Episode 188: Which Of These Blockbuster Mariners Trade Ideas Make Sense?

[00:00:00] Welcome to Episode 188 of the Marine Layer Podcast. We have a few blockbuster trade ideas for the Mariners as winter meetings looms. We will take a look over all of them and see if there's any chance the Mariners could pull any of these off.

[00:00:14] This show is brought to you by our friends over at Pogaccia's Pub 85. December's here, football season's getting real, real exciting, both the NFL and college football. The college football playoffs coming up, there's basketball and hockey all going on. What better spot to go watch some games with your friends?

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[00:01:19] Let's get it rolling.

[00:01:20] And we welcome you to this episode of the Marine Layer Podcast, part of the Just Baseball Podcast Network, recording on Thursday afternoon, December 5th.

[00:01:42] The winter meetings start this upcoming weekend.

[00:01:45] Lau and I are really looking forward to it. We are going to be there in Dallas starting tomorrow on Friday when this episode comes out.

[00:01:53] How does Dallas in December sound to you?

[00:01:57] Better than Dallas in July when it was 100 degrees and humid.

[00:02:01] I can agree. It's going to be a little bit fun and a little work.

[00:02:05] We're splitting this essentially, this trip now 50-50 of half business, half fun.

[00:02:11] So we're going on Friday. Lau and I are really looking forward to going and seeing ASU in the Big 12 title game coming up on Saturday morning.

[00:02:20] Morning football. Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun.

[00:02:23] But then the winter meetings start Sunday evening and I'm hoping at that point there will be some sort of Mariners moves to talk about once we get there.

[00:02:32] Yeah, we've really been waiting around a while for some moves.

[00:02:36] I don't know how long we're going to have to keep waiting.

[00:02:37] Usually we don't have to wait this long, but I hope it picks up sooner rather than later because I'm itching for it.

[00:02:43] Is it that shocking? Is it that shocking there haven't been any moves?

[00:02:46] And I say this for a reason, by the way, before I get into this reason, I just want to remind anyone, everyone who could potentially be in Dallas for winter meetings.

[00:02:55] If you want to say hello, hit us up, shoot us a DM, shoot us an email.

[00:02:58] We would love to meet up with you guys, get you guys on the mic and talk some Mariners baseball.

[00:03:02] It'd be a blast.

[00:03:03] So if you're in the Dallas area, feel free to hit us up.

[00:03:06] But as Adam Jude reported earlier this week, when he mentioned what the Phillies were asking for for Alec Boehm, it just didn't really shock me that there haven't been any moves.

[00:03:20] The fact that, as Adam reported, the Phillies are asking for Logan Gilbert or George Kirby for Alec Boehm.

[00:03:29] I sit there and think, yeah, no shit.

[00:03:32] There haven't been any moves.

[00:03:34] Who the hell is paying that price?

[00:03:36] Yeah.

[00:03:37] What a fucking joke.

[00:03:38] I mean, the Phillies might just be asking for the world as a starting price and a negotiation and it comes down.

[00:03:43] But if that's really all they're looking for, then yeah, Alec Boehm's not on the trade market because that is an unreasonable, unjust trade package.

[00:03:51] And Dave Dombrowski knows that.

[00:03:53] So I'm sure he's trying to finesse the Mariners and see if it'll work.

[00:03:57] And it's not going to work.

[00:03:58] Like, he could just not be available to Jude mentioned it when he was on Brock and Salk this morning that he just might not be available.

[00:04:05] And the Phillies would only do it if they get some insane deal.

[00:04:08] And if Alec Boehm's not available, man, the Mariners aren't going to make a move at third base.

[00:04:13] Not realistically at this point that people are going to be happy about because at that point, then it's just Alex Bregman or Yohan Mankata.

[00:04:22] God.

[00:04:24] But you want Yohan Mankata?

[00:04:26] No.

[00:04:27] I think you do.

[00:04:28] Do I want Yohan Mankata?

[00:04:31] I think you do.

[00:04:33] It's almost out of the point of so much negativity that you're going to talk yourself into it somehow.

[00:04:40] No.

[00:04:41] In fact, I will be throwing a tantrum on this very podcast if they do that.

[00:04:45] You might be your third best option at this point.

[00:04:48] Great.

[00:04:49] And I am not unprone to going on rants on this podcast.

[00:04:54] Oh, tantrums will be thrown on this podcast if they sign Yohan Mankata and say, yep, that's our third baseman.

[00:04:59] let's be fair to Alcboam very solid baseball player potentially some high upside in the future

[00:05:04] there's no way he's worth that price Luis Severino just signed a three-year contract for 67 million

[00:05:12] dollars at about what was that 20 what's the av on that I can't do math regardless uh over 20

[00:05:18] million dollars AAV for Luis Severino it's a fine pitcher yeah it'd be what 22.33 million dollars

[00:05:25] a year good math good job hey I went to ASU they call us the Harvard of the southwest you went there

[00:05:31] too that's true well I didn't pay attention in math like you did apparently oh no if that's the price

[00:05:38] for for Luis Severino giving up Logan Gilbert or George Kirby for Alec Boehm would be a fireable

[00:05:44] offense yes also I did not pay attention to math in fact I'm atrocious in math it was it was a joke

[00:05:49] for those who missed it while you did not pay attention to math class or any school class not

[00:05:55] related to sports media yeah anyway you might want to mention too about those Luis Severino deal

[00:06:01] you said the contract you want to mention who he signed with the A's the A's gave Luis uh

[00:06:08] Severino their highest guaranteed contract in franchise history the A's gave Luis Severino a bigger contract

[00:06:16] than this Mariners regime has ever given a free agent position player by triple the amount nearly

[00:06:24] triple Mitch Garber is their biggest contract ever given to a free agent position player

[00:06:29] and the Oakland fucking A's just gave Luis Severino a three-year near 70 million dollar deal which

[00:06:35] triples a Mariners free agent position player contract their perspective on this is that the

[00:06:42] contract of Luis Severino and the remaining contract of Luis Castillo are about the same

[00:06:47] five million dollar difference in guaranteed money uh Castillo is five million dollars more it's three

[00:06:52] for 72 for Castillo it's three for 67 for Severino if you want some perspective on how the value should

[00:07:00] be set for this current Mariners rotation well so that's the other side of this coin you say nobody's

[00:07:06] getting moved the asking prices are too high on everybody but the other side of this coin is

[00:07:10] if Luis Severino's getting that what could the Mariners get for one of these starters and I know not

[00:07:18] everybody wants to trade him I'm not even totally sold on trading one of them but as you tweeted earlier

[00:07:23] today if that's what Luis Severino's getting in free agency what a solid year with the Mets but it wasn't

[00:07:28] anything crazy to write home about if that's the deal he's getting as you put you should be able to get an

[00:07:33] entire franchise for one of these Mariners starters but that's where you run into a problem of you

[00:07:40] cannot possibly get the market value of what the current starter is worth back in a trade no team's

[00:07:47] going to give that up if Logan Gilbert's a top five Cy Young caliber guy going forward with three years

[00:07:54] of control making a very reasonable amount of money in arbitration for how starting pitchers are valued

[00:07:59] these days how in the world if Luis Severino's worth that are you going to be able to get what

[00:08:05] Logan Gilbert is actually worth on the trade market what team would give that up the Rockies if they

[00:08:12] had actual players of value like how they traded Nolan Aronado for nothing exactly they don't any

[00:08:18] team that's trading for Logan Gilbert is almost certainly a contender and contenders wouldn't want

[00:08:23] to give up that kind of value at this point the value of what Logan Gilbert would be you couldn't

[00:08:28] get prospects back for Logan Gilbert unless you somehow like Jackson Holliday would need to be

[00:08:34] out of all prospects which I still qualify him as a prospect because he's gotten a a marginable

[00:08:41] amount of time playing in the big leagues but he's not proven yet that's about as prospect as you could

[00:08:47] get otherwise you're going after proven big leaguers and there's contending teams wouldn't want to give

[00:08:52] up proven big leaguers like that especially if teams like the Cubs for example with Nico Horner it's come

[00:08:58] out that they are expecting big league talent back for Nico Horner to compete this year who's giving

[00:09:05] that up maybe the Mariners if they run out of options because they're gonna have to do something

[00:09:10] so I don't know this is why this is why we need moves to start happening usually Jerry makes moves

[00:09:16] earlier than this I really hope it gets going at the winter meetings because I want definitive things

[00:09:22] to talk about and man I cannot wait for the winter meetings I can't wait to be there and for all the

[00:09:27] hot stove stuff to start really going and people going crazy all that it sounds like Soto's going

[00:09:32] to sign by what Monday morning so Sunday night when we're there and we're hanging out at the at the

[00:09:38] hotel where the winter meetings is it very well could be that the news starts breaking and the rumors

[00:09:44] start circulating of where Soto is and that's really the first you know the first snowball effect of

[00:09:50] winter meetings um that's the part I'm really looking forward to when we went last time first of all

[00:09:54] you know we were kind of green we were at the job fair and this was back in 2019 and we weren't I

[00:10:00] wouldn't say we weren't hanging around all of the all the news breakers all the time we weren't media

[00:10:04] and all that such this time I think we're going to be a little bit closer to all the action so when

[00:10:08] stuff like that goes down um I mean I'm really looking forward to did anything big happen last time

[00:10:13] in 2019 so two things not I think we're going to be around all the media people and around the action

[00:10:19] we will be around the action that's where we're going to be we we are going to be in the hotel

[00:10:24] doing media stuff we have the media access so yeah we're going to be around everybody if stuff breaks

[00:10:28] but I was going to say if like John Heyman breaks the news and he's cooped up in his room

[00:10:32] punching away on his what his blackberry or something oh we we really need to meet John Heyman

[00:10:38] I even if he turns us down and is the biggest asshole of all time I feel like we need to meet him just

[00:10:44] for some stories we come back and tell it on the podcast we tell all of our friends be like yep

[00:10:47] that was John Heyman I asked him I asked him to name four Mariners and he couldn't do it

[00:10:54] Jerry DiPoto well Scott Service feel bad for him great guy well you know I mean uh they have uh the

[00:11:03] the Rodriguez kid in center field but otherwise I was unimpressed in all their games against the

[00:11:08] Yankees and then they may have beaten the Mets but the you know they don't give me sources

[00:11:15] that I think he doesn't like the Mariners by the way because they won't give him sources I've seen

[00:11:19] people say that before so I hope we meet John Heyman and I also hope Juan Soto does not sign

[00:11:25] before the winter meeting start because I think that'd be so fun if we are there and everybody is

[00:11:29] there when Soto signs because it's going to be chaos people go crazy I want to be there for that

[00:11:35] he is going to sign by the time Wednesday rolls around

[00:11:39] Scott Boris has orchestrated as he always does this elaborate plan on how to get guys to sign but

[00:11:45] unlike last offseason Soto's having no problem fielding contract offers yeah so it's it's going

[00:11:51] to happen yeah and to answer your question by the way there was big dominoes that fell when we were

[00:11:57] in San Diego for the winter meetings in 2019 but again it's just that we weren't always around all

[00:12:02] the action so Garrett Cole signed during those winter meetings but and that was the big domino

[00:12:06] but we weren't really around everything so this time this time we will be yeah I I really can't wait

[00:12:14] I can't wait for all of it by the way you made the trip sound like oh it's half fun half work I'll be

[00:12:19] honest as fun as the ASU game is going to be and I am thrilled that that worked out that we're going

[00:12:23] to go with a bunch of our friends like yes we're going to be working by the definition at the winter

[00:12:28] meetings and getting a bunch of content for us for you guys for everybody it's gonna be fun like

[00:12:33] like it's fun right when I say work I mean we're not gonna be sitting in a cubicle working we're gonna

[00:12:39] be you know out and about talking baseball with people that like that's fun I'm just saying we

[00:12:44] won't have to really worry about as much on Saturday correct we will we will not be doing podcast content

[00:12:52] or social content of any sorts on Saturday we will probably be uh drinking and watching ASU football

[00:12:58] so right that's that is that is a little different yeah but no I I I can't wait I can't believe this

[00:13:04] whole thing worked out in a quick nutshell TJ and I were supposed to fly out Sunday for the winter

[00:13:08] meetings Sunday morning because months ago we weren't like well that ASU team you know our boys

[00:13:14] that won three games last year yeah they're going to the big 12 title game all of a sudden here we are

[00:13:19] and and thank you Alaska Airlines who just so happen to hear the college football guard gods and connect

[00:13:25] them to us because all of a sudden TJ and I get a text a couple days ago it's like hey you guys want

[00:13:30] to change your flight and get some travel credit it's like well originally we're like no we have

[00:13:34] places to go you can change it for Friday and potentially Friday night we're like oh well then

[00:13:40] so we can go watch ASU for no charge sign us up they they hit us with the uh hey you up text

[00:13:48] they did it worked out and I was up and I was ready I was ready too a bunch of our friends are gone

[00:13:53] we're we're excited for the whole week and we're gonna have plenty of stories to tell everybody

[00:13:57] throughout it if you're in Dallas hit us up hit us up we want to see all of you guys there that'd be

[00:14:02] awesome uh so let's get into these blockbuster ideas a few like they're pretty crazy I'm not gonna lie

[00:14:09] some of these ideas are off like off the rocker in terms of are they realistic maybe not but let's

[00:14:19] talk through them and let's see if we can rationalize one of these trades happening let's

[00:14:25] start off with this first one Lyle texts me last night and says okay or no it was this morning no

[00:14:32] whatever it was it was it was early this morning so you could call it last night because I was up at

[00:14:36] 4 a.m yeah sometimes these things I was asleep yeah sometimes these things happen between TJ and

[00:14:42] I where if I have a thought which sometimes for whatever reason they're really late and TJ's

[00:14:45] either already winding down or straight up asleep I'll text them it's like well I don't want to

[00:14:50] forget this idea there would be a pain in my ass if I forgot the idea so I'm gonna send him the text

[00:14:54] and sometimes we'll he'll definitely look at it and be like it's like 12 30 can we do this tomorrow

[00:14:58] but I sent it anyway because I don't want to forget about it so this is one of the things I sent

[00:15:03] TJ this time it was at like 4 in the morning when I got up this morning and I'm sitting there

[00:15:08] thinking to myself because I've been stirring on it for a bit thinking to myself how are the

[00:15:13] Mariners going to get creative how are they going to work with this ridiculous $15 budget sorry not

[00:15:17] the point of this point of this podcast episode we'll leave that aside how are they going to do

[00:15:22] this how are they going to make this team significantly better by adding offense and all of a sudden

[00:15:28] this thought popped into my head and I brought it up on Brock and Salk here on Thursday morning

[00:15:32] too Salk was really intrigued so now I'm going to run it by all you guys I will say like TJ said it

[00:15:36] is off the cuff it's a little crazy but if the Phillies can ask for Kirby or Logan for Alec Boehm

[00:15:43] we can ask for this so here we go if the Mariners were to package Luis Castillo and then a couple of

[00:15:50] their high-end prospects and I'm going to get aggressive here with these prospects I'm saying

[00:15:54] Feldenin Celestine yeah that probably ruffles some feathers it ruffles our feathers a little bit

[00:15:59] but Feldenin Celestine and I'm going to say either Harry Ford or Johnny Farmelo whichever this team

[00:16:05] prefers those three guys Castillo Celestine and either Farmelo or Ford would the Atlanta Braves

[00:16:12] entertain the idea ever in some world of trading Austin Riley because they need starting pitching

[00:16:19] badly would they be willing to entertain this idea especially if they could go after Alex Bregman

[00:16:26] another prospect you could throw in here in last two the way I frame this is you could include any

[00:16:30] prospect whose name is not Colt Emerson in this idea any two I would assume it would be two of what

[00:16:36] the Braves view as the Mariners top five prospects sans Colt that's it nobody is off the table because

[00:16:42] Austin Riley is one of the most valuable third baseman in baseball he's one of the most valuable

[00:16:47] players to the Atlanta Braves organization and if the Mariners were to go after him

[00:16:54] they would need to significantly overpay the market value of Austin Riley to secure him because here's

[00:17:00] the deal with Austin Riley he's a stud first of all 2021 2022 and 2023 have been the best years of

[00:17:07] his career had a bit of a down year last year in 2024 with the rest of the Braves roster he was also

[00:17:12] injured he was also hurt too that didn't help and all part of a really underwhelming Braves offensive

[00:17:18] season which you know leads to the Braves hitting coach now being the hitting coach of the Mariners but

[00:17:22] anyway that's not the point of of this trade idea would help out for Austin Riley though I don't

[00:17:27] think he complained that much so it's a 136 WRC plus in 2021 144 in 2022 and 128 in 2023 stud stud over

[00:17:38] there at third base provides a ton of value hits ball really hard is one of the most productive

[00:17:42] offensive players in baseball and he's under contract at 22 million dollars a year for the next eight years

[00:17:47] through his age 35 season and he's got a club option for his age 36 season you got the control

[00:17:53] you got the youth he's going to be 28 next year he's in the prime of his career he plays a position of

[00:17:58] absolute need for the Seattle Mariners so you see that and it says okay this checks every single box we

[00:18:04] could possibly want we're going to make the Braves pick up the phone here well the market value for

[00:18:10] Austin Riley as a position player is lower than what we are suggesting to Atlanta to get the Braves to pick

[00:18:17] up the phone on someone they almost certainly don't want to trade and have probably no interest in

[00:18:22] trading you need to say here's our massive overpay pick up the phone and at least hear us out and that

[00:18:28] massive overpay starts with starts I will say Luis Castillo and him approving a trade to Atlanta which

[00:18:36] I would imagine he would they've developed some very good pitchers and it's a good place to pitch

[00:18:41] Luis Castillo and two blue chip prospects who can be stars for the Braves in the future

[00:18:47] I feel like that's a hard trade package to turn down it would be very hard to turn down especially

[00:18:54] if the Braves think they could pivot and have a chance in the Bregman sweepstakes but the Braves

[00:19:00] are also contending Riley's also one of the core pieces of their team and while he had a down year

[00:19:05] this past year let's call it a down year for Austin Riley standards for most people what he did is a good

[00:19:11] season in 2024 in what was 115 games give or take he still had a 116 WRC plus and had two and a half wins

[00:19:19] now you play a full season if you're Austin Riley it's probably closer to three and a half four

[00:19:24] so yeah he's he is really good he has a career 840 OPS he is one of the game's best third baseman

[00:19:30] there are years where he is the best third baseman and the Braves need starting pitching I like if they

[00:19:36] were going to entertain this at all this is why I know Chris Sale just won the Cy Young this guy's

[00:19:42] in his mid-30s he was just talking about he nearly retired had it not been for that trade to the Braves

[00:19:46] I don't know how much longer he's going to really be this caliber of pitcher he kind of had a resurgence

[00:19:51] this year I don't know if that lasts that's one you've got Ronaldo Lopez who I think that was a

[00:19:57] pretty fluky season in itself I'm not totally convinced he repeats that you'll have Spencer

[00:20:02] Strider coming back at some point in 24 but it's not a deep rotation and you're going to lose Max

[00:20:08] Freed likely you need top line starting pitching if you're the Atlanta Braves and for a team that does

[00:20:14] have a lot of offense I'm not saying they do this I'm not saying they'd even entertain it I don't know

[00:20:21] they may value him more than anybody in their organization for all we know but there are reasons

[00:20:27] for this to be considered considering the Braves need pitching Mariners need offense each have a

[00:20:32] surplus of the other there's two more stages of this trade I want to get to so let's entertain the

[00:20:38] second stage of this trade where the Atlanta Braves say they don't want someone on the other side of

[00:20:43] 30 like Luis Castillo or Luis Castillo tells the Mariners I'm not willing to go pitch in Atlanta and

[00:20:49] I'm gonna right now execute my no trade clause and I'm gonna stay on this roster that puts the

[00:20:55] Mariners in a pickle if they're gonna offer the Atlanta Braves they need a pitcher who is willing

[00:20:59] to go there or has no contract that would block a trade like this let's put it in the Braves plate

[00:21:06] and let's say the Braves say no to Luis Castillo because they don't want an older arm so you say okay

[00:21:12] we're getting the impression Logan Gilbert does not want to sign an extension in Seattle would you take

[00:21:17] Logan Gilbert and two top five prospects for Austin Riley I personally think first of all that is the

[00:21:25] most value the Mariners would ever put out in any trade package this offseason Logan Gilbert and say

[00:21:30] Felonine and Laz that would be the most value they would package together to another team this offseason

[00:21:36] to acquire a bat I think that personally from the Mariners side of this I think they'll be really

[00:21:43] hard for the Braves to turn down that would be your best offer and if the Braves say no to that

[00:21:48] then the Braves aren't trading Austin Riley that's how I sort of take that side of it here's my only

[00:21:54] response to that in question part of the reason this Luis Castillo thing works out for both sides

[00:22:00] is the money's pretty similar Austin Riley makes 22 million dollars a year each of the next eight

[00:22:05] seasons his contract doesn't balloon up by any means the Braves structure that thing well it is 22 22 22

[00:22:11] etc every year Luis makes 24 million dollars each of the next three years so the money's pretty similar

[00:22:19] there here's where you run into an issue if you're the Mariners because it won't spend any money anyway

[00:22:25] if you have to take on Austin Riley's money but you're giving up Logan Gilbert you are adding payroll

[00:22:30] so does that hamper things no because then you go shed payroll you can shed Mitch Hanager if you want to

[00:22:37] it's trust me I don't think it's that difficult with the prospects you have to go shed Mitch

[00:22:41] Hanager's money right trade him and his contract away for cash considerations attach a prospect or two

[00:22:48] and the money's gone and all of a sudden you're good sure I'm the same thing with Mitch Garver

[00:22:53] it's all about if you want to that's the problem when you limit yourself with the budget there are

[00:22:58] options for you with the deep farm system and a loaded pitching pitching core especially on your

[00:23:03] big league roster to do things like this that's that's not as much of an issue that's not what

[00:23:08] the Mariners want to do but at that point if you were acquiring Austin Riley yeah sorry but all of a

[00:23:15] sudden some of these future infield prospects for you don't really matter as much you have your infield

[00:23:22] you you're targeting these next few years to go win not whether or not your infield will be good in

[00:23:27] 2032 you sit and wish every night that any of your prospects turn into Austin Riley that's your hope

[00:23:36] Austin again Austin Riley is one of the game's best third baseman when he's healthy and at his best

[00:23:40] and he's club controllable too do you think it would cost both Felney and Laz if Logan was the

[00:23:46] headliner of the package still for Austin Riley yes would you consider that I think I would

[00:23:54] yeah I love Laz and Felney and I love the idea of them but that's the problem Lyle they're an idea

[00:24:00] right now they're young kids in the minor leagues they seem totally awesome great personalities they

[00:24:08] embody what the kind of culture the Mariners want coming up through their system and in the future

[00:24:15] they could be great and Logan Gilbert is a the model of the Mariners pitching development and how great

[00:24:21] there and how you can continue to tinker and evolve throughout the years and years and years but as

[00:24:26] we've mentioned on this podcast it doesn't feel like from people we've talked to about this that he's

[00:24:34] a hundred percent certain he doesn't it doesn't sound like he's as inclined to sign an extension in

[00:24:40] Seattle so that means there is you know it opens up way more options to trade Logan Gilbert away

[00:24:48] it's as much as it stinks it lessens the pain a little bit it's like well you either trade him

[00:24:54] and get value back or you get nothing right and which is it so two pieces of response to that I'll

[00:25:00] throw both of them at you number one if you're a Mariners fan but I'll ask you for the sake of

[00:25:04] all our listeners to throw it at you would you rather trade Logan Gilbert for Austin Riley or just

[00:25:10] let Logan Gilbert walk eventually personally I'd rather have Austin Riley and you never you never trade

[00:25:16] guys for what's in the best interest of the guys you're trading away but Logan Gilbert's from

[00:25:22] Florida and say he wants to get I would say east coast but in Logan's case I'll say back to the

[00:25:28] south he wants to get as close to the south as possible that's the best case scenario for Logan

[00:25:33] is to go to Atlanta they could pay him they'll pay him they have no problem paying guys they believe

[00:25:38] in in the future on long-term extensions well the two Florida teams aren't paying him his money

[00:25:43] that's for sure so yeah Atlanta chance and the Mariners would never trade him to the Houston

[00:25:48] Astros which is another team in the south so the next best option for Logan would be Atlanta

[00:25:55] here's the second part of this too what you mentioned about the prospects yeah I hope

[00:25:59] Felney Celestine and Lazaro Montez come up one day if they're here by then and are superstars it would

[00:26:06] it would hurt to trade Felney Celestine it really would because that guy's ceiling is Francisco Lindor

[00:26:12] and and that's why I'd be so devastated in a lot of ways it would be a real gut punch to see him go

[00:26:18] but obviously for somebody like Austin Riley you have to do it because like you said he's an idea

[00:26:23] and the Lazaro Montez part of this this is the bigger part the thing about him as a prospect is

[00:26:29] who could he be at his absolute best like everybody likes to compare him to Jordan Alvarez at his best

[00:26:36] the unfortunate truth though about Lazaro Montez is if and it's an if he does not continue to hit

[00:26:42] say he gets to double a and is not the same hitter that he's been in a ball so far

[00:26:47] then who is he as a prospect because he doesn't really have defensive value he's not that fast

[00:26:51] so in that sense yeah he really is an idea as well because he's only got one big tool and it has to hit

[00:27:00] for him to have value he's a risk is what he is as a prospect right and and more so than the guys

[00:27:07] who can play defense there would be no reason to put him on a big league roster unless he's ready at

[00:27:12] the plate it's not the case for every prospect but for him it is Cole Young for example could not be

[00:27:19] all the way developed as a prospect but everything he offers athletically you could put him on the big

[00:27:24] league roster as a left-handed hitting second baseman Laz as a left-handed hitting DH I mean we're

[00:27:30] we're talking about he needs to be excelling in double a to see time at the big leagues right

[00:27:35] for this version of the Mariners because we're envisioning the Mariners being in a contention

[00:27:39] window not rebuilding in rebuilding and you put prospects on rosters all the time that aren't

[00:27:45] necessarily ready just to get them big league time and help them develop Mariners don't have time

[00:27:50] for that right now mm-hmm no they don't they need to win now and they need impact bats and again you

[00:27:57] know they're gonna get creative and they're gonna have to get creative because let's be real when

[00:28:02] ever does the guy that's in the news and in baseball media rumors about all the Mariners are linked to

[00:28:09] this guy when does Jerry ever trade for that guy never so like all this Alec Boehm stuff feels like

[00:28:15] because there's so much hot stove stuff about it because the block's so hot about it that it's not

[00:28:22] gonna happen that's not gonna be the guy he trades for the guy he trades for is gonna be somebody out of

[00:28:26] nowhere who you're not expecting well let me say it again do I think this deal happens in the end

[00:28:32] no probably not I should say however if the Phillies have the audacity to ask for Logan Gilbert or George

[00:28:41] Kirby in exchange for Alec Boehm it is not crazy it is not crazy to offer this package Logan Gilbert

[00:28:49] Thelene Celestine Lazaro Montez a real package for Austin Riley now you might say you watching this

[00:28:56] you listening to this might say yeah the Braves aren't gonna do that fine but it's not an unrealistic

[00:29:01] package what we offer is not an unrealistic package but you want to know why this trade might actually

[00:29:08] not happen we wanted to get a perspective from the Braves side of things so we reached out to

[00:29:15] someone we know who covers the Braves and asked I think I don't think it's a problem to say it he's

[00:29:21] you know he's a friend of ours he's been on the podcast so we've had him on the podcast Justin

[00:29:24] Toscano covers the Braves uh for the Atlanta Journal Constitution yeah he will and he will also be at the

[00:29:31] ASU game with us on Saturday and winter meetings and winter meetings yeah winter meetings first but

[00:29:36] we're all going to the ASU game because he's he's a Cronkite grad an ASU grad like us

[00:29:40] we hit him up this morning before recording this and said hey so we had this idea we wanted to talk

[00:29:45] about what do you think and he so the first thing he said is that the Braves view Riley at not shockingly

[00:29:53] as essentially right up there with Ronald Acuna in terms of importance to the core of the Braves team

[00:30:00] he put them as 1a and 1b not shocking but then the thing he said after that I think shocked us a

[00:30:06] little bit more on what he thinks it would take for the Braves to move Austin Riley here's the package

[00:30:11] he said it would take Luis Castillo another one another starter from the rotation and then three

[00:30:18] top 10 prospects on the in the Mariners system Castillo say Bryce Miller and then three top 10 guys

[00:30:27] for Austin Riley for the Braves to pick up the phone I was like what so that essentially that

[00:30:32] essentially means yeah Luis Bryce Miller Felmin Laz and you want to say somebody toward the lower end

[00:30:41] of the top 10 Michael Arroyo sure that's a lot yeah it's that is that is a ton and again I think you

[00:30:48] and I are both sitting there like okay I know he's the beat writer for the team but he can't be serious

[00:30:54] with this right he can't actually say this is this is the package but to be fair to what TJ's saying

[00:30:59] and what Justin's probably telling us is whether that's market value or not that might be what the

[00:31:05] Braves say this is how much we value him we would not give him up unless it's for this and obviously

[00:31:11] to Justin's credit he's around Braves people every single day certainly more than we are so we were

[00:31:17] pretty taken aback when we heard that but when we when we asked him about it that's what he said and

[00:31:22] he's great at his job he's a phenomenal reporter and we're like well maybe this trade ain't happening

[00:31:28] that package says Austin Riley's not available much like Alec Boehm right if these are the prices

[00:31:34] for premium players on the trade market the trades aren't happening not these trades right and we think

[00:31:42] about this that trade package for Austin Riley not happening the trade the ass trade package for

[00:31:47] Alec Boehm that's not happening major league players for Nico Horner unless it's Luis Castillo

[00:31:52] is not happening mm-hmm where are the trades gonna be where those impact trades and at this point if

[00:31:59] you're trading Luis for Horner the Mariners should be getting more back than that for what the pitching

[00:32:03] market is I would say it depends on the money but yeah sure but yeah so again I don't think the

[00:32:10] package we put together for Austin Riley's crazy if I were the Mariners I'd absolutely pick up the phone

[00:32:15] and ask you gotta at least ask you need help at third base doesn't mean the Braves would say yes

[00:32:20] so yeah like the Mariners would give up one starter I don't think they're giving up two starters

[00:32:27] who would they give up two starters for in baseball Shohei yeah there we go well yeah I see if the

[00:32:37] Dodgers are are interested they need starters still I don't know I mean who else is even like young

[00:32:42] and controllable that you could even make an argument for Gunner after Juan Soto signs his contract yeah

[00:32:50] right that's about it it's crazy the market right now is insane for any for any sort of talent

[00:32:59] we have seen that starting pitchers average starting pitchers are valued insanely high and the trade

[00:33:06] market is jacked up right now that's why there have been no moves so you want to hear another idea then

[00:33:12] as we put a bow on Austin Riley and transition to idea number two that is still a blockbuster move and

[00:33:18] it includes a chain line of events but it's interesting I'll say that are you intrigued to hear

[00:33:24] it let's do it so I can't take all the credit for this I was talking to one of our Twitter friends

[00:33:31] one of our Mariners Twitter friends named Jage who I'm sure some of you have seen on Twitter his

[00:33:35] his at name is at the Jage page you guys should go follow him he's really smart good like good follow

[00:33:41] smart Mariners fan knows his stuff he's from the east coast and lives on the east coast but he's never

[00:33:46] even been to a Mariners game in Seattle but anyway he he is a diehard Mariners fan that's his team and

[00:33:50] he's invested so we've been floating some trade ideas back and forth just kind of talking about it he

[00:33:56] likes to talk about this stuff and one of the things that we floated out there among many this is the

[00:34:03] one I wanted to bring to the table that he suggested and or he he at least lightly threw it out there and

[00:34:09] I kind of took it from there I was like oh this would be really interesting so I just want to make sure I give

[00:34:14] him the proper credit for that so TJ you keep talking about we keep talking about not a lot of teams seem that

[00:34:21] interested in taking prospects and and the market for trades right now is crazy because everybody wants

[00:34:26] proven big league talent here's one team I think we can definitively say is not that interested currently

[00:34:34] in proven big league talent that's the Chicago White Sox right yep fair to say they are not interested

[00:34:40] right now in proven big league talent they are one of the few teams in baseball who would be interested

[00:34:45] in a hall of prospects because they are in a full-on rebuild so here's my thought what if you trade for

[00:34:53] Garrett Crochet now all of you are going to say a little Lyle what are you talking about you're going

[00:34:58] to give up serious prospects for another pitcher you're going to give up serious assets for a pitcher

[00:35:04] hear me out on this again there's a chain line of events the White Sox are one of the only teams that

[00:35:10] would take prospects so you give up the prospects necessary to get Crochet now you've got

[00:35:15] six starters obviously so now you've got the ability to trade one and you have the comfortability to

[00:35:22] trade one so let's circle back here to Luis Castillo and circle back to a team we've linked him to a

[00:35:27] bunch in the Orioles maybe the Orioles wouldn't trade Westbrook for Castillo I wish they would but

[00:35:31] maybe they won't they certainly wouldn't trade Gunner or Holiday what about Kobe Mayo not proven

[00:35:40] still in the prospect range did he technically graduate maybe he did maybe he didn't he has a

[00:35:45] cup of coffee in the big league so far but he plays third base has drawn comps to Austin Riley for what

[00:35:52] his game looks like he is that good offensively and has been in the minors and has six years of

[00:35:58] club control what if you were to trade Garrett Crochet trade for Garrett Crochet and then trade

[00:36:05] Luis Castillo to the Orioles for Kobe Mayo believe it or not there's another chain line to this

[00:36:11] afterwards but here's the thing that's your third baseman for the next six years you've got him

[00:36:15] he's in place this guy is a top 10 prospect in baseball he hits 30 home runs a year in the minors

[00:36:21] he walks at a good rate he's a great hitter you have your third baseman in place all of a sudden

[00:36:26] and you still have the best rotation in baseball you've just flipped out Luis for Garrett Crochet

[00:36:30] I'll get to the final piece in a minute but how is this sounding so far

[00:36:35] let go through your final chain line event and then we'll go through it step by step okay so if you

[00:36:41] trade Luis Castillo to the Orioles for Kobe Mayo is not going to cost any money you're assuming the

[00:36:46] Orioles are still going to take on some of that deal of Castillo's frees up some money for the

[00:36:51] Mariners right it should they shouldn't be taking on all that money still after

[00:36:56] trading him away and if 15 million dollars is really the budget they have this offseason right

[00:37:00] now trading away Castillo would free up some money so if you trade his 24 million dollars away and the

[00:37:05] Orioles take two-thirds of it even half of it let's say frees up a lot 27 million dollars you're freed up

[00:37:13] to really do something impactful all of a sudden what if all of a sudden after those two moves happen

[00:37:20] you go sign Christian Walker you're in the range for Christian Walker the fit makes sense it's not a long

[00:37:25] deal three-year deal 20 million dollars a year whatever now all of a sudden you have your third

[00:37:32] baseman of the future you've got your first baseman you've still got the best rotation in baseball

[00:37:38] because you have crochet yeah you gave up some prospects that roster feels pretty damn good the

[00:37:44] one position still in question would be second base but they're most equipped to fill that one

[00:37:49] internally than the others eventually that'll be Cole Young's job I got to tell you if they were able

[00:37:54] to pull all of that off and all these things that Jaj and I talked about in terms of what if they got

[00:37:58] creative with this yeah I'd be pretty fired up step by step let's start step one when you when you

[00:38:06] float this Garrett crochet idea out the the return package to the White Sox is going to be really painful

[00:38:13] which is expected given the market price for starting pitching and a player of crochet's value who was

[00:38:22] amazing this year was worth nearly five fan graphs wins above replacement when you hear Garrett crochet's

[00:38:28] name on the trade market and the White Sox are okay just taking prospects especially with who you're

[00:38:33] getting in the latter stages of this trade Garrett crochet is going to cost cold Emerson are you going

[00:38:39] to be okay with that answer that question as a Mariners fan if Garrett if you were to acquire Garrett

[00:38:44] crochet it is going to cost cost you cold Emerson are you okay with that yes it will four years

[00:38:52] of of arb slash league minimum for Garrett crochet who is the potential to finish top five in Cy Young

[00:38:59] that's the price I think you could get it done for more of a package of some of the other guys

[00:39:04] I disagree nope I think you can no way nope I think you can do it for Felney and Montez no and maybe

[00:39:10] another no I do I don't think so no I don't think it's quite costing cold Emerson I know based on what

[00:39:18] the market is that's what it's going to cost but you also well if you're trading for Kobe Mayo you

[00:39:23] don't need cold Emerson well you still want a shortstop one day JP's not hitting great he's not

[00:39:30] going to be around forever I think you still do I think it's going to cost you cold Emerson

[00:39:35] all right so we differ on this four years of control for Garrett crochet who will be uh what 25

[00:39:42] next or sorry h26 next year as a starter in your rotation who's going to get up to about 170

[00:39:48] 180 innings next year Mariners think they could keep him healthy he's got just insane upside as a

[00:39:55] pitcher he's huge he throws a hundred and he's one of the best strikeout artists in baseball then would

[00:40:01] be going to an organization that actually knows how to develop and grow pitchers the White Sox don't

[00:40:07] frankly so at that point you would be willing to trade whatever to get him if if you really think

[00:40:13] that but if it's just prospects and not big leaguers I think Colt Emerson's the price he

[00:40:19] crochet has two years of control it's not four oh wait no I think it was no he's no he's in his

[00:40:29] first year of arbitration I think it's three no he's about to be an arb two he's got two years of

[00:40:35] control he's a free agent in 2027 okay so then it might not actually cost Colt Emerson scratch that

[00:40:44] okay congratulations I misread I misread the contract on Garrett Crochet anyways he's going

[00:40:51] to be expensive still yes still not going to be an easy trade package correct no it will not it will

[00:40:57] not be an easy trade package and you are going to have to give up prospects that you really like

[00:41:00] but for two years of them I think you could do this maybe it costs you Felney I think there's a world you

[00:41:09] can do this for Lazaro Montez Michael Arroyo maybe somebody like Peter Farmello has to be put in there

[00:41:18] too I think it looks something like that yeah no if this was going to cost Colt Emerson I know

[00:41:22] you're not supposed to hug on to prospects when you're trying to win but he's the one where I'd

[00:41:26] get cold feet and say yeah I don't think you can do that two years of Garrett Crochet I don't think

[00:41:30] it quite costs that would you have given up him given up uh him for four years like it was like I

[00:41:35] originally thought for four years of crochet would you have given up Colt it's hard I don't I mean

[00:41:43] okay you want to win basic standards say you have to do it but he is the one where it's it's tough to

[00:41:51] say you'd give that guy up I'm sorry man if we're if the Mariners are trading and adding to their 2025

[00:41:56] roster like I don't want to trade Colt but at some point if that's the price

[00:42:04] okay luckily luckily it's not in that hypothetical situation you'd probably have to do it

[00:42:10] however it would I don't want to if you're here's the unfortunate thing for the Mariners based on how

[00:42:16] the trade market is right now there are candidates out there that would cost you Colt

[00:42:23] sure yeah there were there is I don't know if that's crochet but there could be players out

[00:42:28] there that cost you Colt Emerson all right but let's keep going down this this chain line here

[00:42:32] let's say you get the crochet piece done what would you throw out prospects wise for two years

[00:42:38] of crochet is something like Montez Arroyo and Farmello yes worth it I or like like would they

[00:42:46] perhaps one more perhaps one more you think he's still controllable you know making a ton of money

[00:42:55] yeah maybe they'd want one of the pitchers too who knows so maybe it's a couple bats and an arm

[00:43:00] we'll see they can get it done though but crochet I will say is going to be pretty coveted it's not

[00:43:06] going to be only the Mariners bidding right so you might have to outbid right which would mean you

[00:43:12] overpay for it but as we said overpay so what got it you have to get it done right so the Mariners

[00:43:18] get that done they have six starters I think once you have six starters it is a in theory a little

[00:43:26] bit easier to convince a Luis Castillo who would look at the rotation and see himself as an odd man

[00:43:32] out in the rotation and be more willing to waive your no trade clause to go somewhere else in which case

[00:43:38] that's where you pitch the idea to the Orioles for Kobe Mayhem now if you're willing to eat some of

[00:43:44] Castillo's money given that you are going to acquire well you said you wanted to trade some

[00:43:49] of Castillo's money or all of it away did you say part or all depends on what the Orioles would take

[00:43:54] on if you could trade all of it great I don't know if they take all of it let's say half well if you

[00:43:58] if they take all of it it would you would just get Mayo back if you ate some of the money you could

[00:44:03] get more than just Kobe Mayo back I think wouldn't be an insane second piece but it would be something

[00:44:09] else sure depends on depends on what the Mariners value if they traded away all 24 million dollars of

[00:44:17] Luis Castillo and got Kobe Mayo back then think about that what that frees up if they have 15

[00:44:22] million dollars to spend right now that turns into 40 all of a sudden you could sign Christian Walker

[00:44:29] I know we'll get to this later you could sign Christian Walker and trade for Nico Horner if you

[00:44:33] found the right price for him yeah we could it is a risk trading for Kobe Mayo though it is no

[00:44:41] guarantee who will be a good big leaguer in 2025 he's done everything to prove himself ready for

[00:44:46] the big leagues in the minors last year it's not a guarantee this is still I would say a bit of a risk

[00:44:52] you offset that I would say by signing a proven veteran at first base you can't hit but then you are

[00:44:58] entering someone in Christian Walker's played in a hitters park for his entire career down in

[00:45:03] Arizona and mashing and then on the other side you put an unproven prospect at third base as you

[00:45:10] said the their plan for the next six years that would be their plan but it's not a guarantee

[00:45:15] unfortunately so this is we're talking about ideas this is a great idea it but there is a chance

[00:45:24] that even if you go and execute all of these things this would not guarantee a success on the

[00:45:30] infield for the Mariners in 2025 it wouldn't try it wouldn't guarantee but we're going to keep

[00:45:37] circling back to this how many options do they have they're not signing Bregman they're not signing

[00:45:40] Adamas they they are going to have to get creative and you're going to have to take some risks let me

[00:45:46] outline Kobe Mayo a little bit I'm sure there's plenty of you listening who know plenty about him

[00:45:51] but for those who may not let's outline Kobe Mayo a bit all right he is 22 years old he's about to

[00:45:59] turn 23 he has a corner infielder he plays first and third here's what he did this past year in triple

[00:46:04] a for the Orioles he hit 287 he had a 135 WRC plus with 22 home runs in what was just 89 games he missed

[00:46:14] some time with an injury earlier this year so despite an injury he had a 135 WRC plus and still

[00:46:21] hit 22 bombs this guy can flat out mash he had a 926 OPS oh by the way in 2023 between double a and

[00:46:32] triple a I mean he went off in double a but in triple a in 23 he had a 905 OPS he had a WRC plus

[00:46:39] sitting at 127 after putting up a 178 in double a this guy again I cannot stress it enough he flat

[00:46:47] out mashes he gets comps to Austin Riley between the profile body type how he plays he is not Austin

[00:46:54] Riley at least not yet but he gets comp to Austin Riley this is a this is as good a bad as you're

[00:47:00] going to find in minor league baseball he's a top 10 prospect and he's blocked right now the Orioles

[00:47:06] don't have a spot for him at the moment their roster's loaded he's not going to play third base

[00:47:11] that's Westberg spot so all of a sudden makes a lot of sense well unless the Orioles want to trade

[00:47:17] Westberg instead great re-up that conversation but if Orioles fans don't want to give the Mariners

[00:47:23] Westberg they can give us Kobe Mayo people people should be excited if the Mariners trade for Kobe Mayo

[00:47:29] he is a real bat with with a potential to be an all-star caliber hitter for this team it's never a

[00:47:35] guarantee with prospects but that's who this guy is so yes I would entertain this this is he's a

[00:47:42] controllable 23 year old bat who can play the corner infield let's get to our last idea here

[00:47:47] this one also includes the least cast seal a popular man these days oh wait wait before that though

[00:47:52] anything about the Christian Walker part of this or no duh yes if they have money to sign Christian

[00:47:58] Walker they should sign Christian Walker okay great and then all of a sudden yes you're you have

[00:48:03] that's the least debatable point in this entire podcast correct but then you have Kobe Mayo and

[00:48:07] Christian Walker on your infield and who knows if you trade all of Castillo's money yes maybe you

[00:48:12] could sign Walker and trade for Horner then look at your team there look I'm I'm as pissed off as

[00:48:18] anybody I know you are too about what this payroll budget is for the Mariners right now but there are

[00:48:23] still ways to get creative here where they can have an impactful offseason and we know Jerry's not just

[00:48:27] going to do the simple thing so here we are on this episode getting creative for people getting

[00:48:33] creative how can they make this happen how can they put a real competitive roster on the on the field

[00:48:38] and I'll tell you switching out Luis in your rotation for Garrett Crochet you'll lose one year of club

[00:48:43] control between Luis and Crochet fine but you do that and then you get Kobe Mayo and then you get

[00:48:48] Christian Walker yeah I'm down let's get to that last option this one also includes Castillo but this time

[00:48:55] he's going to the Boston Red Sox for Tristan Casas you came up with this why did you think of this

[00:49:05] it's funny a few people sent it in on the text line during Brock and Salk this morning a couple

[00:49:09] people were asking me specifically Lau what do you think about this I was like yeah it's been thrown

[00:49:13] out there a little bit I don't hate it what I told those people was are the Red Sox going to trade

[00:49:18] Tristan Casas I know that's the question here in all these trades is would Team X trade their

[00:49:23] star player star prospect would the Red Sox trade Tristan Casas if they're all in for Juan Soto

[00:49:30] right now which through all the reports not the fake ones but the actual ones they are in this

[00:49:35] and they're trying to spend big and win now it doesn't really feel like they'd trade Juan Soto

[00:49:40] and move off at Tristan Casas but you never know Casas is very controllable and he's been injured

[00:49:48] look it's it would be a hard sell to the Red Sox to get them to do it but guess what like the Braves

[00:49:54] Red Sox need starting pitching they need starting pitching everyone needs starting pitching except

[00:50:00] the Mariners pretty much oh but the Red Sox rotation is really nothing special I know

[00:50:07] would they trade him I got I get the feeling from scouring through the online hellscape that is

[00:50:14] Twitter now of Red Sox fans they don't want to trade Tristan Casas if you were to get this trade

[00:50:22] like the ideal world is trade because the Red Sox are big market is that if it's a one-for-one swap

[00:50:28] it's Luis Castillo and all of his money to Boston for Tristan Casas and that's it and I say that

[00:50:34] because Casas is a first baseman he hits he's young yes but doesn't offer much value besides his bat

[00:50:40] so the trade if you want to make it a one-for-one swap and don't ask for more in return

[00:50:46] requires the Red Sox to take on Castillo's money

[00:50:51] but if they're not really willing to trade Tristan Casas away

[00:50:56] the incentive would be the Mariners eat some money and trade Castillo for Casas or

[00:51:01] if this is an accurate value trade you go Castillo for Casas and someone else back

[00:51:08] whether it be a prospect like Braden Montgomery they just drafted that in terms of a high-end prospect

[00:51:14] that's a realistic guy you could get back for what Luis Castillo's worth or someone else off the Red Sox roster

[00:51:21] but if the Red Sox plan on competing next year I don't really think they want to trade anyone else

[00:51:24] off their big league roster this one this one just gets a little bit more complicated because it

[00:51:30] at least we can I feel like in the two previous trades we can find a little bit more ways to

[00:51:35] justify a team wanting to make a trade like this Red Sox doesn't quite make as much sense

[00:51:44] yeah and they don't have as much depth to work with either so it would be it would be a difficult

[00:51:49] trade to pull off sure but when teams need starting pitching sometimes people do things that are a

[00:51:57] little eye-opening to get that starting pitching and if they feel like they sign Juan Soto and they

[00:52:01] look at their roster and say we have maybe the best hitter on planet earth maybe the best hitter

[00:52:05] this generation but don't have the pitching staff to help them out that's the reverse Mariners you've

[00:52:11] got this unbelievable bat with no pitching to help them out the way the Mariners have this insane

[00:52:15] rotation with an offense that can't do anything to support them so if the Red Sox miss out on a lot

[00:52:21] of the free agent starters which I'm sure they'll be in on Freed, Corbin Burns, etc.

[00:52:28] Maybe they're interested in this this is another thing with the Mariners too there's a world there

[00:52:32] they wait a lot of this stuff out because let's say that the Red Sox for example since we're talking

[00:52:37] about Casas let's say the Red Sox get Soto let's say they do it and then let's say they're targeting

[00:52:42] some starters too but they miss on Corbin Burns he goes elsewhere they miss on Max Freed he goes

[00:52:48] elsewhere they miss on some of those top line starters and they're looking around saying

[00:52:53] all the big starters are gone we need top end starting pitching what are we going to do

[00:52:59] that's where the Mariners can come in and all of a sudden when some of these free agent starters

[00:53:02] are off the market Mariners may be able to jack the price up and then maybe Tristan Casas comes into

[00:53:08] play I also think though that this is one of the least likely places Castillo would approve to go

[00:53:15] it's a terrible pitching environment in the worst division to pitch in in baseball

[00:53:21] why would we why would Luis at this point right for this next calendar year we need to consider what

[00:53:27] Luis Castillo would want to why would Luis Castillo want this look it's a complicated trade you're right

[00:53:35] he may say no he's like I don't want my 300 foot fly outs banging off the green monster for doubles

[00:53:41] it's possible at least with at least with the Braves option Castillo's going to a winner with a chance to

[00:53:47] get a ring on his finger which he I'm sure he really wants but in Boston they you know they went to the CS

[00:53:54] in 21 but since then until they've jumped in these Soto sweepstakes they haven't shown any indication they're

[00:54:01] willing to push all in for anything a World Series like this since they won in 2018 they had not shown the

[00:54:08] willingness to put everything all their chips on the table and go out and win like the other some of the other

[00:54:15] teams in their division have and I know Castillo would raise an eyebrow at that on top of the of the

[00:54:21] park too well yeah they traded Mookie Betts for essentially nothing so that doesn't help their

[00:54:27] cause although I will say do you think Castillo's opinion of the Red Sox changes if they land Juan Soto

[00:54:35] probably does they're both Dominican

[00:54:39] and he just may look at the Red Sox as more of a winner yeah serious and you know one of his countrymen

[00:54:44] there too is very incentivizing too so it signals two great things at once and they'll be there with

[00:54:50] Rafi too I mean the the I'm sure he would fit in on the team it just does he want to pitch in Fenway

[00:54:56] Yankee Stadium well not the TROP not this year or or uh or or Camden or or or Rogers Center well Camden I

[00:55:06] guess is more of a pitcher's park now or Rogers Center yeah for now what is it a third of the

[00:55:11] season right although wait isn't Camden actually moving their fences a little bit back in now all

[00:55:17] of a sudden didn't you see that gives him even less reason to want to pitch yeah yeah it's a complicated

[00:55:23] trade we're throwing out multiple ideas we're trying to see what could work how they upgrade the

[00:55:29] offense how they fill their positions of need and we've laid out three ideas that are pretty

[00:55:33] intriguing you might not agree with all of them you might not agree with any of them but hey at

[00:55:37] least do us a favor especially if you're watching on YouTube even if you're listening let us know

[00:55:41] which one of these do you like the best which one of these do you think is the most realistic if

[00:55:45] you're watching on YouTube just drop a comment you guys know but if you're listening you can either

[00:55:50] go on YouTube and drop a comment or you can always DM us to wherever you want we'll see it

[00:55:55] we'll respond we're interested to hear what you guys have to say and what you think so

[00:55:59] yeah look if the Mariners are going to be good in 2025 offensively they're going to have to look at

[00:56:04] some things like this could trading for Alec Boehm help yes and would I be fine with the Mariners

[00:56:09] trade trading for Alec Boehm yes as long as it doesn't cost a starter which it won't but they're

[00:56:15] going to have to get creative again and Jerry always gets creative he never does the thing that

[00:56:20] anybody expects him to do so we're almost trying to pick the brain of Jerry DiPoto a little bit and

[00:56:24] get into his mind saying what could he be cooking up here what could he be thinking through to help

[00:56:30] get this team to the place it needs to be and these type of trades even if it's not what ends

[00:56:37] up happening feel like the type of thing that DiPoto may be trying to look into if I'm going to offer

[00:56:43] you odds live we're going to make some winter meetings predictions here what happens first when

[00:56:47] we're at winter meetings is it Juan Soto signs or the Mariners may or actually you know I'll say

[00:56:55] Juan Soto signs or the field of literally anything else the field for the Mariners or anything period

[00:57:02] anything period Mariners is too specific but the field could be Lance Lynn signs somewhere on a one

[00:57:13] let's say a field blockbuster okay yeah I'd probably say Soto it feels like in terms of the marquee guys

[00:57:22] both on the trade block and in this free agent market at this point with it being days away

[00:57:27] reportedly that Soto is going to sign they're probably waiting for Soto at this point and then

[00:57:31] things will really get going yeah let's hope so and hope that means by the time we're done

[00:57:36] in Dallas the Mariners Mariners will have someone new I hope so hey when we're walking around the

[00:57:44] hotel and meeting people and doing content with people we got to start putting our ideas out there

[00:57:50] Brock told me this week he says Lyle we need you to uh we need you to make a scene at the winter

[00:57:55] meetings we need people talking about you he said we need people talking about you nationally and

[00:58:00] locally it's like listen the Mariners do something stupid at the winter meetings I will make a scene

[00:58:04] I'll lose my shit I don't care yes well so so me making a scene is that is in the betting odds of

[00:58:14] possibilities I'll tell you that wasn't his other quote is we're finally going to get content

[00:58:19] so this not only needs to happen at winter meetings but it probably should happen like late at night

[00:58:24] like maybe you've had a beverage or two and the emotions are flowing a little bit and dude if

[00:58:30] the Mariners salary dumps somebody yeah if the Mariners sign you on Moncada while we're at the

[00:58:35] winter winter meetings especially if it's at night when we've had a few a few drinks or whatever

[00:58:39] I will be happy to record some reaction video you recording me we just title it you know breaking

[00:58:46] Mariners just sign you on Moncada I am happy to start yelling in the hotel lobby and chuck my sweatshirt

[00:58:51] onto the ground and saying feeble feeble feeble or whatever so like yeah well as long as we don't get

[00:58:58] kicked out sure I'm sure people yell in the hotel lobby you know we need to do to talk about me like

[00:59:04] first impressions we need to finally meet Jeff Passan and when we do once we exchange the

[00:59:10] pleasantries say who we are nice to meet you fan of your work etc so um Mariners are trading for Kyle

[00:59:16] Tucker rated on a scale of one to ten yes like like talk about first impressions just no fluff come again

[00:59:26] great facts did I hear you correct did I hear you correctly listen Jeff you're probably going to

[00:59:32] respond and say you're probably going to respond and say the Astros would never trade their best

[00:59:37] player and if they did why would they trade them to their indivision rival who's also competitive

[00:59:41] to which I say all totally valid fair well thought out points and I reject all of them

[00:59:49] he's a Mariner we'll see how we'll see how it comes across yeah exactly I'm looking forward to it I

[00:59:54] think it's all going to be fun I can promise Jeff's gonna say okay the Mariners will trade for Kyle

[00:59:59] Tucker in exchange for Julio Rodriguez well you only get one year of Kyle Tucker at this point

[01:00:09] well Jeff still might say that hmm well build us the package Jeff build it build us the package no

[01:00:17] matter what the package is oh it'll be content for this podcast Kyle Tucker he's gonna be a Mariner

[01:00:24] come on like we we know he's gonna be a Mariner anyway I'm looking forward to the winter meetings

[01:00:28] it's gonna be really fun we're gonna have stories for you guys we will be doing a ton while we're there

[01:00:32] so seriously if you guys want to stay on top of it because we're gonna try to be bringing you guys a lot

[01:00:38] follow us all across social media follow our national account to bullpen banner by the way

[01:00:43] where we're gonna be doing a ton of stuff this week also where we're everywhere tick tock youtube

[01:00:47] instagram we are gonna do a pod from winter meetings too yes I'm guessing we'll be recording

[01:00:54] that podcast at some point on Monday so we'll have part of the winter meetings wrapped up and

[01:01:00] stuff to fill you guys in on and then when we do our next Friday podcast we'll have the entirety of

[01:01:05] winter meetings wrapped up in which we can fill you in on whatever blanks that we may miss after

[01:01:10] we record our Wednesday pod but anyway we're gonna fill you in on all of it with those two podcasts

[01:01:16] and additionally to that if you're following us on social media I promise we will be doing a ton so

[01:01:20] stay updated on all that because anything we get we're gonna bring to you so we're gonna try to be

[01:01:25] everybody's eyes and ears we'll do our best we can promise that and we're gonna have a blast so

[01:01:28] no matter what we will have stories and we will have content so I can't wait

[01:01:32] all right I think that just about wraps up this edition of the marine liar podcast you guys know

[01:01:37] the drill if you want to listen to the full form pod you can do so wherever you get your audio podcast

[01:01:40] make sure to download make sure to rate and review please leave a five-star review it really does help

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[01:02:02] instagram tiktok twitter youtube shorts blue sky at marine layer pod that's tj i'm lyle as always we

[01:02:09] thank you guys for tuning in we'll talk to you soon