WEBVTT - Episode 109: Infield Preview 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:02.880 Welcome to episode number one oh nine of the Marine 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:06.280 Layer Podcast. We have our infield preview for the twenty 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:09.039 twenty four season, and we'll close out the show with 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:09.840 speak your Mind. 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:13.920 Before we start the show, here's your reminder. If you're listening, 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:17.240 make sure to download our episodes, rate and review five stars. 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:19.000 You're doing us a huge favor if you do, leave 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:21.480 us a written review as well. If you're watching on YouTube, 0:00:21.480 --> 0:00:23.680 you see that big red subscribe button. Just click it 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:25.960 takes a second to do, It's easy. Make sure to 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:27.640 like and comment on the video as well. If you're 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:31.520 watching and follow us on social media, We're on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:34.000 and YouTube shorts at marine Layer Pod. 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:49.080 Let's get it rolling, and we welcome you to this 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:51.720 episode of the Marine Layer Podcast, part of the Just 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:56.800 Baseball Podcast network, recording here on Sunday, March third. By 0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:59.520 the time you hear this episode, Lal and I will 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:01.480 be twenty ten enough, at least i'll be ten. I 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:03.760 don't know about Lyle. Maybe he'll just be sunburned, but 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:05.679 I guess we'll have to to find out. We'll be 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:09.720 right in the heart of our Arizona trip and as 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:12.560 our infield preview rolls along today. We'll start behind the 0:01:12.600 --> 0:01:16.880 plate with cal Rawley. But let's see on this Mariner's infield. 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:18.959 We're gonna make it our goal to talk to every 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:21.480 single one of these players while we're down there if 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:25.080 we can, and then recillcrow around with our preview once 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:25.560 we get back. 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:28.360 What do you mean by recircle? 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:33.080 Like, well, but they're like, hey, teach, I'm hitting forty 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:38.520 bombs this year. I was like, oh, okay, we'll reevaluate now. 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:40.400 I got you. Who's gonna be the one that say 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:42.880 they'd hit forty bombs. Honestly, if it was Tie, I 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:44.000 might perk my ears up. 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:47.120 What a jump that would be. I mean yeah, I 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:48.880 probably we would probably have to just say, all right, 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:50.880 we got to do version two of this, because if 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:54.200 Ti Frans is hitting forty bombs this year, this roster's 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:57.720 gonna look look a lot different, a lot different. 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:00.560 I'd be, you know what, I'd be playing happy if 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:03.200 he hits twenty to twenty five and just gets his 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:06.240 WRC plus back up to like one twenty five, one thirty. 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:08.040 But you know what, we can we can dive into 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:09.320 all of that. 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:12.440 That'll be great. Let's start behind the plate with cal 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:17.200 Raley the Mariners projected starting catcher here in twenty twenty four, 0:02:17.280 --> 0:02:19.960 coming off a twenty twenty three season where he hit 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:22.400 two thirty two with a three zero six on base 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:25.520 percentage and a four to fifty six slugging percentage, good 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.799 for a one to eleven WRC plus four point seven 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:32.160 fangrafts wins above replacement. He walks nine and a half 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:35.440 percent of the time and struck out twenty seven point 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:39.520 eight percent of the time. What is your outlook on 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:41.359 cal Rawley's twenty twenty four season. 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:46.040 I don't see why he shouldn't continue to repeat and 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:48.359 replicate what he's been doing the last couple of seasons. 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:51.000 There's areas he can still get better. He could still 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:53.600 hit better from the right side of the plate, like 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:56.800 his WRC plus from that side seventy nine. It's obviously 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:58.640 much better from the left side, where all his power 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.400 comes from. He can the ball a little bit better, 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:04.840 like his blocks above average were down below average, And 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:07.560 like there's areas he can still clean it up, like 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:10.120 cal Rally may always be a strikeout guy. If you 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:11.960 want to look at his strikeout right and say maybe 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:14.160 he can bring it down a little bit. That's another area. 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:16.359 But for the most part, you're talking about a catcher 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:18.080 who by F four was one of the three best 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:20.400 catchers in baseball. He let all catchers in home runs 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:22.959 last year. You know he's got pop, you know he's 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:24.800 got you know, he calls a good game, you know 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:27.840 he's got a good arm, and you know he's probably 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:30.080 gonna put out a similar season next year. And I 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:33.320 think that's what people should expect. Average isn't gonna be crazy, 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:37.320 home runs will be high. Ops should jump up like 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:41.600 and be carried by the home runs and ultimately service 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:43.160 one of the better catchers in the league. I think 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:44.920 that's who cal Rally is at this point. I think 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:46.800 he's proven that how. 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.400 Many catchers in baseball can do what cal Rally does, 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:53.400 like switch hit, I mean like switch hit plus power 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:59.560 plus framing plus arm like Adly get that it's just 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.040 might just be Adley. The switch hitting's kind of unfair 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:05.880 because there aren't very many switch hitting catchers. But even 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:09.080 if you just frame it as plus power plus framing 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:13.880 plus arm, great team leader like, you still might just 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:15.800 circle around to Adley and that's it. 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:19.480 Yeah, the team leader thing certainly makes it interesting. I mean, 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:23.479 maybe you throw Sean Murphy into there too, potentially, But 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.599 it's the point is the list is short, and I 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:29.840 honestly think people lowball cal Raley when they try to 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:31.960 rank them in these preseason rankings, like we've seen on 0:04:32.000 --> 0:04:35.400 some of these catcher lists, They'll get put it seven, 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:40.240 sometimes six, sometimes eight. I think he should be higher 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:41.840 than that. I like, if they were up to me, 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:45.880 cal Like again, especially when you finish top three among 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:48.560 catchers in f WOAR, He's in the top five for sure. 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:52.880 For me, I'm wondering if there is is there any 0:04:52.920 --> 0:04:56.080 more there for cal to unlock in his back I 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:59.120 feel like a two point thirty average, the on base 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:01.680 percentage could probably be a little higher, but if he's 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:04.440 not gonna hit for a high average, it's really difficult 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.200 to get your on base percentage higher than say three 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:11.840 thirty if you're gonna hit two thirty. So maybe not there. 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:13.680 His slugging percentage you could go up a little, but 0:05:13.720 --> 0:05:17.000 he just finished the season with thirty bombs. So like, 0:05:17.080 --> 0:05:20.120 if you're like, we're sitting here nitpicking, is there really 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:23.800 another level for cal Raley to unlock In twenty twenty 0:05:23.839 --> 0:05:26.880 four at the plate, he would, like you said, probably 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:29.920 have to take a huge step from the right side 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:32.720 facing lefties. That like that would need to go up 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:35.920 significantly for him to have a chance at it. Otherwise, 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:38.120 you know, even if it's only a one to eleven, 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:40.360 let's say, let's go right in the middle between his 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:42.880 twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three campaigns, which was 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:45.719 one twenty and one eleven WRC plus and you put 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:48.760 cal at like a one sixteen. I mean, that's for 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:51.720 a catcher. That is all you can ask for at 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:54.560 the plate. You can't ask for anything more for cal Raley, 0:05:55.000 --> 0:06:01.160 and it's all you need really to be honest, you 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:03.680 don't need cal Raley to be the best hitter on 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:08.279 your team because you've supplemented the lineup around him for 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:11.440 that to be the case. Where if you just take 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:13.719 a mix of his twenty two and twenty three seasons, 0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:16.799 that's fine. You don't need anything else from cal Raley. 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:20.000 What you need from cal Raley is what Scott Service 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:23.000 needed from cal Rawley this offseason, where he's making his 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:25.240 list of six guys he's gonna go talk to this 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:28.120 offseason and like, hey, I need you guys to help 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:32.160 lead this clubhouse this season in the wake of on 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:35.800 financial uncertainty and who is his first call? Who do 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:41.400 he call first? Lyle in terms of what cal Rawley 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:43.880 and the offseason, who Scott was going to talk to? 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.279 Who was cal he called first? Oh, that's first on 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:46.719 the bocket. 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.240 Well in terms of who Scott talking, Yeah, Like, it's 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:53.400 funny cal Raley when he came up was pretty reserved, 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:56.920 wasn't loudly spoken. Now he's one of the team leaders. 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.920 He's definitively one of the team leaders. And a lot 0:06:59.920 --> 0:07:03.120 of catchers are, but some aren't. And Cal has very 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:05.720 very evidently stepped into that role and done so very well. 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:08.520 Might I add so? Yes, Like, along with everything he 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:11.559 brings to the table at the plate and behind the plate, 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:13.280 he also brings it in the clubhouse. 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:17.920 And there could be, you know, as cal goes another 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.520 year into his big league career, a little bit of 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.040 a I don't even know if it's like an emotional 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:27.679 maturity thing. I mean, you don't want like a public 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.240 outbreak like there was last season. Cal Rawley, I think 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:33.120 had a valid reason for speaking the way he did 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:38.800 last season, But knowing how cal Rawly sort of retracted 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:42.080 his statement and how he's felt like he's sort of 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:44.160 grown in this offseason. I don't know if he would 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:47.720 do that again, right, I don't think he would. He 0:07:47.720 --> 0:07:49.600 would do what he did in Game one sixty one 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:52.240 last year again. I would be curious to see what 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:54.440 happens if the Mariners have a situation like they did 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:57.360 last year, where they start playing poorly, they're falling behind 0:07:57.400 --> 0:08:01.560 the Rangers and Astros, and things are sort of boiling 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:03.560 up and getting frustrated for some of the core guys 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:06.360 on this roster who might still feel not feel like 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:07.559 the roster is good enough. 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:11.760 I don't know if anybody would speak out again, and 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:14.680 you'd probably see it happen internally, maybe in house or sorry, 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:19.000 you wouldn't see it. Maybe it would happen internally. But 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:23.920 I think in that scenario you'd see Cal either you know, 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:26.720 take matters into his own hands and either maybe there's 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:29.800 some players only meetings or maybe he has discussions internally 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:34.560 with management or front office people, whoever. But I think 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:37.920 more than anything, if they get behind early, you're probably 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:41.600 gonna see I mean, you'd probably I mean, I don't 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:43.000 really know, to be honest, I'm trying to think of 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:45.160 even like, just think out loud here about what might happen. 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:47.120 I don't know what would happen if they fell behind again. 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:49.560 I'm sure Cal would probably try to motivate the guys internally, 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:51.320 but you're right in the sense of I don't think 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:52.800 anything would happen publicly again. 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:55.760 No, and you know, maybe there might be comments off 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:59.160 the record, but that's it, Like, I don't think you'd 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:01.320 do that again. I think the point as a leader 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:03.160 is you don't let that stuff get out. You don't 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:05.760 give yourself the opportunity to feel vulnerable. I mean the 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:09.360 Mariners certainly, when that came out and you saw the 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:12.120 outcry from the fan base and everything else, you feel 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:15.480 like the team is vulnerable at that point and not 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:18.840 not as geled together because if you have someone willing 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:21.560 to say that, whether it's intentional or not, you're demeaning 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:23.480 other parts of your roster. And you know, that's all 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:26.360 part of growing into the leadership role that Cal feels 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:29.959 like he has to occupy this season. Like Scott Service 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:32.840 leans on his players a lot to lead this team. 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:38.320 So when times are tough, instead of you know, going 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:41.199 and saying where like we need we need more, it's 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:43.920 instead going to be how do I get the most 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:46.760 out of this roster currently? We can all have our 0:09:47.480 --> 0:09:49.560 opinions on the Mariners spending habits. You and I have 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:52.040 been very vocal about their spending habits on this podcast, 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.720 and cal is welcome to have those as well. But 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:59.040 for an organization that likes good pr you know, it's 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:00.960 part of cal Rally's game and I'm curious to see 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:03.680 how he handles it this year as we go on 0:10:03.840 --> 0:10:06.600 into twenty twenty four, so exciting season for col We 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:10.360 look for the best offensively, defensively as well, and you know, 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:16.720 continuing to be the ultra reliable guy behind the plate, and. 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:19.320 They should extend him. That's what I'll end with. Well, 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:22.360 they you know it was agent is. Yes, we know 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:24.199 that it might be unlikely, but the Mariner should do 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:26.199 whatever it takes to keep that guy around because clearly 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:28.079 he wants to win, clearly likes the organization. 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:30.880 Yeah, and it sounds like he wants to be here too. 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:34.040 And last I checked, I think Scott's lack of a 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:37.200 little cash. He turned down of some huge paydays this 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:40.000 offseason for his clients and instead it's going to get 0:10:40.080 --> 0:10:42.600 left with like thirty percent of what he was asking for. 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:44.960 I think you might need a long term extension to 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:47.199 sort of refill the coffers a little bit. 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:50.600 That sounds great. You got to catcher in Seattle that 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:53.480 wants to be in his home, in his organization that 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:56.480 he came up with. So there's a match made in heaven. 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:00.000 Speaking of a match made in heaven, the Mariners first 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:02.000 baseman seems to have found a match made in heaven 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:04.520 with his off season program over at drive Line This Winner. 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:07.760 That's Ty France. He finished twenty twenty three with a 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:09.960 bit of a disappointing year. The number sat at two 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:12.800 fifty batting average with twelve home runs, fifty eight runs 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:17.280 batted in, seven oh three ops one four WRC plus 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.959 and just a half an f four zero point five. 0:11:20.520 --> 0:11:23.400 So Ty took matters into his own hands. He followed 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:25.600 his buddy JP Crawford to drive Line This Winner. The 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:28.439 results seem to be very very positive early on. He's 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:31.880 shown some of it in spring training, and what he 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:34.280 can do in twenty twenty four is kind of unknown. 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:36.800 There's this balance of okay. The last year and a half, 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:39.920 Ty France has had his major struggle. So the second 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:42.280 half of twenty two after the injury, and a lot 0:11:42.320 --> 0:11:46.360 of twenty twenty three. But there's also the side of, well, 0:11:46.360 --> 0:11:49.440 we saw it work for JP, can this work for 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:52.080 ty France? Where he just pops off? And I certainly 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:53.800 think there's a world where he can. In fact, if 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:55.680 I had to pick one side or the other, I 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:57.920 think he will bounce back. But we also know that 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:00.760 simply going to drive line doesn't just magically work for 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:03.600 every single player. It depends on the player, and it 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:07.920 depends on how they adjust everything they've learned to real 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:10.599 games when the season starts. So there's a lot to 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:13.840 unpack with ty Franz. But I think the general consensus 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.320 is obviously Americers need him to be better than he 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:17.199 was in twenty. 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:20.120 Three, and there's a lot of spaces they need him 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:21.560 to be better. I mean, you could say, yeah, he 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:24.360 needs to be flat out better, but I mean, first 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:28.400 of all, it's keeping his physique throughout the season. There's 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:32.520 been some rave reports throughout camp of how in shape 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:34.520 he is, how he feels a little bit faster, how 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:36.480 he feels more athletic, and that he says he's open 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:38.480 to playing bold first and third base, and that he 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:41.080 physically feels like he can do it opposed to last 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:45.600 season where he only played first base. So there's that, 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:48.760 there's the staying healthy, not getting hit by a pitch, 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:51.240 not having like a ball go off his wrists and 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:55.000 have him affect an entire half season of his There's that, 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:59.319 and then there's just sort of the redefined offensive approach 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:01.040 that he had at Is he gonna hit the ball 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:02.840 in the air a little bit more? Is it going 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:05.720 to have a little bit more true power to it 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:10.520 opposed to more of his softer hitting previous I'll say 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:14.800 almost like previous life in that aspect. In previous seasons 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:17.360 in twenty three and twenty two and twenty one, more 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:19.880 of a light hitter, singles, doubles, a few home runs 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:23.160 mixed in there. But this season, could he have true 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:26.800 first base power with a more redefined swinging, a calmer 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:31.160 batpath to the ball, a slimmer frame, more athletic, deeper 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:33.360 in the box, farther off the plate. Does he feel 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:34.200 like he can do that? 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:35.040 Like? 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:37.680 Those are all the boxes I'm looking for ty france 0:13:37.720 --> 0:13:40.720 to check off. And we talked about the leadership with 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.120 cal Rawley. Ty Franz was on that list too, even 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:45.840 though ty Franz was worried if he was gonna even 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:48.680 get tender to contract this year, Scott Service made it 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:51.320 feel like ty Frantz was one of the guys on 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:54.520 this infield who is a leader this year again and 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:57.920 on him to keep his mentality and the rest of 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.360 the enfield's mentality good as the season goes a long. 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:05.559 What is a realistic expectation for ty France this year? 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:07.079 I was gonna say, as you turned your light on, 0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:08.480 you're starting to get a little bit dark in there 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:08.800 for those. 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:11.600 A little bit now that beam behind us. But that's fine, 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:12.800 we'll make it work. 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.480 What do you think a realistic expectation is for Tye? 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:18.959 I do think the power is gonna go up, and 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:20.520 they're talking about he's pulling the ball more. 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:25.160 But what do we think Probably not forty twenty five. 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:28.120 I'd like to see twenty five. Like just let's let's 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:30.640 do a marginal jump. Let's not let's not say ty 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:35.120 France is going to double his like double his home 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:38.400 run total. Now, if he does like a JP Crawford 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:41.960 thirty points of WRC plus higher than his previous career high, 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:44.520 then maybe we could talk about forty because then we'd 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:47.280 be in the one sixty range. But I'm gonna say 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:50.720 a marginal, a nice marginal improvement for ty France would 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:53.160 be back to his previous career high of a one 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:56.240 twenty nine WRC plus and twenty five bombs. 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:00.280 Is it odd at all that, first off, I think 0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:02.640 that's about right, And now that he's pulling the ball 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:05.920 more and seemingly hitting it with a little more authority, 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:08.880 it does seem like a real possibility. Is it odd 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:11.160 at all that when you look at Tye's peripherals from 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:13.360 last year, when you pull up his Baseball Savant page, 0:15:13.640 --> 0:15:16.000 that his barrel rate and his hard hit rate were 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.640 actually higher than they were in twenty one and twenty 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:22.040 two when he was playing well, and he also with less. 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:23.760 I don't know that's interesting. 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:28.280 I do think it's interesting. I do think the randomness 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.320 of baseball probably plays a fact into that, And I 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:35.960 think ty could tell you that, you know, just because 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:39.640 it's not always how hard you hit the ball, it's 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:42.960 also where you hit it. And Tye admitted his swing 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:45.280 last year felt kind of like just felt kind of 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:47.560 off because he wasn't hitting the balls in the right spots. 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:50.440 So even if he was technically, hitting the ball harder 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:54.360 doesn't always mean it was better. So and then the 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:57.040 results spoke for itself. And just think of how many 0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:59.480 hits ty Frantz left on the table because he wasn't 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:03.400 fast enough, didn't feel athletic enough last year. Certain there's 0:16:03.400 --> 0:16:07.640 certainly enough to make that the case. So definitely an 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.600 interesting point, but I feel like it's very hard to 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:13.920 use past year's judgment to judge this year's ty France. 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:16.280 I feel like Ty Frants can be totally different. I 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:19.240 just feel like this is his mentality has changed so 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:21.960 much to how he approaches the game of baseball and 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:25.640 how he approaches his hitting, his fielding, et cetera, all 0:16:25.680 --> 0:16:28.680 this stuff. It's no longer Ty France training with Ty 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:31.120 France in the off season. It's Ty France going and 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:35.680 getting outside help to help him move along this offseason 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:38.520 right and and become a better player and have a 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:42.360 different swing path and have and be and be in 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:45.160 better shape. And then and feeling like, you know, he 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:47.280 improved his diet, which I'm jealous of. I need to 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:48.480 I need to do that too. Man, I've been so 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:52.560 lazy this year. Not not a good sign. But off 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:54.720 the Ty France Tree of just doing that and like 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:59.040 the little things of improving yourself, I think have a 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:00.960 chance to make a massive this year, And which is 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:03.280 why I think it's kind of hard to use past 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:06.080 years to judge this year's version of Tie. 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.160 And those third base rumors, man, those are interesting because 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:13.280 I'll tell you what, not only if Ty's gonna if 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.000 Ty's gonna be more athletic this year and he's hitting 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:18.280 and feels like he's comfortable to move over to third base, 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:21.560 not only does it give him more options, but Tyler Locklear, 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:25.320 that dude's coming like He's already mashed during spring training. 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:27.600 He's hit at every level of the minor league. He 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:29.960 is on a fast track on his way through the minors. 0:17:30.440 --> 0:17:32.879 And if the Mariners think that back can help mid season, 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:36.439 maybe defensively, it gets a little interesting. But if you 0:17:36.480 --> 0:17:39.400 had the potential that Ty France a third, Locklear at 0:17:39.400 --> 0:17:44.680 first and Mitch Garver dhing, whoo, yeah, that gets very 0:17:44.680 --> 0:17:45.120 good group. 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:48.040 Yeah that's a pretty good group. How much third base 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:49.480 do we think Tye's playing this year? 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:55.080 I think likely not much, And maybe they just end 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:58.359 up being rumors, But truthfully, a lot of it probably 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:01.000 depends on Locklear because of Locker hitting so well that 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:03.560 they say his bat has to be in the lineup. Well, 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:05.760 you can't move Mitch Garverer. He needs to be a 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:08.000 DH he catches. Not only does that take time from 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:11.400 cal but that is how Garver's gotten injured. A lot 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:14.040 of his career is catching. So I think it depends 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:15.960 on what happens with Lockler. I don't think you'll see 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:18.120 ty France play much third base early in the year. 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:19.160 You can see it later. 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:23.639 I'm just kind of I'd be kind of nervous with 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:26.520 him over there. He has played in twenty twenty one 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:28.760 and twenty two. I've somehow forgotten the fact he played 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:32.200 nearly ten games worth of third base. He played eighty 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:34.159 six innings of third base in twenty twenty one and 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:37.320 twenty twenty two. Managed to have four defensive run saved 0:18:37.320 --> 0:18:40.520 in those eighty six innings. That's not very good. Notice 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:43.760 that a full season's worth of innings is what like 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:51.359 seventeen eighteen hundred innings, So multiply negative four by eighteen. 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:56.640 I mean, we're so it was negative four defensive run saved. 0:18:56.640 --> 0:18:57.920 I think at first you said four. 0:18:58.160 --> 0:19:00.800 Sorry, negative four, Sorry, that's what I meant negative four 0:19:00.840 --> 0:19:02.920 and it's out above average at first base has never 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:05.560 been above thirty fifth percentile in a full season. That 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:08.320 does not lead me to believe right now that ty 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:13.679 France his offense could outdo his defense at third to 0:19:13.720 --> 0:19:15.639 be honest, but that's pretty better. 0:19:16.760 --> 0:19:19.920 But what if ty France is mashing and Tyler Lockler's 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:23.720 mashing and Mitch Garver's mashing does. 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:28.240 For having like fifth percentile defense over there at third 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:30.640 base and the effect it has on your pitcher, does 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:33.560 that outweigh it? I don't think it does. I don't know. 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.040 I mean, seriously, think of how the Mariners infield is 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:41.040 right now. You have questional defenders at shortstop and second base. 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:45.120 You have right now with Arius and Rojas, a question 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:47.840 market third when it comes to defense, and you would 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:50.840 downgrade that defense by putting ty France at third base. 0:19:51.800 --> 0:19:53.679 So then you would have, no matter how good your 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:56.879