Episode 200: Roki Sasaki Stiffs The Mariners. What Does Say About The Bigger Picture?

[00:00:00] Welcome to episode number 200 of the Marine Layer Podcast. Roki Sasaki is down to three finalists and the Mariners aren't on the list. We'll talk about why that might be and what our reaction is to it. Here's your guys reminder before we start this podcast. Do us a big favor. If you're listening on the audio side of this, hit download on the episodes. Make sure to rate and review. Hey, those Apple reviews are going up. So let's keep getting them up, guys. Really, it does help us out a lot.

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[00:00:58] And we welcome you to this episode of the Marine Layer Podcast, part of the Just Baseball Podcast Network recording on Monday evening, January 13th. A solemn day, Lyle, because the Mariners number one offseason target has not listed them as a finalist for his services. Wah, wah, wah. Oh, I think it goes a little farther than not listing them as a finalist. We'll get into that.

[00:01:28] I gotta say, first off, happy 200. Happy 200th episode. We forgot to do the sign this time. I know this isn't a thing, but you held up the Wilt Chamberlain 100 thing at our 100th episode. Wilt never scored 200, so I don't know what he would have done if he did score 200. Otherwise, we would have tried to copy it. He didn't, but it might have still been fun to hold up the 200th. Oh, well. Happy 200 episodes. Thank you to every single one of you guys that tunes in all the time. It means the world to us.

[00:01:57] Thank you to everybody that's tuning in for the first time today or for all 200 episodes. It's been great. But, Roki Sasaki, I gotta tell you, our optimism that started at episode 1 to episode 100 to episode 200, I don't like the trajectory of this roller coaster, I gotta tell you. It doesn't, the way it's trending, it doesn't end well. What's it gonna be like at 400? We were a beacon of positivity early on.

[00:02:27] And we would like to say, in some instances, we still are pretty optimistic. I think when February rolls around and we get out to spring training and we see some of these guys playing loud, I do think there will be some optimism. I do think we'll be smiling a little bit more. Maybe it's because the sun will be out and we'll be out of winter. That might help. Also, it'll be a little bit warmer. See some spring training action going on. And, you know, actually have a reason to sort of smile and be happy and optimistic.

[00:02:57] But, yeah, when news like this keeps happening, it's pretty tricky. And, you know, some people have been reminding us that we've been a little bit negative recently. And you guys are right. We have been negative. Then, can I ask when the Mariners come out at winter meetings and say they had been preparing their Roki Sasaki pitch for months, if not years, and that he was their top, if not the top priority for them this offseason.

[00:03:24] And that they really like their chances to go out and get Roki. And the reports are, like you said, Lyle, not even is he not a, were they not in the final three, which, you know, they made their pitch to him. They got a meeting with him and he didn't choose them. Like, oh, well. Like, if he goes with the Dodgers, what are you going to do? But there's a lot of speculation out there that the Mariners didn't even get to meet with Roki Sasaki as it has come to an end.

[00:03:51] We were holding out hope that there would be, towards the end, like, oh, they stuck a meeting in with him. And he just didn't choose them. All right. No, it doesn't really seem like that's the case. And now Roki has gone through his process, allegedly, speculatively, not met with the Mariners, and is going to choose someone else. Let me hit on a couple points before we get into the tail end of that right there.

[00:04:15] Number one, to your point of us being a little more negative recently and hoping it comes to a little bit of a turn when we get to spring training, I may need you or some of our fans to shake me out of the state I'm in. Because we're always transparent on this pod. I've been going through it in terms of these Mariners emotions the last, well, really since the season ended. It's been a tough six months. I'm not going to lie.

[00:04:43] Basically, the second after the Randy or Rosarena trade, it's been a tough handful of months. So I hope you're right that spring training kind of shakes the mood. I may need you to physically shake me to help me out because I would like to be in an optimistic state. I really, really would. But it's hard. It's really hard. I hope at the minimum you're just excited for baseball to come back because legitimately that's the reason we talk about this, Lyle, is because we like watching baseball. I know. Yes, I will be. I'm clearly not playing baseball right now.

[00:05:12] All we're doing is reading through lines of quotes that people put out on the Internet. I know. Yes, I will be excited for baseball to be back. I don't want to take this too far. I'm just saying it's been a hard few months. It has. And to your – yes, I will – not even 95%. I will 100%. Me being me and being like, you know, getting as delusional as I sometimes get and getting as overly hyped up as I sometimes get.

[00:05:40] Yes, I'm sure I will be fired up by the time spring training hits and we're watching baseball again. And whatever spring training storylines come out that get us all juiced up, I'm sure we'll be all fired up about it because there's always, always spring training storylines that come out that get people really fired up. Whether they come to fruition in the regular season or not. So you're probably right. To the point about us being a little more negative these days, the point you just mentioned about the Mariners saying they had – they felt like they had a real shot at Roki Sasaki back at the winter meetings.

[00:06:08] I remember us doing that podcast. We were – we were fired up about it. We were excited about it. So along this whole line of the last few months of being pretty upset a lot of the time, there have been some shining lights and that was one of them. Go back and listen to that podcast. We were – we were excited about it. We're like, great. Are they going to land them? It feels – it doesn't feel like a guarantee but it's nice to hear that they're really taking this seriously because they could do a lot if they land Roki Sasaki. So there were points where we were optimistic.

[00:06:36] But I would say to the people that feel like we've been negative recently, I just don't know how differently you want us to spin this. Because if we were essentially gaslighting people and being overly delusionally positive, well then we'd be lying. We're not going to lie to anybody. We can't do that. So like – and I'll say this too. Last thing.

[00:06:58] As soon as February starts rolling around on this podcast and we start doing our positional previews and start getting everybody ready for the season, things will turn a little bit then. And there will be more positive things to talk about when we talk about the current players on the roster. But it's hard right now when you go through an offseason when you're waiting for them to improve the roster and they just don't do anything. And this Roki Sasaki might be the worst point of all of them. So let's rehash the whole scenario the Mariners are in right now.

[00:07:27] So Roki has picked his final three teams. It's the Dodgers. It's the Padres. Two not-shocking candidates. Those are the two favorites to land them. There was video today. That was Roki at Petco Park, right? That was almost definitely Roki at Petco Park today. It was. And then the Blue Jays. So sorry for Blue Jay fans. They're probably going to get their heart broken again. Our friend of the pod, Johnny Junta. I'm looking forward to his video when Roki chooses one of the California teams. I think he's going to be the first person I go to on Twitter.

[00:07:57] As soon as I get the passing notification, finding out where he's signing, I think the first person Twitter I'm going to is Johnny's. Which, if you guys don't know who Johnny Junta is, he is hands down not even close the best follow on Blue Jays Twitter. And he's now a friend of the pod as he was on over the summer. He's unreal. Go follow him.

[00:08:15] And we replayed the clip on that podcast, if you go back and find it, of his reaction when he realized John Morosi was fed wrong information about Shohei Otani on a flight to Toronto. It was worth the price of admission. Yeah, he called for Morosi to be fired from MLB Network and to be sent to the sun and not allowed to have a cell phone for the next 15 to 20 years. So back to this Roki Sasaki situation.

[00:08:44] So yes, we'll be going right to Johnny Junta's Twitter when Roki inevitably chooses a California team. So Roki has his three finalists. There were teams this week that were notified that they were eliminated from contention after meeting with Roki Sasaki. I think it was eight total teams he met with, right? It's eight and he eliminated five. Was it eight? I thought it was six.

[00:09:14] Well, so what? Dodgers, Padres, Giants, Cubs, Yankees, Mets? But the Blue Jays weren't on that list. Okay, so seven. And I think there was speculation of another mystery team out there, which I think some people assumed were the Mariners. It was written in the Seattle Times earlier this morning before Jeff Passan reported about the three finalists.

[00:09:38] Adam Jude wrote an article in the Times here on Monday morning where he mentioned that the Mariners were speculated in the industry as being a mystery team in on Roki Sasaki. But as soon as Passan comes out and he tweets the finalists for the three, and Jeff's usually pretty dialed in on this stuff. He's not. He doesn't miss very often. So with us seeing the three finalists and there being no confirmation of the Mariners ever meeting with Roki Sasaki.

[00:10:08] This could change going into the spring. Jerry could put a comment out of the side of his mouth and say, yeah, we did meet with Roki Sasaki. He decided to go elsewhere. Oh, well. At this point, being eliminated, they should probably just come out and say it for PR sake. Right? They should come out and say it. Yes. But as far as we know right now, they have not met with Roki Sasaki after him being their number one priority going into the soft season.

[00:10:32] Saying they've spent all these hundreds of hours putting together this presentation for him only for him to not meet with you. That right there, Lyle, is a tough look. Let me add one key piece to this whole storyline. The most definitive piece of information we got about Roki and the Mariners and these whole sweepstakes is Jason Puckett and Ryan Divish were on together for an interview. Divish went on Puckett's podcast and Puckett's been on the show with us before. Obviously, Divish has two.

[00:11:01] And Puck asked Divish about Roki. He said, I'm assuming they have not had a meeting, right? Divish said, no, they have not. He said, now maybe they'll get one. But as of right now, they haven't. And Divish usually doesn't miss on this stuff either. That was five days ago at the time of this recording. You know what's gone on in the last five days? Roki Sasaki's been shortening his field of teams and the places he would be interested in playing.

[00:11:27] While also traveling around to said cities of the teams he's still interested in playing for in that time. So I don't know when in the world he would have had the time to meet with the Mariners. But if Divish said five days ago they haven't had a meeting. And now Passon's tweeting out who Roki's final three teams are. I don't know when this meeting would have happened. I will say the same thing here on this podcast. As I said on our social post on Monday. About Roki.

[00:11:54] Which is, if somebody has credible information out there about if Roki Sasaki met with the Mariners. Please tell us. Tell us. So we can come on every platform. The podcast on social everywhere. And say, hey, you know what? We were wrong about this. The Mariners did meet with Roki Sasaki. They gave it their all. They gave their pitch. He just wasn't interested in making them a final. One of his finalists. That would be awesome.

[00:12:22] It does not seem like Roki even sat down for one meeting with them. One meeting. One. After the Mariners said, we spent years making a sales pitch to this guy. And he's one of our priorities this winter. And even though the Mariners don't leak information. This would be the bit of information you would. Like Jerry DiPoto would call Ryan Davis and tell him. Hey, we met with Roki. Can you please tweet that? Dude. You know what?

[00:12:51] It would make them look better than they look right now. 100%. I was going to say, you know what? Even if they didn't meet with them. You might as well put that information out there. Unless Joe Wolfe comes out. Roki Sasaki's agent, Joe Wolfe. Comes out and shoots that down. If you're the Mariners, you should put that out anyway. You know how much grace you'd give yourselves PR wise. If you even just lied and said you met with Roki Sasaki. It's better than what's going on right now. I don't even know if Joe Wolfe would say anything about it. Because they have throughout this whole process.

[00:13:19] Refused to acknowledge if teams are in the race. Yeah. That could be a win. But instead, we're sitting here and with the information we have in front of us, the Mariners' number one project this offseason didn't even want to meet with them. So let's ask the big question about all this, Lyle. What does that say? It says that Roki Sasaki and most free agents don't take you very seriously. And that's a huge, huge problem.

[00:13:48] On many fronts. Roki Sasaki isn't going to cost any money. And that's what makes this one so maddening. If it had been a couple years from now, yeah, the Mariners would have never even thought about pitching Roki Sasaki. Because he would have costed $350 plus million. But when you are that confident, this is the part that drives me crazy too. Is they were so confident about it. It's like, we've been pitching. We've been making a sales pitch for years. He's a priority. We're ready, is what they said.

[00:14:18] Well, what does Roki say? Stay ready. Because I'm not taking you seriously. I am not interested, despite your organization, having Ichiro Suzuki, one of the greatest Japanese players to ever play this game, set to go into the Hall of Fame as a member of your organization, still working in your organization, regardless, say, yeah, I'm not interested. I don't want to sit down with you. What, like, that is not a good look. All right.

[00:14:48] Quick pause. We're going to talk to you guys about our friends over at Pogaccia's Pub 85. That's over in Kirkland. And you guys know. We're going to continue saying it. Awesome place to hang out. Spend some time with your friends. Watch some games. Head over to Pub 85. Watch them with your friends. Have some great food. And if you go during happy hour, drink specials, you can't beat them. It's 2 to 6 p.m. happy hours, Monday through Friday. Drinks are $3 and $4. Come on. $3 and $4 drinks for four hours straight, 2 to 6 p.m. From Monday through Friday, head over there.

[00:15:17] Go find a game to watch with your friends. Get over there and get going early before the games start. All of that is over at Pogaccia's Pub 85 in Kirkland. There is a reason Jerry DePoto and John Stanton don't talk a lot. Mm-hmm. And there's a reason, especially Jerry, his allowance on public speaking appearances goes down every single season.

[00:15:42] Because this one quote from Winter Meetings, which will be the one availability, if you can call it that, all offseason, he still managed to say this. Mm-hmm. And we're left sitting here, and you probably got some fans' hopes up. And that Rokey, well, then didn't even bother deciding to meet with you. But, like, seriously, what is, and what does that say?

[00:16:11] Because Rokey met with a lot of teams. And while he may sign with the Dodgers and Joel Wolfe's quotes about him being interested in a small market may look a little overblown at the end, if that's true. It's not like Rokey didn't meet with any small market teams. Padres are one of the finalists. It's like, where did the Mariners finish, quote-unquote, in these sweepstakes? At best, you're talking 10th? 11th? I mean, 20 teams made a pitch. They were one of them. Somewhere from, at best, 10 at worst, dead last.

[00:16:39] That is, that's not good. And you look at all these teams, do any of the Dodgers, Padres, or Blue Jays develop pitchers better than you do? No. Do either the Dodgers, Padres, or Blue Jays have a better pitchers park than you do? Also no. Have any of the Dodgers, Padres, or Blue Jays kept young pitchers who have been injury-prone healthy like the Mariners have? No way. Dude, you know how many injuries the Dodgers have had for as good of an organization as they are? A lot.

[00:17:08] Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Emmett Sheehan. Keep listing them and listing them and listing them. Guys have really gone through the ringer with injuries in that organization. With all that to pitch, how do you not get a meeting? If it's true that you did not get a meeting, how bad does your reputation have to be? Dude, it's bad. Oh, I meant Gavin Stone, not Emmett Sheehan. Sorry. Hey, Rokey.

[00:17:35] If you pitch in our park in half your starts, your ERA will be a full two runs lower than it is on the road. People can't hit you in this ballpark. Oh, by the way, Brian Wu, who we have in our rotation, is currently flourishing and is on track to probably be a top 15 pitcher within a year or two, was a no-name coming out of college with huge injury issues, and we've turned them into now an every fifth day rotation arm. Would you like to do that? Oh, because we can do it in our development system. And Rokey still goes, eh, I'm good.

[00:18:03] But that's what's crazy. That is what's crazy. They had everything in the world lined up in front of them to make this real pitch. And again, there are zero. I'm confident about this. Unless somebody's really delusional, there are zero Mariners fans out there that said to themselves, I am expecting the Mariners to win the Rokey Sasaki sweepstakes over the Dodgers. Not hoping, not believing, expecting. Expectation.

[00:18:33] Zero Mariners fans believe that. Zero. So if the Mariners had made their sales pitch, had the meeting, done everything that they could do, but Rokey Sasaki says in the end, you know what, guys? I like Southern California a little bit better. I like the weather. The Dodgers have more of a history of winning by a long shot. That is a juggernaut team in Major League Baseball. Not just right now, but one of the biggest juggernauts we've ever seen. And I love the idea of getting to play with Shohei Otani and Yoshinobi Yamamoto. If you're the Mariners, can't do anything about that.

[00:19:02] You would say we did what we could do. We made our pitch. But in the end, he just didn't choose us. Not one meeting. Not one meeting. That is insanity. Seriously. Let's speculate. What do we think the issue was? There's a number of things we can go. A number of directions we can go here. So let me start with this one. Yeah, there's a bunch. We could spend an hour on this.

[00:19:32] But Joel Wolfe was saying you would be shocked how tuned in Rokey is on everything. He said his process going through this, it was different than you'll see from most players. Obviously, the agency and Joel Wolfe's going to help and let his voice be heard and help Rokey through the process. But they said Rokey Sasaki would talk to the guys in Japan that had played in Major League Baseball every day about the majors. He dreamed about it.

[00:19:59] When he finally got posted and he found out he was coming to America, he was doing crazy amounts of research on every team, who they were, what they were about, everything. Right? So this is a guy that's very tuned in. And I'd say he didn't start doing his homework when he got posted. He's probably been doing it forever now. Let me start here and then we can just go. What are the odds he watched a certain Zoom call from the Bellevue Rotary Club with Kevin Mather?

[00:20:27] And he heard them say, and he heard Mather say, oh, you say Kikuchi, your country mate? Yeah, we don't want to pay for his interpreter. I think that would have been an agency thing more than a Rokey thing, but I'm sure it came up. It's not that hard to find that article. Yeah, but I feel like that's like, first of all, four years ago, a little bit niche. And the agency keeps tabs on things like that more than I would say a player in NPP who at that time was 19.

[00:20:56] But if he was doing all this research, look, we're only speculating. Was he doing his research four years ago? I'm just saying, if he's doing that deep of a dive. Sure, it could be. Somebody found, I'm sure somebody mentioned it to him. Fine, if it wasn't Rokey Sasaki himself, then maybe somebody in the agency just said, hey, here's some things you need to know about the organization, both good and bad. They have a pitcher's park, develop arms well, but here are some of the cons. That may have been one of them. We can't know for sure, but it could be.

[00:21:24] I want to go back to something you mentioned about him talking to the Japanese players who played in Major League Baseball, often a decent amount, maybe some more than others. But then let's ask the question here, Lyle, who was the last Japanese player to play in Seattle? That would be Yusei Kikuchi. And how did his... So first of all, Lyle, Yusei Kikuchi is a pitcher. Mm-hmm. And how did Yusei Kikuchi's time end in Seattle?

[00:21:52] Well, they started running out a three- to four-man rotation by the end of the year because they didn't want to let him pitch. Now, to be fair, he wasn't pitching well. However, it's Yusei's word against the organization with a bad reputation's word. Mm-hmm. But this comes back to how close are Roki and Yusei Kikuchi? Are they really good friends? Are they acquaintances? How seriously is Roki listening to them? We don't know because there was also the report saying Roki didn't want any players in on any of these meetings.

[00:22:22] He wanted to make his own call. Any players on said teams to court him, not, hey, like, I'm trying to learn more information about this team. Like, in the pre-process, that was just, like, a first official meeting thing. Mm-hmm. What happens when they were on, when they're back in Japan? Just talking. And this, again, is speculation because, as you said, we don't know how close they are. But the one data point we have about the most recent occurrence, I'm not talking Ichiro.

[00:22:51] I'm talking about the most recent occurrence of a Japanese pitcher pitching in Seattle under this regime ended about as bad as it could. Do you think Yusei was pretty unhappy by the end? Yeah. I mean, probably. Got yanked out of the rotation. Yeah. I mean, maybe that's rhetorical. Maybe that's a rhetorical question. But, yeah, he probably wasn't happy. As whoever was in the wrong in that situation. Yusei could have been in the wrong there.

[00:23:20] But, again, like, that's the last example of a Japanese pitcher in Seattle. Mm-hmm. So that doesn't help. Well, we have spent some time on here talking about Jerry's reputation, which has been well documented over years about his relationships with some agents. We don't know what agents those are. We don't know what players he rubs the wrong way. But it's been pretty public that not everyone likes the way the Mariners, and more specifically Jerry, because he runs the baseball ops department, operates.

[00:23:49] That could be a pretty big part of it. Yeah. And to be fair, not that we're going to out anybody, but we've heard from, you know, we've heard from former players that have not given rave reviews of Jerry. And people that those players have talked to, that they're friends with, that said similar things that have been in this org. It's, you know, how much of an effect does that have on Roki Sasaki?

[00:24:18] Again, how much homework is he doing on Jerry DiPoto from Japan? We don't know. But doesn't feel like, you know, from the reputation that he seems to have out there, I don't know how much that helps. I'll almost promise you if Roki saw anything in the bad light about the Mariners, I bet you he saw the 54% thing. Mm-hmm. A hundred percent. Now, 54%, does somebody, like, do you feel like he sees that as a bad thing?

[00:24:48] As a player, honestly. Like, an outside player not tuned in on, like, again, sorry, let me rephrase that. Tuned into a point, but you and I live this every single day and understand the context of every situation that happens with the Mariners. Would that be something Roki picks, like, picks up on or cares about that much? I mean, it was dragged through the mud across the game of baseball when that happened.

[00:25:14] It wasn't just in Seattle when that quote came out that people said, why are you saying what you're saying? All these former players come out and all these national shows are talking about it. I can't imagine anybody in the Mariners' clubhouse was a big fan of the quote. So if Roki Sasaki talks to anybody, anybody about that quote, he may think already on his own that's not a good look. But if he talks to anybody else about it, what are they going to say? It didn't help. No. Definitely didn't help.

[00:25:41] But that all comes back to really, to Jerry. Right. It's just another situation of Jerry, as we talked about earlier in the podcast, there's a reason he doesn't talk as much anymore. Because most of seemingly what comes out of his mouth comes back and bites him. And he is one of the faces of this organization. Do I want to represent that org? And how about the people above, Jerry? Let's go there, too. Yeah, we can go there, too.

[00:26:09] If Roki Sasaki hears, oh, this org is willing to spend all their international slot money on me. But what are they doing? The rest of free agency? Oh, they have $15 million in a made-up budget to spend? And they've so far signed a platoon first baseman slash bench bat? And that's it? Oh, and they missed the playoffs last year? Well, that doesn't sound like a rave review, I gotta say. Yeah, like, you think somebody, that's, I mean, that's definitely been relayed to Roki, too.

[00:26:37] You think he doesn't know that that's out there at this point? Or the agency doesn't know? Yeah, this team has put out a made-up, self-imposed $15 million budget saying, we're not going to sign anybody or acquire anybody this offseason. I think you're, it's that you're thinking on it in a too specific manner. The, someone comes to him and say, I don't think this team is willing to invest to win in the future, if you go there. If you go there and you sit there and you're expecting, okay, our team's going to constantly get better, you are misinformed. Mm-hmm.

[00:27:06] Because everything the Mariners have told us is that they don't see that same vision. They're not willing to put those resources in monetarily to make that happen. Mm-hmm. That's probably the more simplified version of it. Yeah, you're right. That they may say that Roki may feel like and his agency may tell them, don't hold your breath. If you sign there, if you think they're going to keep adding around you, and don't hold your breath about these players that are already in-house signing extensions, that may have driven them away too.

[00:27:33] And if you go there and you really like it, don't bank on them paying for you in free agency. Mm-hmm. Yeah, no. Mariners have five pitchers that we're not even, or four pitchers, sorry, that we're not even going to show they're going to pay any of them. Right now. Right. Yeah. It's facts. It's a decent amount of reasons, I got to tell you. I mean, and then paired with the fact that they just do not have a history of winning, that doesn't help. The Ichiro thing at this point is interesting.

[00:28:03] Because you still do have Ichiro as an icon in your franchise. And the Mariners did say, when they were putting together their plan, that Ichiro was going to be a part of the recruitment process. Does that have much of an impact anymore? I mean, it should. It should. I... Does it? I hope. Because aren't these the type of things that Ichiro's, you know, supposed to be helping with?

[00:28:32] Not the whole reason, but part of the reason he's still probably there. I know the big reason he's still there is, one, because he genuinely just loves playing baseball and doesn't want to give up the game. And I know that players really benefit from him being around and picking his brain. But shouldn't he be able to help with some of this stuff, too? Should. But obviously he couldn't get... If he was trying to get a meeting with Roki, it didn't work.

[00:29:02] Yeah. Is there anything else we're missing? The last thing I could think of is that the Mariners... That the Mariners wouldn't make Roki a priority on their pitching staff, which I think... Like, that's just a total guess by me, because they already have five entrenched starters. And the Dodgers have dealt with a lot of injuries, but they also have a lot of, you know, alphas on that team. So I don't know if it would necessarily be the case for Roki there either.

[00:29:30] Uh, Roki may in long... In the long run be the ace of that rotation, but right now he's not going to be made the priority. That rotation in 2025 is going to be Shohei Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glass now, and then if he signs there, Roki. And maybe a sixth guy if it's a sixth man. Roki's not the priority to start. I know. But in the Mariners' sense, that would be the same thing in the Mariners' rotation too. Mm-hmm. Because as good as he is, he's not going to be better than Logan Gilbert next year.

[00:30:00] I'd be kind of surprised if he was. Probably not in year one, yeah. No. Right. That would be, that's like, I think my last thought on that, because I... There's a number of reasons and none of them are good. No. It's bad, because if you can't pitch the free agent who... First, like the free agent pitcher who lists off all these things he needs, you check off all these boxes, and yet you still can't even get him a meeting.

[00:30:28] Well, how about the guys that are in Major League Baseball, and they come up through the minor leagues, and their agents are tuned in on every single thing, and you yourself see every single thing that goes on in the league, and you can make these decisions, and the Mariners don't have the excuse of being in another country for the four years before you decide to go over there. Like, those guys aren't missing anything.

[00:30:57] I want to say, what do they do from here? But what changes? Ownership points. So now, do you want to come back to what happened today, that the Mariners just happened to sign Donovan Solano on the day that Rokey eliminated all of his other teams? Is that a coincidence? I hope it's a coincidence, because if it's not, that's, again, not a good look. And that is total speculation. It's egregiously bad, is what that is. Now, let's lay out that this is total speculation on our part. We are just, we're trying to read some tea leaves here.

[00:31:27] We don't know if that's true or not. If that is the case, not good. Because, now, in fairness to the Mariners, they did seem to think they had Carlos Santana ready to sign a few weeks ago, and then he didn't. But if, I mean, aside from that, if they have been essentially waiting for Rokey Sasaki to make his decision, that's not a good look either. Like, why are you waiting on one guy to make his decision for you to operate your entire offseason? Like, shouldn't be a factor. Go out and do other things.

[00:31:57] To then turn around and spend only three and a half million dollars. Well, I will say that, that press release on Donovan Solano was something. Oh my God. We didn't even mention the quote in the emergency episode. Yeah, so in our emergency episode. Hey, listen guys. If you want to talk about, look at TJ if you're watching on YouTube. He's just ready to tell me. I'm so tired. I'm so tired. He's ready to go about this. So, hang on, hang on. Let me say something really fast.

[00:32:27] Guys, to those of you out there that think, oh, you guys have gotten a lot more negative recently and this and that. Listen, the Donovan Solano signing, for the most part, we were talking about what that could do for the Mariners. We looked at the positive. We didn't get to this quote. But now we're going to because we're already kind of, we're already, we've already gone downhill with this episode already. So, in terms of where our mood's at, I should say. So, TJ, you're fired up about it. Do you want to read it or do you want me to state it and then you can react? Fact.

[00:32:56] Let's add some context to it. And let me just say, Donovan Solano makes the Mariners roster better. Mm-hmm. Facts. He does. But in this press release that the Mariners put out, I just rolled my eyes when I see this quote from Jerry DiPoto. Again, another reason why he does not talk that much anymore. Jerry DiPoto said that Donovan Solano was one of the most underrated hitters in baseball the last six years. The last six years. A six-year stretch, he's been one of the most underrated hitters.

[00:33:26] No. Like, you know, there's a reason he got... Low, low, low, low, low. How good has Donovan Solano been in those last six years? Take a guess. He's been about a one to one and a half war player. And he's been a 112 WRC plus hitter. Which is solid. 12% above league average. One of the best hitters in baseball. No, no. Underrated hitters in baseball. He's not saying one of the best. One of the most underrated hitters in baseball. You know who's...

[00:33:56] Well... Yeah. You know who's underrated? Kyle Tucker. You know who's underrated? Brent Rooker. You know who's underrated? You want to use the name... You want to use the name Donovan? Brendan Donovan. In St. Louis. You could list out some others. Not Donovan Solano. Not 37-year-old platoon hitting bench player Donovan Solano. He makes the team better. He does. But he is not one of the most underrated hitters in the sport.

[00:34:25] Because one of the most underrated hitters in the sport... While they might be underrated... That means... You might not get the flowers that you often deserve. But people still know you're really good. Like Kyle Tucker. I think Kyle Tucker is genuinely on a short list... Of one of the best hitters in all of baseball. But he does not get talked about that way. Which is why he's underrated. Brent Rooker, what he's done the last couple of years... Especially this past year... Same thing. Not Donovan Solano.

[00:34:56] Just another reason why... I could probably go the rest of the offseason without hearing... A Jerry Press conference. Until they answer the question about Rokey. Like, I'm good. Do you think they'll... I'm just going to get mad. What? I can't... I cannot take it anymore. You didn't... This wasn't even... This wasn't even a press conference. This was just a statement in an article. A quote he said to PR. Yeah. I'm going to say it again. What Jerry is doing in the most respectful way possible...

[00:35:24] It is professional gaslighting. That is... That's what they do. I hate that I have to frame it that way. But that is legitimately what they do. Alright, what do you mean by that? And I think a lot of people are tired. Alright, what do you mean by that? Elaborate. It just means you're stretching the truth. It's... Gaslighting is manipulation. For those who are unaware. Mm-hmm. And... When... Like... When we talk about all this Rokey stuff...

[00:35:52] And the Mariners allegedly didn't even get a meeting with Rokey... And we're talking up that Donovan Solano... Is one of the most underrated hitters in baseball... The last six years... When he's... Good. But... But... He makes three and a half million dollars. He's properly rated. Like, what are we doing? Yeah, like... Like... Donovan Solano's on his fifth team in five years now. Don't you think... If he was so great... One of those teams would have just held on to him and not let him go?

[00:36:22] Yes. Yes. Like Kyle Tucker who... Again, he might have just gotten traded this winter... But was an Astro forever. Like Brent Rooker who just signed an extension in Oakland... Because they know how good he is. And wherever he goes in free agency... He will be there a long time. Kyle Tucker? Yeah. Yeah. Well... It's... I actually... I don't even know if people are in the right place for that joke... Actually, not a joke. But for that... For that... For that look into the future here. I was about to start talking about... Well, it's going to be Seattle.

[00:36:52] But... We've just spent the whole podcast kind of being... You know... Gloomy. And for good reason. So maybe... Maybe the Kyle Tucker joke's not fit for this episode. I'll have to save it for another time. Anyway. These quotes just frustrate me, man. Like... We're in... We're in year 10. They've made the playoffs one time. And we have to deal with this. Over. And over. And over. We're in... I mean... Yeah. And over. Are you talking about like all the PR disasters? Everything.

[00:37:22] Well, and then paired with... You know... Again, you said the one... One playoff appearance. And you know... You don't like the quotes. And then, you know... They... They... Like... You know... Let Scott Service go. Decided to not do a hiring process. To find a new manager. They didn't even interview anybody else. They just brought Dan Wilson right in. Just like that. Made him permanent. Yeah. Just... Sometimes just a lack of acknowledgement of things being wrong. Yeah. It's troubling. You know what's... All right. Last thing. And then we'll wrap this one up.

[00:37:53] Scott Service got a new job, by the way. We didn't mention that on the Solano episode, obviously. And... And... Now we're going to mention it here. So he's now going to be in a front office role as a special assistant for 2025 with the Padres. Which is good for Scott Service. Again... Like... Was Scott Service perfect? No. But I always liked Scott Service. And I know you like Scott Service for the most part. He was... Like... He did his job. He was a good manager. And again, I thought he was unfairly fired. So... That being said... What were you going to say? I was going to say...

[00:38:22] Now we can spin it to Mariner fans if we could just go back a year ago and say, okay... Scott Service will be working in the organization where Roki Sasaki goes in 2025. I was actually going to spin it a different way. Oh, okay. Imagine the first day at the Peoria Sports Complex. Scott Service and Jerry DePoto see each other. And it's going to be the scene from Step Brothers where Will Ferrell gets out of the car. John C. Reilly standing in the yard. And all the kids. All the kids.

[00:38:49] They want to make a scene here in North America. And it's like... It's like... Hey. Hey. I'm Brennan. I'm Dale. But you have to call me Dragon. You have to call me Nighthawk. That's going to be that scene between those two. The first time they see each other since the firing. It's going to be just like razor, razor sharp tension. If they even see each other at all. I guess we'll find out. Yeah, we will.

[00:39:19] Fun story to... That might be the most entertaining thing that happens at spring training. Oh, man. Well... Okay, guys. I promise on Friday we will get back to what's fairly normal programming. I know we did a little bit of a shorter episode here for Wednesday. We did a short episode for the emergency podcast on Monday to talk about Solano. We'll get back to normal on Friday. There's still some names out there that the Mariners could go out there and acquire. It would make the team better.

[00:39:47] We're going to dive into those guys on Friday. Unless, of course, there's breaking news, which will change gears. But for now, that's what we're planning for on Friday. We'll take you guys through that. And yeah. We'll get back into business here. So, that just about wraps up this edition of the Marine Layer Podcast. You guys know the drill. If you want to listen to the full-form podcast, you can do so wherever you get your audio pods. Make sure to download. Make sure to rate and review. Leave a five-star review. All that stuff if you're listening.

[00:40:15] If you're watching on YouTube, just hit the subscribe button, guys. It takes one second. Free. Easy. And you're supporting the channel. So, you get a big thank you from us if you do. Hit subscribe. Like. Comment. That's all over on YouTube. And then on social media, follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter. YouTube shorts. We're posting content every single day at Marine Layer Pod. That's TJ. I'm Lyle. As always, we thank you guys for tuning in. We'll talk to you soon.