Future Projection Ep. 20: The Wonderful Wander Franco

Ben and Carlos banter about MLB’s announcement requiring teams to provide housing for “certain” minor league players, once again fight over the pronunciation of “OPS” and also talk about the closely contested games the 2021 postseason has provided. After that, the two discuss Wander Franco’s impressive rookie campaign and whether or not they would vote for him as the Rookie of the Year. That turns into a discussion of the best pure hitters Ben has covered, which leads to a conversation about Juan Soto—and how remarkable he is at just 22 years old. After that, the two discuss the Rays and why people online seem to get worked up about them so much, before turning their eyes towards the Arizona Fall League and potential breakout players there. This leads to a Sign One, Trade One, Cut One debate with Red Sox prospects Triston Casas, Marcelo Mayer and Nick Yorke. After that, the two discuss standout Jupiter players, including shortstops Mikey Romero and Nicolas Perez and lefthander Levi Huesman. Ben wonders if a potential Druw Jones shortstop experiment would be worthwhile, and the two then tackle a few listener questions—including who the best lefthander in the 2022 class is—before signing off.

 

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Time Stamps

• Opening Banter (0:00:01)
• MLB requiring teams to provide MiLB Housing (0:02:17)
• More nonsense about stat abbreviations (0:13:57)
• MLB Playoffs (0:18:01)
• Wander Franco’s Impressive 2021 Campaign (0:24:09)
• Is Juan Soto the best hitter on the planet? (0:39:36)
• Why people seem so enraged by the Rays (0:47:50)
• Arizona Fall League (0:59:02)
• Sign One, Trade One, Cut One — Triston Casas, Marcelo Mayer, Nick Yorke (1:13:10)
• Standout players from Jupiter (1:26:14)
• Ben’s Druw Jones SS idea (1:35:25)
• Mailbag! (1:43:38)