Obsessing Over Two Sentences from a Washington Newspaper

You suck

Bad news (in my humble opinion) concerning the Phillies and their possible interest in former Mariners SP Ryan Franklin from the Daily Herald (the newspaper of major media outlet Everett, Washington - see the kind of homework I do here?)

Don't be surprised if Franklin pitches in the National League. Among those interested are the Arizona Diamondbacks, with former M's pitching coach Bryan Price, and Philadelphia Phillies, with former M's general manager Pat Gillick.

Let's see if we can sum up how bad a move this would be without going on for pages and pages:

1. Franklin doesn't strike anybody out - only 100+ strikeouts in six major league seasons, 427 K's in 811.2 innings, only 93 K's in 190.2 innings in 2005, and a 4.39 K/9 number
2. Franklin is as extreme a flyball pitcher as there is - his GO/AO career ratio is 0.76...that is 1148 flyball outs in his career vs. 812 groundball outs
3. Franklin the flyball pitcher also gives up homeruns at an alarming rate - 34 in 2003, 33 in 2004, and 28 in 2005
4. Franklin is a has-been (or maybe a never-was) - he will be 33 in March and is coming off back to back seasons with ERA's of 4.90 and 5.10 (good for ERA+ of 88 and 85)
5. Frankin is a cheater - on August 2nd, 2005, Franklin became the 8th major leaguer to test positive for steroids and was suspended for 10 games

How appealing is a pitcher on the downside of a mediocre career who would just so happen to be a terrible fit in the Phillies home ballpark? Would it sweeten the deal if he is coming off a career worst season in 2005? Maybe that awful '05 should also include a suspension for steroid use. Now I'm no GM, but this guy sounds like a real winner to me. I can't believe Seattle non-tendered this guy in the first place. I just can't see why nobody has signed him up yet - Pat Gillick better get on the phone with Franklin's agent quick before we lose out on him. Our search for a number one starter could soon be over!

Here's hoping the lazy journalistic move of linking a new GM with any player let go by said GM's old team is what is going on here. If the Phillies have even the slightest interest in Ryan Franklin or any other of the Ryan Franklin's of the baseball world...I don't even know how to end that. Phillies fans should be very mad.That's all I can think of. I know this rumor is based on just a tiny bit of speculation from a small town (population 91,488 per the 2000 census) newspaper columnist, so I'll save the real venom for either confirmation of the rumor or, heaven forbid, an actual roster move by the Phillies. All bets are off if this rumor winds up being true though - Phillies fans would have every right to go nuts.