M’s should keep Brendan Ryan beyond this season
Aug 1, 2012, 5:09 PM | Updated: 5:10 pm
By 710Sports.com staff
ESPN.com’s Keith Law ended his conversation with “Bob and Groz” on Wednesday by offering his scouting reports on two of the Mariners’ top prospects, middle infielders Nick Franklin and Brad Miller.
A summary of Law’s thoughts:
Franklin: The 2009 first-round pick has the instincts and work ethic to remain at shortstop, though he’ll “never be a great defender there” and could end up moving to second base. His .248 batting average in 34 games for Tacoma this season shouldn’t be alarming, as he’s still young enough (21) to remain in Tacoma to work on his offense until halfway through next season and make his major-league debut at a normal age.
Miller: The 2011 second-round pick has a “very unorthodox swing” and could struggle to make enough contact to be an everyday player once he faces higher-level pitching. He’d be “outstanding defensively as an everyday second baseman.”
In other words, neither Franklin nor Miller seem like great candidates to be the Mariners’ everyday shortstop next season.
That’s one reason why Bob Stelton and Dave Grosby think the Mariners should re-sign Brendan Ryan, who’s contract is up at the end of this season. They share a few more in the video below.
You can download Wednesday’s podcast here.
