LOGIN

Well, Cody Asche’s opportunity to sneak in and have a surprisingly solid season in 2014 before Maikel Franco emerged went swimmingly.  If we’re judging swimmingly on a scale established by Natalie Wood getting swimming lessons from Robert Wagner.  Too harsh?  How about as swimmingly as Whitney Houston in a bathtub?  That’s just terrible, why would you force me to give you a second one?  Franco appeared in the majors last year, though he retained his rookie eligibility.  Upon his arrival in Philly at the end of last year, Franco’s lack of assault on major league pitching made it seem like he needed more seasoning, i.e., the Franco-American Outside-Of-King-Of-Prussia War on pitching didn’t exactly leave us with shock and awe (.179 in the majors with zero homers in 56 ABs).  Shouldn’t have been a surprise, he didn’t exactly look like a breakout waiting to happen last year in Triple-A, where he had 16 homers in 521 ABs, hitting .257.  With rookies like that, maybe the Phils are right to invest in more megaphones for the clubhouse, so their veterans can communicate.  “DID ANYONE SEE MY PREPARATION H?” “IT’S NEXT TO MY SMOOTH MOVE HERBAL TEA.  YOU CATCH DATELINE LAST NIGHT?  SO CRAZY.”  That’s Rollins talking to Utley as they stood about three feet from each other. Franco had a season to forget, but since the Phils promoted him in September, he’s definitely short-listed for the Opening Day lineup, and won’t be in the minors much past June, barring injury or further disappointment.  So, what can we expect of Maikel Franco for 2015 fantasy baseball?

Not a whole lot for 2015.  Sad emoticon with a single tear coming down its open parenthesis.  He’s just too young.  It’s like the Phillies are trying to get their average age below 30, and the only way to do that is have a 22-year-old at 3rd base.  Either that or Ryan Howard’s $25 million/year contract includes babysitting fees, and the Phils wanted to take advantage.  “Hey, we’re paying for it!”  That’s Ruin Tomorrow Jr.  Franco looked terrific in Double-A in 2013, but last year in Triple-A, he was mediocre and shouldn’t have been called up.  T.I. and Iggy Azalea should’ve stood outside the batter’s box while he was batting, singing “I don’t want no mediocre.”  This is not to say Franco won’t be terrific in his career.  Maybe when he’s 25 years old, he’ll be an All-Star.  That means we’re three years away from him developing into his power.  Three years in fantasy terms is forever.  Three years ago, Curtis Granderson was a top 5 outfielder, and Michael Bourn was a top ten one.  Three years ago, it seemed like a good idea to trade away Mike Trout in your keeper.  You feel me?  Okay, now stop.  If the Phils have any sense, they’ll at least let Franco go to the minors until June to mature a bit into his skills, but ‘sense’ and Ruin Tomorrow Jr. took different forks in the road like Kermit and Fozzie in The Muppet Movie.  I’m going to assume June is about as long as the Phils will wait until they throw Franco to the sharks.  For 2015, I’ll give him the projections of 44/14/48/.248/2 in 400 ABs.  There’s a chance here for upside.  He could be the type that just needs to get comfortable at a new level, which bears itself out when you look at his month-to-month OPS last year in Triple-A (.967, .636 in last two months).  Still like him long-term, but can’t see him past a NL-Only flyer at this point, or in deep mixed keepers.  Then again, 14 homers at 3rd base?  So, you’re saying he could be better than Ryan Zimmerman?!