I figured I'd get something up, at the least to provide a container for your random daily comments.
Keeping things at least dimly Mariner related, according to mlb.com Ryan Franklin and the Washington Nats are apparently talking, with Franklin still wanting to be a starter:
"The Nationals have shown interest, and I'm showing interest back," Franklin said. "We are not close to anything. We are just talking a little bit. I'm talking to them about starting."I think I'm more valuable to a team -- starting-wise -- because I have a rubber arm. I've been known to throw a lot of innings. I enjoy being out there longer than one or two innings. Before last year I threw [almost] 600 innings in three years. I'm looking to getting back to the role.
...
"I'm not looking to break the bank. I want to be treated fairly. I can't really tell you numbers right now. ... I just want a chance to get back to that starting role and show what I can do -- 200 innings, quality starts and help the team out."
To be fair to the Nats, the story seems more about Franklin being interested in the Nats than vice versa. I get the impression that Bowden's interest may not be much more than having an assistant return a couple of phone calls.
And if the Nats reporter is scraping this deeply for a story, Nats news must be as scarce as Mariners news. (Or maybe its just that the Nats are still hung over after the Vidro trade.)
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Update [2007-1-5 10:10:13 by Steve Nelson]:
Derek at USS Mariner has an interesting piece looking at available information on whether converting a player to DH from a position affects the players offensive production.