The Astros have made the promotion of George Springer and DFA of Lucas Harrell official by announcing each move via press release. As Houston fans (and fantasy baseball players) eagerly await Springer's big league debut, here's a look around the rest of the division…
- Springer won't be the only highly touted prospect to arrive in the Majors today; the Mariners will recall Nick Franklin from Triple-A Tacoma, reports Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, who expects Logan Morrison to hit the DL in order to clear a 25-man roster spot. According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter), Franklin could see some time in the outfield. Franklin, 23, got off to a blistering .395/.469/.744 start in 11 Triple-A games after an offseason loaded with trade speculation.
- Mariners right-hander Taijuan Walker was scratched from last night's rehab start after complaining of stiffness in his arm, reports Don Ruiz of the Tacoma News Tribune. GM Jack Zduriencik said that Walker — who is a consensus Top 10 prospect — will be re-evaluated today. Seattle's rotation has been solid so far, but they've experienced a good deal of poor luck with injuries to Walker, Hisashi Iwakuma and James Paxton.
- Jerry Brewer of Athletics Nation looks at Josh Reddick's struggles this season and tracks the history of pitches he's seen in two-strike counts dating back to 2012. Brewer notes that Reddick has long struggled against good fastballs and curveballs, while feasting on sliders and changeups. Pitchers are hammering Reddick with fastballs and curves thus far, and the result has been a 33 percent strikeout rate to go along with his .098/.196/.098 batting line. The A's are in a clear jam as they decide what to do with Reddick, Brewer writes. Reddick has a minor league option remaining, but he could see as much or even more velocity in Triple-A, which will contain no shortage of up-and-coming power arms.
I am one of those fantasy owners! Also eagerly awaiting Gregory Polanco.
Sending Reddick down to see more fast balls would be a good thing not a bad thing. He needs to learn how to hit the fast ball to stay up in the bigs. Once scouts know a player can’t hit a pitch he will see it in every at bat. Time for Reddick to learn how to hit it or his career is over.
Both Reddick and Cespedes, although having different problems and holes in their swing, need continuously work on refining their approach at the plate. When it’s right for them, they are amazing. But now that the book is out on them both, they need to accurately make adjustments. Fingers crossed that they can get this ironed out soon.
They should keep him just to play against the Angels. They seem to have no problem walking him… twice!
The Yankees should trade Ivan Nova, Austin Romine, Dean Anna, and Zoilo Almonte to the Mariners for Nick Franklin and Jesus Montero before Nova pitches again and can damage his fragile trade value more than he already has this season.
Where would Austin Romine, Dean Anna and Zoilo Almonte play for Seattle?
Those players, who are all older than Nick Franklin and Jesus Montero, would be even less wanted by the Mariners than they are by the Yankees.
Are you saying that Ivan Nova is not enough on his own to get Nick Franklin? If so, who else do you think the Yankees would have to give the Mariners to get Franklin? Others here have said that I would be crazy to give up Nova for Franklin. I just want to get Franklin and I am willing to overpay to get him. I also know that Jesus Montero has no future in Seattle and possibly anywhere else. I figured that from the Mariners perspective, Romine would be an upgrade over Montero, and from the Yankees perspective, Montero could benefit from a change in scenery and could be a 3rd catcher and a backup 1B and DH.
Three years of 27-year-old righthander Ivan Nova with Oliver’s projected WAR of 6.2 over that period would not be nearly enough to land six years of 23-year-old middle infielder Nick Franklin with a projected five-year WAR of 17.5. Even you acknowledge that if Nova pitches again he “can damage his fragile trade value more than he already has this season.”
Seatte starters have an ERA of 2.85 through 13 games this season and the Mariner pitching staff overall has an ERA+ of 134 as the M’s await the return of Cy Young finalist Hisashi Iwakuma, top prospect Taijuan Walker and heralded rookie James Paxton. Nova and his 5.94 ERA would represent a significant downgrade.
Austin Romine would not displace 23-year-old Seattle catcher Mike Zunino, who has already posted 0.4 WAR with three homeruns in 11 games this season.
In short, the Yankees don’t have the players to make a realistic offer for Nick Franklin.
Even if Romine would not displace Zunino, he would be an upgrade from Seattle’s perspective over Montero. What are other teams that are interested in Nick Franklin willing to offer for him? Who do the Mariners currently have on their bench as backups to Robinson Cano and Brad Miller aside from Franklin? Are they better or worse than Dean Anna?
Franklin’s talent is wasted in AAA or on Seattle’s bench. If he isn’t going to start for them, they should trade him. What does Seattle need? Regardless of what you or I might think of Nova, he still has some trade value. If Zoilo Almonte is not a valuable enough outfield prospect, how about Tyler Austin, Slade Heathcott, or Mason Williams? Would adding someone like Adam Warren to the package get a deal done?
I am not a fan of either team here, but you are wildly off base here Mr. Yankee.
If that is true, BK, please tell me what deal with the Yankees or any other team the Mariners should make for Franklin.
Jesus Montero is now a firstbaseman / designated hitter so Austin Romine is not a proper comp. I regret that the Mariners are paying Willie Bloomquist $5.8 million over two years to fill a utility role, but I don’t see Seattle eating that contract to make room for Dean Anna as a backup.
Nick Franklin is expected to see time in Seattle as a middle infielder, designated hitter and perhaps an outfielder.
None of those Yankee prospects would be likely to pique the interest of the Mariners. The teams probably do not match up well in a trade.
Who is better in your opinion? Anna or Bloomquist? If Anna is better and the Yankees would be willing to give the Mariners $5.8MM to pay for the remainder of Bloomquist’s contract so that they can move him elsewhere, would the teams be closer to matching up well in a trade? If not, what teams do match up well with the Mariners in a deal for Franklin. If they do match up so well, why has a deal not been done yet? Franklin should be an everyday player, not a utility player.
I suspect Seattle has not traded Nick Franklin because the Mariners anticipate Franklin will be an everyday player for the M’s before his 25th birthday. Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik probably fields inquiries regarding Franklin’s availability, but I doubt that Zduriencik is actively shopping Franklin.
At what position? Does he project to hit enough to be an outfielder, especially when Robinson Cano will undoubtedly underperform for the Mariners at 2B? I think that the Mariners will find that in addition to trading Michael Pineda for Jesus Montero, signing Robinson Cano is going to be the worst move that they have ever made.
Assuming for a moment that Frankin earns $2MM over the next three years, $18MM over his three arbitration years, and $40MM over his first four free agent years, he is likely to cost 25% as much as Robinson Cano over the same period of time and produce somewhere between 80% and 90% as much as Cano, if not more, particularly if Cano flops as much as I think that he will.
The best argument for the Mariners to hold on to Franklin is to have him around as insurance when the Mariners realize how much of a mistake they made when they signed Cano and have no choice but to trade him back to the Yankees and pay 50% of his salary.
At what position?
Nick Franklin was the designated hitter in his first game back and the secondbaseman in the second game (when Robinson Cano was the DH). If Brad Miller continues to struggle, I expect Franklin to get some time at shortstop. Franklin got brief experience in the outfield during Spring Training.
I was not in favor of the Robinson Cano signing, but I hope the Mariners don’t compound matters by trading Nick Franklin for Yankee castoffs.
Hell hath no fury like a Yankee fan scorned.
Or how about John Buck for Tanaka?
I don’t think that trying to build a package of players around Ivan Nova to get Nick Franklin is the equivalent of Buck for Tanaka, but while we are on the subject of Buck, how about Romine, Anna, and Canzler for Buck, Bloomquist, and Montero?
I was just messin’ with ya.
The Ms have reportedly gotten a decent deal of interest and even offers for Franklin, and thankfully don’t appear that eager to trade him.
As for this other deal, why would the Ms want those guys? And they’d be selling low on Montero, so no.
Romine is younger than Buck, Anna is cheaper than Bloomquist, and the Ms have more or less publicly given up on Montero. Why not try to get something for him?
Bertin, you can save your time and effort here. Seattle and their spokesperson, Harmony have no intention of trading Franklin. They have had unrealistic demands for months. Seattle is perfect as is and the Yankees are perfect as is. Next year, the Yankees will sign or trade for their new infield. Enough with Seattle already!
Neither Harmony nor I speak for our respective teams, but I know that I at the very least enjoy speculating about what could and should be. I think that it is clear that both Harmony and I probably overvalue Nick Franklin insofar as I am willing to give away a large chunk of prospects for him and s/he is unwilling to trade him for anything that the Yankees have.
Do you have a different perspective on the situation, Jen? Do you think that Franklin is not worth going after or that Seattle is just going to demand too much for him? Who do you think the Yankees will sign or trade for their new infield next season? I think that most high profile players are not going to be available by this coming offseason, which is why I would like to see the Yankees lock up Stephen Drew and Franklin right now.
Hey, I wouldn’t call Harmony the spokesperson for the Mariners. He always brings up projected WAR for his arguments, which I don’t think really works when comparing hitters to pitchers. Pitchers are undervalued. I’m a huge Mariner fan, and I think they will and need to trade Franklin. I think all they’re doing now is looking into what they need, and trying to find a configuration that works. Once they are clear on their needs, I’m sure he will be dealt.
As for who are possible fits for Franklin other than the Yankees, there is a list. That list would probably start with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles, Mets, Rays, Dodgers perhaps, and the list could go on. There probably aren’t a lot of teams that HAVEN’T checked on him.
How much longer before the Astros promote Singleton too? They’re getting no production from 1B
A week. Two weeks, tops.
To: Lloyd McClendon, RE: Nick Franklin
Start him skip! The minute he gets there.
Not sure McClendon will get that message, but in this day and age, who knows. 🙂
Franklin has been on fire in Tacoma, let’s see if he can play his way onto the 25 man roster the rest of the year. Would be a shame to just sit him at this point.
Bad news about Walker. It’s the very reason I wanted to Ms to sign another SP, because we already got him and Paxton sidelined and it’s not even May yet.
Nice triple by Franklin off Darvish, to help get the Ms on the board. 🙂
Not so nice loss. Really really awful in fact. 🙁