Draft Dustin Ackley Today

When the Nationals draft the buzz sensation that is Stephen Strasburg at about 3:00 p.m. today, the Mariners will officially be on the clock with the #2 overall pick. I have a few words of advice for Los Marineros.

Draft Dustin Ackley.

Please.

Now before you stop reading because you don’t care about the MLB draft or you know all the stories of top picks who end up sucking (hello Jeff Clement, any day now!), stay with me. (Although let’s be honest, no one is really reading). Traditionally the Mariners have held a number of high draft picks. If you compare their success to many other Major League teams, they actually hold up pretty well. It is hard to argue with either Ken Griffey Jr (#1 overall in 1987) or Alex Rodriguez (#1 overall in 1993) as draft picks. They blew some top ones as well (Marc Newfield as #6 overall in 1990, Jose Cruz as #3 overall in 1995, Roger Salkeld as #3 overall in 1989), but gained value with some lower picks as well. Yet we can’t really evaluate the Mariners franchise. We need to look at the man in charge, Jack Zduriencik.

When purusing the interweb, I found a site that listed the top 20 Brewers prospects coming into this season. Out of the top eleven, seven were drafted in the past three years in the first five rounds of the draft. That is pretty good proof right there that JZ has an eye for talent. Who knows if they will make an impact, but they are rated very highly in the minor league system. This hasn’t always been the case with the M’s in the past. In fact, the past two years have given us some prospects like Dennis Raben and Brett Lorin who are a long way away from making an impact or others like Josh Fields and Phillipe Aumont who will make neat relievers. JZ will get it done right. Need more proof?

1999 First Round Pick – Ben Sheets. 2001 Second Round Pick – JJ Hardy. 2002 First Round Pick – Prince Fielder. 2003 First Round Pick – Rickie Weeks. 2004 Second Round Pick – Yovani Gallardo. 2005 First Round Pick – Ryan Braun.

Does this give me confidence? Yes. Why? Because I can read and I am not an idiot.

But why Ackley? You can find all the reasons on various websites like USS Mariner, Lookout Landing or even ESPN.com, but I will give you a little taste.

Hitting .411 with 22 homers and 70 RBI while left handed (perfect for Safeco). Lookout Landing has a great comparison of other top prospects or picks and their junior years. Ackley blows them away. He holds the top career average at North Carolina, almost twenty points above BJ Surhoff and Brian Roberts. He also has good speed and a ridiculous OPS (I know it is college). Supposedly he broke an aluminum bat hitting a grand slam once as well. It took me 45 tries to break an aluminum bat on a large rock.

Even beyond the numbers, I watched Ackley hit this weekend against East Carolina on ESPN. I missed the first at bat where he struck out. His second at bat he fell behind 0-2. He worked the count back to full and then walked. In his third at bat he appeared to hit a standard 4-6-3 double play, but beat the throw. Good speed. In his fourth at bat with Carolina up 4-0 and a chance to go to the College World Series, he once again fell behind 0-2. He worked the count with two fouls back to 3-2. Then he hit an opposite field three run homer to essentially clinch the victory. I was sold. We need Ackley. With picks at #27 and #33, there is a good chance to get some college pitchers later. Draft Ackley please.