Odd choice for a headline

Mike Saunders (WI, '06) gets the treatment in the Tacoma News Tribune with a weird headline.

Can-miss kid Saunders a gifted prospect for Rainiers

For an organization that takes pains to assure fans that their Safeco Field experience is rated G, fit for all ages, the Mariners are surprisingly aggressive about their youth movement.

Rather than coddle top prospects in a wading pool, Seattle’s player-development mavens throw the kids into the deep end, to determine whether they are more apt to sink or swim.

Take 21-year-old Michael Saunders, whose recent invitation to Tacoma was his fourth promotion in four seasons. A former youth hockey center with the build and graceful gait of a wide receiver, the 6-foot-4, 212-pound Saunders has all the tools scouts covet – and a long swing that sometimes screams for a wrench.

In 359 professional baseball games, Saunders has more strikeouts (392) than hits (365).

Well, maybe not an odd choice, but I can see how that headline could be taken a different way.

A little history on Saunders:

Two years ago in the Single-A Midwest League, Saunders struck out 103 times in 104 games for Wisconsin, where he hit a modest .240. Rather than returning him to Wisconsin in 2007, the Mariners pushed Saunders to a more advanced Single-A California League. His response to the challenge (.299, with 14 homers, three triples and 25 doubles) earned him a late-season call-up to West Tennessee of the Double-A Southern League.

For the rest go to the article.