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Every team has hits and misses in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft, and the Mariners are certainly no exception. In fact, the M’s hold down two of the top 10 slots in bleacherreport.com’s listings of the worst draft picks.
The No. 10 worst pick in draft history is Seattle’s selection of left fielder Al Chambers with the first overall selection in 1979. Chambers was just one of the promising players who debuted for the Mariners in 1983, along with Harold Reynolds, Jim Presley and Phil Bradley.
However, Chambers was a major disappointment, hitting just .208 in parts of three seasons with the Mariners. He was out of baseball by the end of 1985 at the age of 24.
Bleacherreport says the No. 4 worst pick was Seattle’s selection of Tito Nanni with the sixth overall pick in the 1978 draft.
Nanni was a three-sport star at Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia, Pa. and was selected as a high school All-American in baseball in 1978. While he eventually made the jump to Triple-A in 1984, the Mariners finally tired of waiting for Nanni’s potential to develop, so they released him following the season.
Nanni played one more season in the minors with both the Toronto Blue Jays and California Angels. He was out of baseball completely at the end of the 1985 season.
2
Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia plans to move Albert Pujols to third base during upcoming interleague games at Coors Field and Dodger Stadium.
The move will allow Scioscia to play Kendrys Morales, who has been used exclusively as a designated hitter this season, at first base. The DH is not used in National League parks. Pujols is no stranger to the hot corner. He has played 104 major league games at third, including seven for the Cardinals in 2011.
“It’s not something I’ll do all year, but I feel pretty comfortable doing it,” Pujols said. “Whatever we can do to keep Morales in the lineup would be huge. It’s about what I can do every day to help the club win.”
The Angels play at Colorado from Friday to Sunday, and at Dodger Stadium the three days after that.
