Well, it’s finally happened, the Phillies signed a starter. Ryan Franklin, who went 8-15 with a 5.10 ERA for Seattle last year, agreed to a 1 year, $2.6 million deal. Last year he was also "one of those" who received a 10-game suspension for failing the new MLB steroid test – though he maintains his innocence. The 32 year old right-hander was plagued by a lack of run support which should hopefully be remedied by the Phils high octane offense. He’s an inning eater like Cory Lidle, as he’s averaged over 200 innings the past 3 seasons. His pitching arsenal includes a fastball, curveball, slider, changeup and split-finger but none are overpowering.
So what is Gillick’s rationale here in spending $2.6 million? Is he nickel and diming away the rest of the available salary or does he see something special in the guy? He does come from Seattle which was Pat’s old stomping ground, so maybe Gillick knows something everyone else doesn’t. I doubt it though. On the surface, this is hardly a significant pickup. Franklin will probably round out the rotation in the #5 spot with one of the youngsters holding Wolf’s place until he recovers. Still, this move hardly fulfills our expectation for Gillick to land a legitimate starter.
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