Manager Lloyd McClendon has done his best not to tip his hand on the Mariners' shortstop situation, but that hasn't stopped me from falling more in love with Brad Miller this spring.
I chronicle the whole thing in my Sleepers 2.0 column, using words like "tingly," "sizzling" and "stud." It's actually kind of embarrassing.
I feel I owe it to him after leaving him out of the initial column because of his so-called competition with Nick Franklin. He was clearly the front-runner coming into spring training given the way the two performed as rookies last year and the fact he actually has the range to play the position. If a .439 batting average and 14 extra-base hits in 57 at-bats hasn't locked it up for him, the Mariners are just trying to lose.
I'm thinking they haven't declared a winner yet because they want to keep Nick Franklin's trade value high. Plenty of teams have needs up the middle, and he's too good for the minors or the bench.
But he's no Miller, who I'd consider a near lock for a .300 batting average this year, with possibly as many as 20 home runs.