Sunday, Jun. 07, 2009

Who will the M's take Tuesday at No. 2?

By Eric Degerman, sportstricities.com

Last September, the Seattle Mariners won two too many games — finishing at 61-101 — for them to "win" the draft rights to San Diego State flamethrower Stephen Strasburg.

So many draft pundits believe the M's will spend the No. 2 pick overall Tuesday on University of North Carolina junior Dustin Ackley. The Washington Nationals, who were 59-102, are expected to draft Strasburg, reportedly set to ask for a $50 million contract.

Here's a scouting report on Ackley posted on MLB.com. Hall of Fame writer Peter Gammons, whose alma mater is UNC, quoted Ackley's coach as saying the youngster — with time and patience — "will be an outstanding second baseman." Hmm, how much longer is Jose Lopez under contract? The answer is through 2010.

I'll give credit to the blog U.S.S. Mariner for predicting/hoping as early as last October that the Mariners should/will draft Ackley. He appears to be the type of left-handed bat that should do well as a corner outfielder at Safeco Field. And this will be Jack Zduriencik's first draft as the Mariners general manager, and the job he did building the Milwaukee Brewers via the draft got him the job in Seattle.

So I made a point of looking in on the East Carolina at UNC game Sunday morning to get a glimpse of Ackley, who has been playing mostly at first base because of Tommy John surgery last summer.

The Tar Heels' 9-3 win over East Carolina means that Ackley will get lots of TV time in his powder blues, playing in the College World Series, which begins June 13 on ESPN. And UNC (47-16) will open up in Omaha, Neb., vs. Arizona State (49-12), led by former Tri-City Triplets manager Pat Murphy.

Ackley doesn't seem superstitious — he wears No. 13 — and his pinging bat makes lots of noise. He sparked UNC on Sunday with a three-run homer during a five-run uprising in the sixth inning. It was an off-balance, opposite field blast that seemed to be the product of the aluminum bat.

He's no one-year wonder, though. In 2007, he was voted the national freshman of the year by three news organizations. As a sophomore, he was second-team All-America and a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award.

However, this might be the most important note with on Tuesday with regards to Strasburg and Ackley — both are represented by the often-reviled Scott Boras.