm so sick and tired of prospects. D.J. Peterson appears to have all the talent in the world, but so did Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak and Jesus Montero. I'd rather stick with our proven commodities and send our prospects in exchange for more proven commodities.

Unfortunately I don't think there will be any legit OF in free agency, it would appear either home grown talent or a trade are our best (maybe only) options.

 

[NWinAZ]

Seager does have higher value, but I've reached the point where I'm so sick and tired of prospects. D.J. Peterson appears to have all the talent in the world, but so did Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak and Jesus Montero. I'd rather stick with our proven commodities and send our prospects in exchange for more proven commodities.

I agree but other teams aren't dumb enough to trade proven commodities for prospects. You are going to get someone with some kind of defect and we have enough of them. Oh well, we can't beat the A's anyways so it doesn't really matter.