Former First Round picks

Larry Stone of the Seattle Times caught up with three former Seattle Mariner first round picks who are no longer in the Mariners organization. Two of them are ex-Rattlers.

They arrived, as all first-round draft picks do, accompanied by breathless hype and limitless dreams.

Jeff Clement was that rarest of commodities, a left-handed- hitting catcher with power and a keen eye. Brandon Morrow had the sort of live arm that sends scouts' hearts atwitter. And Phillippe Aumont, a 6-foot-7 flamethrower, was the prototype of a power pitcher.

But in a five-month span last year that typified the aggressive game plan of Jack Zduriencik's general managership — one with no emotional ties to the phenoms of the previous regime — all the players were traded away.

Their dreams went with them. The hype had pretty much dried up.
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None of the players fulfilled their promise with the Mariners, but all are young enough to still make their mark. And they will have their chance. Clement, 26, is being converted to first base by the Pirates and will be given a strong opportunity this spring to win the starting job. Morrow, 25, is slated for the Blue Jays' rotation, while Aumont, 21, will be a starter in the minors this year, likely at Class AA.

By happenstance, all landed with teams that train within a 20-mile radius in Florida. They each seemed excited about the prospect of jump-starting their careers in a new environment.

I'll pull out some of the parts on Clement ('05) and Aumont ('08). Click to read it all.

Clement noted that Zduriencik has made a sweeping transformation since he took over as GM after the 101-loss disaster of 2008 — a season in which the catcher hit just .227 in 203 at-bats.

"There were some changes that needed to be made, and he's making a lot of changes he thinks are going to make them a championship team," Clement said in Bradenton. "It's interesting that three (No. 1) picks are gone now, but obviously, he has a plan and he's trying to implement that."

Clement was picked after Justin Upton and Alex Gordon, and ahead of Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun and Jay Bruce, among others, in a draft that has been called one of the best in history. The general manager (Bill Bavasi) and scouting director (Bob Fontaine) wwho made the call on Clement are long gone, and Clement realizes their advocacy went with them.

"I think it's clear that changes [were coming]," he said. "You're going to have a lot more opportunities with the people that invested in you. If it changes, you expect that. Obviously, they wanted to move in a different direction, and I have no ill will toward them for that. They have a plan, and I wasn't part of that plan, and that's fine."
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Aumont was more flattered than surprised by his trade — flattered to be dealt in a package that yielded a Cy Young winner in return.

"You don't see that too often," he said with a laugh. "It's probably going to happen once in my life you get that opportunity to be part of something like that. It's really an honor for me, and the other guys that came in the trade, too. They feel pretty flattered about that."

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The Phillies, as the Mariners once did, envision Aumont as either a front of the rotation starter or a potential closer. He is philosophical about going from No. 1 draft pick to trade fodder.

"I guess that's part of the sport," he said. "You get drafted high, and
I guess when you have high picks, they can go get bigger names for the big-league team right away, instead of waiting for you to get up. It's part of the game — you're just a chip, and they trade you."