3 straight #1 picks in the pen? Ask Jack!

by Mike Salk

Baseball fans know what an advantage it can be to have a killer bullpen. If you can throw out a closer with two dominant setup men, you can effectively end the game with a lead after 6 innings.

But is it so important that a team should use three straight first round draft picks on relievers? Surely, no one would advocate that!

That’s why the decision to move Phillippe Aumont (as reported by Geoff Baker) to the pen is so odd. That would mean the Mariners’ first round picks from 2006 (Brandon Morrow), 2007 (Aumont) and 2008 (Josh Fields) are all relievers! Throw in 2005 top pick C Jeff Clement starting the year in the minors, and you can see why Bill Bavasi’s run as general manager came to an end last June!

Now, Jack Zduriencik didn’t make ANY of those picks, but he is left to make the best of them. So how does he feel about the plethora of relievers? We’ll ask him Monday morning at 11:10 AM as he joins Brock and Salk from Minnesota.

In the meantime, what do you make of this news? Is this an example of making the best of some bad picks, or should the organization try to salvage at least one starter from its past three first round picks?