Was Franklin mostly good? No.
DMZ · January 16, 2006 at 11:27 am · Filed Under General baseball
O’er at the Hardball Times, there’s an article that takes a look at Pat Gillick’s contention that Ryan Franklin’s actually a good pitcher who just had some bad outings (no and yes, he certainly had bad outings).
It’s interesting to see what happens when you subtract those “couple bad starts” from pitcher lines. I do disagree with where he starts to go when trying for an explanation, but as it’s admittedly not a serious study, there’s no need to get worked up over it.
And I love putting “general baseball” as the tag on a Ryan Franklin-related post.
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63 Responses to “Was Franklin mostly good? No.”
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If you load your minor leagues with Jeff Harris’s for emergencies, you’ll have too little room for the real prospects/maybe prospects.
This is almost never the case. Look at the Rainiers last year: you could have replaced most of those guys with random floatsam and not impeded a prospect. And if there is a prospect at AAA you don’t want to block, well, it’s almost certain they’re as good as any other random guy you’d throw into the fire (except you’re starting the service clock, which might be an issue).
AAA for almost every team is used for the purpose of stocking older veteran players who can fill in if there’s a gap the team can’t adequately fill off the bench or through trades.
Most of the replacement-player-loading takes place at midseason or beyond, when everybody worth a look at the major-league level has already gotten a look or is about to. In 2004, for example, the Mariners exhausted every possibility in the minors  and between injuries and promotions, HAD to go out and raid the indy leagues in mass quantities just to have enough fresh bodies on the Rainier’s roster.
Derek’s right. They’re everywhere.
Yes, we’re dragging around for an argument and the best we can find is between those who think Franklin is completely useless and should not be in baseball, and those who think he is an utterly mediocre inning-eating long reliever, who should be making league minimum.
It’s time for a group hug.
#53: Can we agree that, barring injury, 2006 will definitely settle the Franklin debate? Or will his backers merely dig deeper for alibis? (Getting killed by his home park won’t be an excuse, because he CHOSE Philadelphia as his home park.)
I won’t be at all surprised if he puts up an ERA over 10 and gets yanked before July. Philly is just a dreadful place for him to pitch.
#54 – I don’t think the debate is settleable. First, I don’t think anyone’s arguing that Franklin will (a) do well in Philadelphia; or (b) justify $2M/year. Second, how well Franklin pitches next year is not going to settle anything anyway. We’re arguing based on current facts, not on future facts. Based on these current facts, Franklin’s arguably replacement level and he’s arguably a little above replacement level, depending on which side you’re arguing. Those are the two sides – my point is that those sides are so close to being the same thing that the debate is just not worth having.
This debate, though, about whether the debate is worth having… This is a real important discussion.
Thank you for your judgement on whether this is a discussion worth having. I’ll notify local law enforcement officials to send people over to arrest whoever has a gun to your head and is forcing you to read it.
DMZ, I was trying to be ironic (and a little funny). Sorry if no one got it.
Besides, I still think it’s a good point. These discussions, where everyone uses their best analytical tools to value a player, are a huge and interesting part of USSM in my opinion. However, every once in a while, it’s worth taking a step back to recognize how blunt these tools are. Are they sharp enough to distinguish between a pitcher who will be replacement level next year and one who’s worth paying a little more for? I’d argue not.
Jeff Harris is definitely a better alternative than Ryan Franklin. He is also a better teammate than Franklin. Harris works hard to get the best productivity possible with his talents, and has shown steady improvement because of that. In #41, eponymous made reference to an injury history. Just to set the record straight, Harris does not have a history of injury. He had one stint on the DL about 6 years ago, and has been a reliable workhorse since then, including 2004 when he pitched for three teams in three different leagues. Versatility, willingness, and reliability are Jeff’s strengths.
Woo, 15KVA, I could sure run a lot of my projectors off a buck-booster like that.
#47–“he’ll be pitching in a park less suited to his skills set than almost any other in baseball. If he pitches 200 innings, he could give up 50 home runs.”
on that topic– according to Rizzs, Marzy (coaching at Fantasy Camp this year) said they had pop-ups that went out for home runs in Philly…..
(whiny Paul Reiser voice) This is what I’m saying ….
myself, I just love the idea of Marzy coaching at Mariner fantasy camp. I gather there are photos & newsletters from camp at the Hendu website…