Speaker 1: On paper and what you've seen in the last six weeks. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it looks really talented. But whether or not there's some
Speaker 1: consistency for the course of the season remains.
Speaker 2: To be seen.
Speaker 3: You've got gott Yes, I got writer for the Seattle Times,
Speaker 3: Ryan Divish. We're just all charged up today because we're
Speaker 3: covering two of the three most frustrating fan bases in
Speaker 3: Major League Baseball right now, or frustrating organizations, not fan bases.
Speaker 3: But Ryan, how you doing, man.
Speaker 1: I'm good, I'm good. We haven't talked to in Haver, Montana.
Speaker 1: Getting ready to go to spring training tomorrow. It's minus
Speaker 1: twenty five.
Speaker 4: Yere, stop it are you serious?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: You must have in your house.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we have the fire going. It's it's not what
Speaker 2: you want right now.
Speaker 5: Wait, how far is again? I've never Okay, so there's
Speaker 5: I've been almost everywhere. I've never been to Montana. How
Speaker 5: far is where you live to Seattle?
Speaker 2: It's about twelve hours. So I live here.
Speaker 1: I live in Montana in the off season, and then
Speaker 1: I go back to Seattle during the season. I got
Speaker 1: to get away from the traffic and everything, so I
Speaker 1: come back to Montana. I live my hometown's got about
Speaker 1: seven thousand people.
Speaker 6: Opposed to like Billings and Great Falls and all that stuff.
Speaker 2: Is that I'm about an hour and a half from
Speaker 2: Great Falls.
Speaker 1: Billings is about four hours, and then we're about twenty
Speaker 1: five miles from the Canadian border.
Speaker 2: Scenic Medicine Hat is on the other side.
Speaker 4: M Do you moose stuff? Because I've always wanted to
Speaker 4: do that. Do you moose hunt and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: I don't hunt anymore because I technically still have a
Speaker 1: Washington driver's license, so it's been pretty expensive. But my
Speaker 1: buddies moose hunt, elk hunt, They do all that stuff.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's deer in our in the in the
Speaker 1: town walking around all the time that are pretty big,
Speaker 1: I know, like Seeger and all those guys come up
Speaker 1: here to hunt all the time, and they tell me
Speaker 1: how great it is.
Speaker 2: But I don't get to do that anymore.
Speaker 1: I'll go out with my cousins or my buddies right
Speaker 1: in the truck and then help them drag the animal out,
Speaker 1: which is not exactly the ideal either.
Speaker 5: That's the worst job in the world. That's the job
Speaker 5: you don't want. You don't want that job.
Speaker 6: That's how you get arms like that though. That's how
Speaker 6: you get arms like that. Would you rather stay home
Speaker 6: or go to spring training? Because everybody wants to go
Speaker 6: where it's warmer. I have a feeling you would love
Speaker 6: to stay in Montana.
Speaker 4: But tell me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 1: No, I'm ready for I'm ready for something warmer. Spring
Speaker 1: training is a grind though, man like it is. It's
Speaker 1: every day and and but I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 1: It's it's really easy this year with the Mariners. I
Speaker 1: know all the players on the team. They didn't add
Speaker 1: anybody new, so I don't have to you know, I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's all easy.
Speaker 3: I just had the joke I was ready to go,
Speaker 3: and then I only haven't one. I have nothing else
Speaker 3: to say. You know, all the players are ready. So
Speaker 3: let's before we even dig in.
Speaker 5: I just got to no, you know, I got asked
Speaker 5: before we even hit the storylines, and I think one
Speaker 5: of them this isn't even in there. But they're world
Speaker 5: series winner. That's why they didn't add anybody. We heard
Speaker 5: the GM say it their world series ready Ryan.
Speaker 3: So now with the storylines, well, let's yeah, let's hit
Speaker 3: it because I want to ask him about it. So
Speaker 3: here's the fancy front end four storylines at least just broke.
Speaker 3: We'll get right to the big stuff at the top
Speaker 3: and with the Ems eventually deal a starter for a bat.
Speaker 3: Obviously they haven't done it up to this point. Let's
Speaker 3: make spring summer for Julio Rodriguez and see if he
Speaker 3: can figure out the beginning of the season. And also
Speaker 3: for this Seattle team, we'll get to their flashy outfield,
Speaker 3: which they've done a nice job building up. Randy roserain
Speaker 3: of trade last year, picked up Victor Roeblaze, signed him
Speaker 3: to an extension. He was good for them down the stretch.
Speaker 3: And then the classic fifty four chance, will they tilt
Speaker 3: towards the top of that number or the bottom where
Speaker 3: you just miss the postseason, which has been a pretty
Speaker 3: sexy thing for the front office to do lately.
Speaker 2: All right, here we go.
Speaker 3: Teams broke, and they fixed it by bringing back the
Speaker 3: same team. Polanco signs back Solano for Josh Rojas, and
Speaker 3: there's your Mariners.
Speaker 1: Of your thoughts, it was less active than I thought.
Speaker 1: I figured they would do something more than they did.
Speaker 1: I think their intention was to do something more than
Speaker 1: they did. But when you only have fifteen million dollars
Speaker 1: of payroll, and you you know, payroll flexibility, you just
Speaker 1: don't have a lot to do.
Speaker 2: They looked at.
Speaker 1: Signing Carlos Santana. They felt like he would be great
Speaker 1: fit at first base, kind of a platoon with Luke Rayley,
Speaker 1: good leader in the clubhouse, he's a he's been a
Speaker 1: pretty good mentor for Julio Rodriguez. But you know, the
Speaker 1: poll of going back to Cleveland, which not many people
Speaker 1: say in their lives, but the poll of going back
Speaker 1: to Cleveland, to the place where it started his career
Speaker 1: was more important for Carlos than maybe a little bit
Speaker 1: more money and a second year. So they kind of
Speaker 1: pivoted went to Donovan Solana, who is a nice pickup,
Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong. He's a nice pickup if you
Speaker 1: have a finished product as a team. But when you
Speaker 1: have questions at second base, third base, first base, that's
Speaker 1: just not enough. Now they go out and get planco,
Speaker 1: you know, bring him back there, hoping for a bounce back.
Speaker 1: But I mean, Jerry Depoto was kind of hamstrung with
Speaker 1: the minimum amount of payroll flexibility provided by ownership, and
Speaker 1: you know, they really didn't find any trades for their prospects.
Speaker 1: I think they felt like they were going to be
Speaker 1: able to move some of their prospects to get a
Speaker 1: major league hitter. It just didn't happen, because, you know,
Speaker 1: more teams believe they can compete than ever before. So
Speaker 1: you really only have the White Sox and Marlins as
Speaker 1: teams that are selling off pieces. Obviously the Rockies should be,
Speaker 1: but they don't even know what they're doing. So you've
Speaker 1: got maybe three teams that were in a position where
Speaker 1: they might value prospects over major league talent. But all
Speaker 1: the major league talent on those two teams is gone.
Speaker 1: So they just couldn't find a way to make a
Speaker 1: trade work and for their prospects. And with fifteen million dollars,
Speaker 1: I mean, that doesn't buy you a lot. You know,
Speaker 1: it's like going to It's like going to a convenience
Speaker 1: store with a dollar. What does it buy you anymore?
Speaker 6: Maybe like a half a Snicker's bar or something, maybe
Speaker 6: a water like the generic water.
Speaker 2: Can Julio.
Speaker 6: Can Julio start hot? Because if he starts hot, like
Speaker 6: right alligate April, right away, he could be an MVP.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's important. He doesn't even have to
Speaker 1: start out hot. He just has to start off something
Speaker 1: better than he's beenning like each of the last three years.
Speaker 1: I mean the first year, he was a rookie, so
Speaker 1: you cut him some slack, and he had a bunch
Speaker 1: of calls, kind of a lot of call third strikes
Speaker 1: on him that didn't go his way. You know, we'd
Speaker 1: written stories about kind of the rookie treatment with the
Speaker 1: strikes on. But the last two years he's come in
Speaker 1: with the intention of starting off hot and didn't. And
Speaker 1: I think you know, once you you know, you get
Speaker 1: through the first week and you haven't done maybe what
Speaker 1: you were expecting. Then you start to chase, and you
Speaker 1: start to chase and it just builds. And really last
Speaker 1: year it was more than just April and May. It
Speaker 1: was almost through the All Star break. You in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three, he was a little bit better after June,
Speaker 1: and then he got really hot in July, and then
Speaker 1: August was absurd. But it took him so long to
Speaker 1: get going last year. You know that it's a problem.
Speaker 1: They have to find a way. I think he's in
Speaker 1: a better spot to handle it. I think he's in
Speaker 1: a better spot mentally physically. I think you know, what
Speaker 1: he did in the last six weeks of the season
Speaker 1: with the influence of Edgar Martinez getting them to refocus
Speaker 1: on driving the ball up the middle and to the
Speaker 1: right center gap and kind of getting away from you know,
Speaker 1: trying to yank the ball over the wall in.
Speaker 2: The field was big. You know.
Speaker 1: Increase the contact rate, and he makes such hard contact
Speaker 1: when he does hit it. Increase the contact rate a
Speaker 1: little bit more and good things will happen. His approach
Speaker 1: was better with two strikes, His approach was better with
Speaker 1: runners in scoring position. I think that'll carry over. You know,
Speaker 1: last year he made some swing changes in the offseason
Speaker 1: that didn't help, and he couldn't get his rhythm and
Speaker 1: timing down early and all those things. And really, you know,
Speaker 1: you can talk about what they didn't did or do
Speaker 1: didn't or did do in the.
Speaker 2: Offseason, which wasn't much.
Speaker 1: But if the team's going to be good, it's going
Speaker 1: to be based on whether or not Julio goes. Because
Speaker 1: when he's going, even at an above average rate, not
Speaker 1: even at his elite level, they're a lot different team.
Speaker 4: Agreed.
Speaker 5: Do you know why, I he'll be better because they
Speaker 5: have Kevin Sitz there's a new hitting coach. And he
Speaker 5: hates home runs, so he's gonna definitely tell him to
Speaker 5: hit singles right and not hit home runs.
Speaker 4: Trust me, I know, I played for him for two years.
Speaker 4: Huge fan, I think.
Speaker 2: But if he hits the ball.
Speaker 1: The thing with Julio is when he hits the ball
Speaker 1: hard to write field, it's a gap. Usually it's not
Speaker 1: a single, you know, like and you know how it
Speaker 1: is with some of these hitters. They're going to listen
Speaker 1: to what they want to listen to, and they're going
Speaker 1: to do what they want to do. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think Bram Brown figured that out last year when he
Speaker 1: got with his team and tried to implement some stuff
Speaker 1: and they just some of the guys were resistant to it.
Speaker 1: But I do think, like for Julio, there was a
Speaker 1: bottoming out point last season where everything he had done
Speaker 1: and everything he had done on his own and the
Speaker 1: work he had done in the off season just wasn't working.
Speaker 1: And you hit that rock bottom point as a superstar
Speaker 1: and you struggle more than you ever have in your career,
Speaker 1: you start listening to maybe the right people, and I
Speaker 1: think with Edgar, just the idea of hit the ball
Speaker 1: hard up the middle, use the field, you know, and
Speaker 1: hit it hard and don't focus on where you're hitting
Speaker 1: it hard to I.
Speaker 2: Think is really important. And really Edgar is still the
Speaker 2: overriding He's the director of their hitting.
Speaker 1: I mean, they don't call him an offensive coordinator like
Speaker 1: they did with Brent Brown, but he's the director of
Speaker 1: their hitting philosophy. So I think you know, you'll see
Speaker 1: Edgar working with the guys that want to work with him,
Speaker 1: and then Sites is going to have to work with
Speaker 1: the rest of the.
Speaker 2: Guys as well.
Speaker 4: Got it all right?
Speaker 5: So what about the rest of the outfield? Can can
Speaker 5: Edgar and siteser get Rose Arena to be less streaky?
Speaker 5: Because when he's hot, he's like he's I mean, he's
Speaker 5: the hottest guy on the planet. But then when he's not,
Speaker 5: I mean he's there's a lot of strikeouts and a
Speaker 5: lot of people are standing there going, man, he's striking
Speaker 5: out a lot, right. But then you have Victor Roblaz,
Speaker 5: who came over last year and was a revelation for him.
Speaker 5: So is this outfield good enough with a good Julio,
Speaker 5: a Rose Arena and Roblaze to make these Mariners good?
Speaker 1: It certainly has the potential to be better than it's been.
Speaker 1: I mean, like you look up from an athleticism standpoint,
Speaker 1: you know, Randy had twenty bags last year stolen I
Speaker 1: Robos had over thirty. Who had over thirty. Like they
Speaker 1: can run the bases, they can go get it in
Speaker 1: the outfield. Randy can be a little indifferent in the outfield.
Speaker 2: But you are concerned.
Speaker 1: I mean, like the concern is this is like if
Speaker 1: you look at Randy's numbers, they've steadily trended lower each year,
Speaker 1: and you know, and that was you know, even when
Speaker 1: you're hitting in the AL East, which is a heck
Speaker 1: of a lot more hitter friendly than the AO West,
Speaker 1: So there is some concern there. You know, the swinging
Speaker 1: mis numbers are a little bit higher. And Roboa is,
Speaker 1: i mean for six hundred games of his MLB career
Speaker 1: was kind of a disappointment. And then he gets to
Speaker 1: Seattle and at the new start, and I think under
Speaker 1: Scott's service is you know, the previous manager kind of
Speaker 1: let him just be who he is. You know, I
Speaker 1: think Davey Martinez got tired of who Victor Roblaz was
Speaker 1: for much of his time in DC, but like Service
Speaker 1: kind of let him go and he flourished, but is
Speaker 1: he going to be the guy that hit three thirty
Speaker 1: for sixty some games or is he going to be
Speaker 1: the guy that was like a two twenty seven hitter
Speaker 1: with LOWBP and lots of base running mistakes and all
Speaker 1: that stuff that he was with DC. So I think
Speaker 1: that's there's a lot of questions about whether or not
Speaker 1: this outfield is good. Like on paper and what you've
Speaker 1: seen in the last six weeks, it looks really talented,
Speaker 1: but you know, whether or not there's some consistency for
Speaker 1: the course of a season remains to be seen.
Speaker 6: Obviously, we talk about fifty four chance of making the
Speaker 6: playoffs every year.
Speaker 4: It can't it can't not be brought up.
Speaker 6: But how much wider is this window open with this
Speaker 6: elite rotation, the best rotation in baseball? And are they
Speaker 6: going to take advantage of it after they missed the
Speaker 6: wild card by one game one game last year, all
Speaker 6: that down that they had and they missed it by
Speaker 6: one game with a rotation that could dominate the entire playoffs.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's I mean, like you look at it and
Speaker 1: you wonder if they've gotten that much better, But you
Speaker 1: also think, well, is Mitch Garver going to be as
Speaker 1: bad as he was last year, or is JP Crawford
Speaker 1: going to be as bad as he was last year?
Speaker 1: You know, those guys really struggled and so maybe the
Speaker 1: bounce back will help them get over the top. But
Speaker 1: also those guys that rotation, they made more starts than
Speaker 1: any team in baseball, Like you know that group of
Speaker 1: five guys, you know, they they all made more starts,
Speaker 1: their rotation, pitched more innings than any rotation in baseball,
Speaker 1: and they only use seven starters. You know, you in
Speaker 1: an era where very few guys go two hunt stars,
Speaker 1: these guys all were up there at that level. And
Speaker 1: you know what you wonder is will they be able
Speaker 1: to sustain that sort of consistency and that sort of
Speaker 1: health for an entire season. Again, you know, George Kirby,
Speaker 1: Logan Gilbert did not miss to start, Bryce Miller did
Speaker 1: not miss the start.
Speaker 2: Brian wu had.
Speaker 1: Some hamstring issue and some elbow stuff early, and Luis
Speaker 1: Castillo had a hamstring issue. I mean, like they only
Speaker 1: used two other starters, Emerson Hancock and Jonathan Diaz. Like
Speaker 1: that just doesn't happen in Major League baseball anymore. But
Speaker 1: you know, if that were the case, if they were
Speaker 1: able to kind of maintain that. Then I think the
Speaker 1: other pieces, you know, if they have bounced back from
Speaker 1: the offense, and I think the big thing is they're
Speaker 1: bullpen getting better, getting Matt Brash back, getting a healthy
Speaker 1: Gregory Santos.
Speaker 2: I think that makes them better than maybe a year ago.
Speaker 4: Right before, I ask you last question, who's cooking behind you?
Speaker 4: What are they making? Because I'm kind of hungry.
Speaker 1: Uh, my girlfriend's daughter is home from school, so she's
Speaker 1: making chicken strips.
Speaker 2: I hope she's making me some sitter.
Speaker 5: That sounds like that sounds like she's cleaning up, but
Speaker 5: hopefully she has some good sauce for you.
Speaker 4: All Right, I.
Speaker 5: Gotta ask you this, since we haven't really talked to
Speaker 5: you about this. They got rid of Scott Service you
Speaker 5: mentioned him, brought in Dan Wilson. What's he going to
Speaker 5: bring to the table. I know we saw him down
Speaker 5: the stretch and they played a little bit better down
Speaker 5: the stretch to get close to the wildcard. What's a
Speaker 5: full year or two of Dan Wilson going to look
Speaker 5: like in the Marritor's dugout.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I didn't think it looked that much different last year
Speaker 1: in those last six weeks. I mean, like, you know,
Speaker 1: he's people sat there and said, oh, well, he wants
Speaker 1: to butt more, they want to steal more. I think
Speaker 1: that was just reflective of the situations in the game.
Speaker 1: I do think like his belief and his belief and
Speaker 1: better two strike approach was more important. Maybe that's what
Speaker 1: transitions more. He's definitely a player's manager. I think last
Speaker 1: year he was very cautious in terms of what he
Speaker 1: wanted to say or what he wanted to do because
Speaker 1: he likes Scott's service and he didn't want to kind
Speaker 1: of trash him and you know, and he also didn't
Speaker 1: want to make a lot of ways. He just kind
Speaker 1: of wanted to see what they could do in those
Speaker 1: last six weeks and see if they could piece it together.
Speaker 1: But these guys this year, I think we'll see a
Speaker 1: little bit more. I think Dan, you know, we'll kind
Speaker 1: of step forward and be a little bit more vocal.
Speaker 1: I do know, like if you could recall last year,
Speaker 1: a Rose Arena had an incident.
Speaker 2: I can't remember which team.
Speaker 1: It was just kind of you know, how he takes
Speaker 1: pitches and some of the he got hit by a
Speaker 1: pitch and some stuff, and there's some gawing back and forth.
Speaker 1: I watched Dan Wilson pull him aside and have a
Speaker 1: very frank conversation with him about kind of how you
Speaker 1: handle things on the field and you know, not getting
Speaker 1: putting your teammates in a bad position to maybe get
Speaker 1: take one in the back. And I think stuff like that.
Speaker 1: We may see a little bit more. But from an
Speaker 1: overall scheme standpoint or philosophy standpoint, other than being better
Speaker 1: with two strikes, which I know Scott servis preached too,
Speaker 1: I don't think we'll see a lot because it's especially
Speaker 1: the same roster. I mean, they can't really can't really
Speaker 1: set it up to play any differently than before. Maybe
Speaker 1: the pieces are a little healthier and they can run more,
Speaker 1: or maybe the pieces are a little healthier and they
Speaker 1: won't platoon as much. But from the from the overall standpoint,
Speaker 1: I mean the GM and ostensibly Jerry Depoto, they control
Speaker 1: so much of how the team is set up and
Speaker 1: how the team is going to play that you know
Speaker 1: the manager is there to make sure that the culture
Speaker 1: and everything else is in a good place.
Speaker 2: Akay.
Speaker 3: The lineup is set every day by the front office.
Speaker 3: This is not one of those maybe this is here's
Speaker 3: the lineup. Put it up on the card.
Speaker 2: I'm not I'm not going there. It's like fifty four
Speaker 2: percent jokes.
Speaker 1: The next the first funny The next funny one I
Speaker 1: hear will be the first funny one. But like now,
Speaker 1: those are always funny, Ryan, this is modern, but modern
Speaker 1: baseball anymore is so different about the lineup and lineup instruction.
Speaker 1: But like you know, they are set up to have
Speaker 1: the platoon. They are set up. It's at several positions.
Speaker 1: I know a lot of people hate that, but that's
Speaker 1: where their talent level is and that's how they're playing.
Speaker 1: It is kind of strange to me that in so
Speaker 1: many ways for a team that has a market and
Speaker 1: a fan base and a popularity as much as it does,
Speaker 1: that they try and operate like the Rays in terms
Speaker 1: of cost cutting and overall philosophy when they could be
Speaker 1: something more than that. Nobody's asking them to be the Dodgers,
Speaker 1: and nobody says they have to be the Mets. But
Speaker 1: there is a different area that they can get to,
Speaker 1: a next level tier that they could get to in
Speaker 1: terms of investment into this team, I just think is
Speaker 1: lacking and until that thinking changes and winning and making
Speaker 1: the postseason becomes more than a spoken priority.
Speaker 2: I don't see it changing from that point.
Speaker 1: And I don't even know that a fan base reacting
Speaker 1: negatively and not showing up would change it either.
Speaker 5: Yeah, they got to be in on the Japanese guys, Ryan,
Speaker 5: how are they not in on?
Speaker 4: How are they not in on those guys?
Speaker 5: I mean I was there when the euro came over
Speaker 5: right in Sazakiki, right, the splitter, this closer guy came
Speaker 5: Kassazaki right, I mean I was there for those guys.
Speaker 5: That place was insane when it was right, I mean, Ja,
Speaker 5: they already were in on all the Japanese guys. Now
Speaker 5: they don't even bother.
Speaker 2: It's like, why, well they tried with Roki.
Speaker 1: They didn't get an interview, they didn't get the second
Speaker 1: interview after their presentation, So like, I mean, I that's kind.
Speaker 2: Of where they're at.
Speaker 1: I mean, the perception of the organization isn't great right
Speaker 1: now because they aren't winning. And like, if you're a hitter,
Speaker 1: you certainly don't want to go there because you hear
Speaker 1: about the horror stories of hitting there in April and
Speaker 1: May and in late September, and when you don't win,
Speaker 1: and you don't do all these things, and you're far
Speaker 1: from a lot of where a lot of places ball
Speaker 1: players live. You've got to do something to change that perception,
Speaker 1: or you have to pay more to get these guys
Speaker 1: to come here. And I don't think that these guys
Speaker 1: are willing to do that when they were when they
Speaker 1: were willing. You know, people can say what they want
Speaker 1: about the Robinson Cano contract, but for the first five
Speaker 1: years of that deal, he was pretty good. He lived
Speaker 1: up to the billing, and they you know, I remember
Speaker 1: remember when they signed Nelson Cruz to a four year
Speaker 1: deal for I think fifty eight million. Nobody else was
Speaker 1: willing to give Nelson Cruz that fourth year because oh
Speaker 1: he's getting older and this and that.
Speaker 2: Well, you know what he produced. He paid.
Speaker 1: You know, they paid the extra money to get him
Speaker 1: in there, and he produced. That's the mindset that they're
Speaker 1: going to have to have. I remember when the Nationals
Speaker 1: went out and everybody said it was an overpay for
Speaker 1: Jason Worth, and they said it was more than just
Speaker 1: the production number and the value that he would bring,
Speaker 1: you know, And was that much later that they were
Speaker 1: playing in the playoffs consistently, and they eventually got a ring,
Speaker 1: so I think you know, the investment into the team.
Speaker 1: There's different ways to do it, but at some point,
Speaker 1: like the overall mindset has to be more about winning
Speaker 1: and what.
Speaker 2: It takes to win. It's one thing to say it,
Speaker 2: but it's another thing to show it, and they've done
Speaker 2: very little to show that they're interested in winning at
Speaker 2: the highest levels.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there have been so many corner infield bats available
Speaker 3: on the market and they are just losing fans in
Speaker 3: droves right now. Do not look at replies on social
Speaker 3: media from Mariners fans for a playoff team. They are
Speaker 3: really trying their best not to get people to come
Speaker 3: to the ballpark despite having a good product. Anyway, Ryan,
Speaker 3: thanks for joining us, dude, always great to have you.
Speaker 3: Appreciate you and save travels Arizona soon.
Speaker 6: Man