Cardinals - Signed Franklin

St. Louis Cardinals - Signed P Ryan Franklin to a 1-year contract.

That’s Franklin the flyball pitcher who the Phillies and Reds wanted for some reason, not G.O.B’s racial rift-erasing ventriloquist’s dummy.

While Ryan Franklin’s role in the civil rights era is a significant one, he does contribute by allowing people of all races, religions, and ethnic origins to hit balls that he throws a very long way.  Unlike the Reds and Phillies, the Cardinals actually have a park/team configuration that makes Franklin useful.  Well, hopefully - you could say the same about the Mariners the last 2 years Franklin pitched for them and he was awful.  Franklin’s role will be to get the Cardinals to a healthy Mulder without being too terrible so that they don’t have to make half the bullpen into starters.  Wainwright as a starter, I can buy and even recommend.  Moving Looper?  Not so sure about that.

2007 ZiPS Projections 
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Player      W   L   G  GS   IP    H   ER  HR  BB  SO   ERA
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Franklin    8  10  41  22  156  171   85  23  54  78  4.90
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