Episode 426: Who Should The Mariners Take In This Upcoming MLB Draft? With Aram Leighton (Just Baseball)

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Open to episode number four, twenty six of the Marine Layer Podcast. We welcome on our friend and recurring guest, arm Lighton, the co founder of Just Baseball, to preview this twenty twenty six MLB draft, who the Mariners could pick at number twenty four, and some updates in the Mariners minor league system so far this season. 00:00:16 Speaker 2: Your guys reminder before we start this show, just make sure to go download these episodes and please go rate and review and leave it five stars if you're listening on the audio platforms wherever you might be listening, leave that five star review. Hit subscribe on YouTube. If you're watching, you guys can see the big red button in front of you right, just go hit subscribe. You can look at our website and find us on our website, marine layerpod dot Com. Episodes are all there, patreons there, podcast merch is all there again. That's marine layerpod dot com. And check us out on social media. We're posting content every day and we're everywhere at marine Layer Pod. 00:00:48 Speaker 1: Let's get it rolling and we welcome you to this episode of the Marine Layer Podcast, part of the Just Baseball podcast network. Recording here on Tuesday afternoon, July seventh. This is before the Mariners start their three game series in Miami. We will talk about all the things happening with the Mariners down in the state of Florida on Friday's Mailbag episode. So just sort of a programming note, there will be no current Mariners talk on this episode. It will be all in the minor leagues. But we do love having arm On. He is as knowledgeable as it gets with the draft and with the Mariners minor league system. 00:01:34 Speaker 2: Yeah, he's great. I mean, we hit on a bunch of different topics here. Everybody wants to hear about caid and slow these days, so we hit on those, guys. We hit on the promotions to Triple A because, by the way, it was after we recorded Monday's episode. Later that Sunday night, it was announced that Lads and Arroyo were both headed to Triple A. So we talked to arm about that because that's obviously very very prospect worthy news. And then we get into the draft because as you guys are sitting here listening to this, we're like four days out from the draft and the Mariners aren't at the same spot as they were last year. But that doesn't mean there's not intriguing prospects down at that number twenty four spot. So we have arm hit on a bunch of guys with us, and it's a really fun episode. 00:02:16 Speaker 1: We won't keep you guys any longer. Let's get you to that conversation with arm Layton. All right, we welcome on our friend and recurring guest, Arm Layton, co founder of Just Baseball, Arham, Thanks for hopping on here with us. This time of year has to be like the busiest possible time for you, right, I mean you've probably been prepping for this draft for how long now a little. 00:02:40 Speaker 3: While because it's hard to get a blended in with the top one hundred update, which we just put out a few weeks ago, and then it's just overdrive trying to keep up with as many of the draft reports, and thank goodness we have Tyler Jennings who's helped a lot on that front too, But just to get as deep into the players as possible, and especially this year, man, like, I'll never forget your guys' reaction to get Kate Anderson last year. Unfortunately, no one like that's gonna just fall where there's a no brain or obvious pick. 00:03:06 Speaker 4: So for picks like this. 00:03:09 Speaker 3: And I think this draft in general, there's just so many different players that could go in so many different spots that I just feel like I gotta keep learning and keep learning. 00:03:17 Speaker 1: Okay, we'll talk about the specific players later in this episode, but I am curious how long does it take you to put together like a mock draft, Like what goes into that. 00:03:27 Speaker 3: Thank goodness for Tyler Jennings. Before we had Tyler and when it was all just me doing it, Oh gosh, it just depended on how accurate quote unquote I wanted to try to be on a pick, but as I started to realize, it's kind of an exercise in futility. You just try to gather as much info as you can, figure out which players you think kind of fit that description there, and just go with it. The part that I think takes the longest is really like the player breakdowns and just kind of understanding their strengths, their weaknesses and everything in between, because the college day you usually got to sift through it. There's some pitches that are tagged really poorly. Uh, the pitch shapes aren't accurate, so you got to kind of like fix all of that and then go through it all. And again, Tyler does an amazing job too with the high school guys, Like he's getting live looks and we're talking about that. 00:04:17 Speaker 4: So there's a lot more of just like a. 00:04:20 Speaker 3: Detail oriented process where you're go into all these different areas, where with the minor league prospects, the data is a little bit more easy to follow. I can watch video on them, it's a little bit more easy for me to see them live. And but even that process takes a while. But I would say that the like the player breakdowns, is really what takes a while, and the tool grades and the pitch grades and all that stuff. 00:04:39 Speaker 4: But that's the fun part of it. 00:04:41 Speaker 2: Which is why your drafts, why your mock drafts, and your prospect updates are as good as they get like other outlets do them. But arm really really goes into the weeds of these breakdowns. So again, if you're looking for draft breakdowns as we lead up to Sunday, if you're looking for prospect stuff, I mean, just go right over to just Baseball dot com. Speaking of that, like, we're gonna get into a bunch of stuff in this episode, Like TJ mentioned, the draft, a bunch of prospects, and we'll get into a couple of promotions here in a minute. But just since you mentioned us all being together last summer at All Star Week and TJ and I's reaction to Kate Anderson falling to number three, since you brought it up, I figured i'd just start here. I feel like our reaction back then has now been pretty warranted. 00:05:23 Speaker 5: As we look a year later. 00:05:24 Speaker 2: But I'll ask you, what does Kaid continue to improve on from your eyes from that College World Series start where he went complete game to what he's doing now, which has been off the charts. 00:05:35 Speaker 3: It's funny, I was thinking about that before we started recording. I was like, based on the way Caid's thrown now, it was actually an underreaction. 00:05:41 Speaker 4: I think. I think you guys actually could. 00:05:43 Speaker 3: Have had more in there, because he's been one of the most dominant minor league pitchers I can remember. And what I keep going back to, and I just I can't really escape this is that to me, he looks like a big league vet rehabbing in the minor leagues, and I think that's the biggest thing we saw Kate Anderson execute and just be more polished than his peers. In college, but the degree at which he's executing now is just on a different level. 00:06:11 Speaker 4: I mean, even when. 00:06:11 Speaker 3: You look at what he did last at LSU, every once in a while he'd leave that heater up, or every once in a while, you know, he'd hang the slider. 00:06:20 Speaker 4: He's like never doing that now. 00:06:22 Speaker 3: It's almost like he's a robot and you've seen the stuff improve a little bit, just in terms of the life on the heater. And I also think the other aspect, and this was something that I talked about with Justin Toole at the start of the season during spring training, is just Anderson really buying into just all of the other aspects when the Mariners, the way that they approach things on the mound and what they like to preach, and the way that they want guys to attack hitters, and just the routine and all the little aspects as well that I think is just taking Kate Anderson to another level and has him carrying himself like a vet. 00:06:53 Speaker 4: But it really is the execution. 00:06:55 Speaker 3: Across the entire arsenal where it seems like he can go to any pitch in any count and he's just toying with hitters. And it's been one of the more fun Like he is a guy that you can watch the whole start and it's just as satisfying and aesthetically pleasing to watch because of how repeatable the delivery is, how confident he is in every offering, and really the way he can just toy with these double A hitters. 00:07:16 Speaker 1: What's the difference from what Caid's doing this year to what Trey's Savage did last year for the Blue Jays. 00:07:23 Speaker 3: I think what Caid's doing this year is like more consistent y Savage, you had this outlier type of guy that like, of course when he got up to the big leagues it was just a different level. He got hot and it was incredible, and I think he's obviously a very special arm. The difference, I guess is that y Savage was moved so quickly through the level, was that like you never really got to see him fully. You have to like repeat what he was doing at one stop. And then he got up to the big leagues and again just hot outlier look with the high. 00:07:52 Speaker 4: Release and the splitter and it just it just worked. 00:07:55 Speaker 3: But with y Savage, it was like station to station to station really quickly, and we never saw him throw more than thirty three innings at one spot, which was low a by the way, in twenty twenty five, that was his longest day before he got to the show. Whereas when I look at Cade, like, this is a guy that just was aggressively assigned, you know, and is being challenged. 00:08:14 Speaker 4: Immediately Inaa would. 00:08:16 Speaker 3: By the way that the ball in the minor leagues this year, I think there's something going on. It is flying. You have guys with the same batted ball data the head the year before, hitting way more homers. You have you know, an eight seventy ops in the Texas League where Kid's at right now, equating to like a one to twenty three WRC plus, And it's like, how is that only twenty three percent above average? Everyone's launching balls, and that's the craziest part. Was like even you Savage every once in a while, you know, he'd get he'd get clipped by a. 00:08:42 Speaker 4: Long ball when he was in the minor leagues. 00:08:43 Speaker 3: And when you look at what Kate Anderson has done is like nobody is even clipping him. Like he's given up four home runs on the season. A couple of those came more recently, but minimal hard contact if he does give up a homer, it feels like it's a solo shot. And it just the ability to limit damage. A two already slugging against a one ninety five on base percentage allowed. 00:09:03 Speaker 4: It is just no one's doing that. 00:09:06 Speaker 1: Answer me this. I thought the ball was different between Double A and Triple A. Is it the same? 00:09:12 Speaker 3: Now it's it's it's flying like it's the same across the minor leagues. It is supposed to be different, and it is different. But I don't know what's going on in Double A and High A. 00:09:23 Speaker 4: But the ball is. 00:09:24 Speaker 3: Flying, flying, flying, flying, and it is a different ball. The Triple A ball is supposed to be more similar to the big league ball. But every checkpoint I've seen in Hi A and Double A, and this is the thing going to dive into on the other side of All Star Week, just because we're getting through All Star Week. But I really want to compare the batted ball data, like the home run to fly ball right, like what percentage of fly balls are leaving the yard compared to previous years at each league, because something's fishy for sure, and I think that only validates what Kate Anderson's doing even more. 00:09:53 Speaker 1: What does cad How does Kaid stack up historically against some other performances you've seen in the minors. 00:09:59 Speaker 3: Man, I was thinking about the other day, and I can't really think of a player in recent memory. And I'm sure like some people could dig one up really really quickly and be like, oh, this was this was maybe a comparable type of performance. 00:10:13 Speaker 4: But one hundred and eight strikeouts. 00:10:14 Speaker 3: To ten walks in Double A and that's your first pro season at the level. I can't think of somebody off the top of my head that's done that anytime recently, especially in that Texas League. So I'm sure once we get off like one will come to me. But on the spot, dude, like the balance of command and with where he's striking out forty percent of guys too, it's a whip below point seven. I can't think of a player like that doing this in his first pro season. 00:10:43 Speaker 2: Would he benefit anything from going to Triple A because often teams keep their prospects away from the PCL and away from Triple A because the ball flies and it doesn't do much for your development. That being said, I just don't know what it is challenging him at this point in Double A so I've been curious to pick your brain about that. 00:10:59 Speaker 3: It's It's funny, like at first I was always thinking, oh, what's the point, But honestly, like, if you can keep limiting damage there like that, you'll be able to do it at the show too. And in terms of what the PCL is, the other aspect is maybe just getting a little bit more accustomed to throwing with, you know, a big league type of ball. The seams are tighter and all those different things. Is that's the one thing I have noticed very much is you see these these pitching prospects. And I don't think it's gonna be a prolem for Anderson obviously, but a lot of even top pitching prospects, they get to trip a a they lose a couple of inches of vert on the fastball, maybe they don't trust the fastball as much, and then. 00:11:32 Speaker 4: They start nibbling a little more. The walk rate creeps up. 00:11:34 Speaker 3: It's a little bit slicker, the seams are a little bit flatter, and they just don't have the same grip and it takes some time to kind of find that feel. 00:11:41 Speaker 4: You can also just do that immediately up at the big league level. 00:11:43 Speaker 3: But if we're already just watching this like this exercise of Oh, Kate Anderson goes out, Kate Anderson dominates. 00:11:49 Speaker 4: Okay, we wait for him to go and pitch again. 00:11:51 Speaker 3: It may not be a bad thing to just give him a variable if he gives up three homers in a start in the PCL. I think this guy's even keeled enough to know that it's not. He doesn't need to change anything, so as it pretends to like throwing with a baseball closer to what you'd be throwing with in the big leagues, and maybe just shaking things up a little bit so he's not throwing stand in bullpens. 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There's some other Mariners prospect news this week. They have a couple of promotions with Lazara Montes and Michael Royal. Speaking of Triple A moving up to Triple A Tacoma this week, why do you think the Mariners decided they were going to do this now. 00:13:17 Speaker 3: With with with A Royal and Las Yeah, I don't know. With a Royo, I see the fit right where it's like, you guys got to figure out a way to hit lefties, and Arroyo is a guy that's kind of built I think to be able to do that. And there's certain players that they don't hit lefties, you know, as well as you'd expect in the minor leagues, but then they get up to the big leagues and they handle lefties a little bit more easily or more quickly than they would have. You know, I handled the righty's what getting up there, just because everything's breaking towards them. You're not dealing with right on right sweepers and all these nastier sharper stuff. 00:13:51 Speaker 4: And with a Royal, I just I feel like the way that he has swung en of late too. 00:13:55 Speaker 3: He's been on a different level since maybe about a month and a half ago, I mean, and it has been just ridiculous, ridiculous numbers. 00:14:02 Speaker 4: And I also just. 00:14:03 Speaker 3: Think about the comfort and playing different spots now and he's starting to play or continuing to play a good amount of left field. 00:14:10 Speaker 4: I'm just thinking. 00:14:11 Speaker 3: About you're hoping that the Mariners are going to go out and get that short platoon guy because Rob Refsnyder is not really doing it, and I was really hoping Brendan Davis would get his opportunity, but of course the hamstring issue and even then, like we're kind of digging around here to find that short platoon guy. I think for for a royal like that seems to be a role that I could see him very much succeed And and again I know it's been slightly reverse splits, but I wouldn't expect it to go that way in the big leagues. Everything breaking towards him. He demolishes lefty fastballs. I think he'd be able to handle it, and I think you'd see those splits normalize with laz I think it's just kind of time, I guess. But at the same time, he's one where it's a triple A is gonna be easier for him. So that was where it was a little surprising for me. But you also had sixty four games in double A last year for last where he was twenty two percent better than league average, another seventy nine games at double A where he's now forty four percent better than the league average. Those swing and miss has been roughly the same. It's just kinda might as well just push him up to trip a A and get him a step away from the big leagues. The funny thing with Lazo is like I think he'll probably end up wiffing less in the PCL and he's definitely gonna hit more home runs. So with his power in that environment, like it's gonna be a match made in heaven, and maybe he gets hot and if you need a bat, you bring him up, or maybe he torches the level and I know Mariners fans are gonna like shiver there, but that could be a guy that you dangle in a potential trade. 00:15:33 Speaker 4: Mm hmm. 00:15:35 Speaker 2: So do you think the Mariners are essentially just accepting he's always gonna strike out at a really high rate, because I guess my take was, as somebody who's not a prospect expert, I always figured he's gonna have to cut the k rate down before they ever promote him. But they promoted him and he's still striking out over thirty percent of the time. So is this just the Mariners essentially accepting who he'll be as a hitter. 00:15:59 Speaker 4: I think so. 00:16:01 Speaker 3: You know, there's always the hope that it can happen, you know, later on or whatever. But I think just because he's also productive, it puts him in a weird spat and you don't want him to get like stale at the level and stagnate. And it's twenty five homers in seventy nine games, and I think at this point it's it's kind of a matter of just trying to challenge him now with maybe guys that aren't gonna have as good as stuff and maybe can execute a little bit more, and then just ultimately, I think the the only test, the only way to really because how are you gonna convince lazarro Montest to make a swing adjustment right now? Like, yes, I'm sure he'd want to swing and miss less, but he's on pace for fifty homers almost, Like how do you convince that guy to swing? Like to swing differently? And when I talked to the Mariners brass before, like when I talked to some people before the start of the season, I kind of ask him like big barrel tip, like he really gets his hands out there, Like are there any things you'd want to adjust? Like, no, We're more focused on approach, all right, So I don't know. It's a very interesting situation. But when you look at you las, like sixty percent contact rate at double A, the odds of that translating to big league success as currently constructed are are swim because you would have to have him maintain that contact rate exactly and he'd still be among the lowest in Major League Baseball. You'd be hoping for like that Murakami type of outcome, but Murakami doesn't chase at all. 00:17:23 Speaker 4: Laz has gotten better with. 00:17:25 Speaker 3: The swing decisions, but he's still he's still right around average in terms of the chase rate. So I can't really make too much of I can't totally figure out what the move would be other than it just get him one step closer to the big leagues and get him hot, because you know he's gonna get hot up there. 00:17:42 Speaker 1: What is Kyle Schwarber's contact rate? Because that feels like a best case scenario for Laz where he's gonna walk a ton, he's gonna hit the ball really really far, but he'll still pile up his strikeouts. So where where is that at? 00:17:55 Speaker 4: Yeah? 00:17:55 Speaker 3: When when I brought up that, like that hot end outcome on the radio show, that that was kind enough to bring me on to I'm sorry, I can't remember it off the top of my head. And you guys had like live texting, right and I was getting cooked for that. They're like, what do you mean best case scenario? Like we don't, We're aiming higher than that. Whatever, Like you get this guy out of here. I'm like, oh man, really like Godber's a sixty nine percent contact right. 00:18:20 Speaker 1: That's pretty wow. So ten percent higher at. 00:18:23 Speaker 4: The major league level. Wow. 00:18:25 Speaker 3: And I don't mean to do this like last as time. Right, he's twenty one years old. And I think there's tangible things swing wise that he could fix, like to clean up. Like when you look at the way that he moves, he's super stacked on the backside, and then he really tips that barrel over like it is pointing to almost what looks like left center field, and then he's got to bring the barrel all the way back. His hands also get out far away from him all the way back, and then it's got to flattened back out behind him to get on plane. And I just think it has to travel like especially just like the heart of the barrel has to travel so far to make contact that it's gonna give him a wider chance of being able or a higher chance of swinging and missing. It's gonna be harder to kind of meet the ball at the same point every single time. It's gonna be harder to have that same timing and to get on plane quickly when you have veg up and in. I think that's part of the reason why he struggling against lefties, because the barrel gets so out far away from him, then the front side kind of feels like, oh. 00:19:20 Speaker 4: Wait, I got to get this barrel out of here. 00:19:22 Speaker 3: So he kind of leaks open with the front side and then that's how the barrel gets, you know, on plane, is to just kind of create space and kind of get it out. You see the front side of his body kind of open up to get the barrel out. And if you do that against lefties, you're gonna pull off the stuff. He's so freakish with his bat speed and his hands, he's able to make that work and still hammer mistakes and hammer righty. 00:19:40 Speaker 4: Stuff and all that good stuff. But I think when you. 00:19:43 Speaker 3: Have pictures that are executing a little bit better and you just got louder stuff, having to travel so far with the barrel and having the mechanics that can kind of get awry, I think can get exposed a little bit more. And that's why I like think that this part is what's been ignored a little bit with laz is that two percent contact rate is is would be hard to have success with at the highest level, and he's doing it double because you can fall behind oh two and then just get a cookie down the middle. That's how it goes, and he doesn't miss those. But when you're down oh two in the big weeks, you're not gonna get that mistake to bail you out as much you're gonna get put away. 00:20:18 Speaker 2: So is a decent comp for him, Luke Raley. I brought this up to you before we started recording, but again you mentioned it. There is no prospect We've had to feel more questions about than Las Montes because again people people heard the Yordon comp five years ago and really haven't let go to it, which I'd never thought was a fair comp at all, because you're comparing him to maybe the best hitter in Major League Baseball when he doesn't have the approach that Jordon has. But if he's Luke Rayley with a little bit more power where he just crushes righties, he's not gonna play much against lefties because, by the way, as you know, Arm his platoon splits are really really rough. He's not gonna play a ton of defense, but he can provide some pop when there's a right handed arm on the mound. Like is that a decent I think, like Luke Railey if you're like a full power grade higher is not a bad camp. 00:21:08 Speaker 3: And I mean even look at like Luke Raley's max ex velocity. I think of his career as one hundred and fifteen point four miles per hour. Lass is at a homer one eighteen this year, so like, you know, there's more power in there. But in terms of like the qualifying contact rate and kind of the type of hitter you think he may be, yeah, he could look look something like that. But the interesting part is, like Luke Railey, he still hit twenty two homers in twenty twenty four. I think the Las monss version of that season would be thirty something homers. And if you do that, like he's gonna have years where he's could be a three win player and can be thirty forty percent above league average offensively. The problem is there's also gonna be stretches there where pictures are executing. I talk about it with some of my buddies that are like playing and that just have rough stretches that they don't think there's anything wrong with them. It's just like I'm getting mlb'd right now, where it's just you gotta tip the cap. There's nothing you can do just like good morning, good afternoon, good night. And I think with guys like last Monts like that's gonna happen a little bit more frequently, because if you execute your game plan against a guy with that much with you can put him away fairly off. And the thing is, I think he'll get himself to a point where he's never missing the mistakes. In the big leagues, he's he's hammering velocity, and anytime he's ahead, he's gonna he's You're gonna be in trouble. 00:22:18 Speaker 4: But I think it's gonna look something like that. 00:22:20 Speaker 3: Which is like the thirty to thirty three percent strikeout rate he homer is enough to you know, to keep that offensive production above average. And then when he's hot, you know, and and and he gets through a stretch where he's seeing enough over the heart of the plate, you know, he can give you some of the better hot stretches. 00:22:38 Speaker 4: That you'll get. 00:22:39 Speaker 3: I think what helps Montes' cases, he's got time to improve in that regard, and he could be a guy that makes a mechanical adjustment. If he improves his contact rate by five percent, you know, I think it makes a huge difference. 00:22:52 Speaker 1: I didn't even realize this until while you were talking of looking this uPAR him. There's not a single player in Major League Baseball currently at the at the top level who has a sixty percent contact yes. 00:23:02 Speaker 4: And I try to explain this. 00:23:03 Speaker 3: To people with players like Wells, and I just feel like I get yelled at and then they'll get all these other counterpoints. 00:23:10 Speaker 4: But that's the most important thing, Like what you have to. 00:23:12 Speaker 3: Make contact, no matter how good your quality of contact is, You've got to make contact. And I always look at the big league qualifiers and I'm like, all right, well, you know, who do you want to be? You know, like, what's your best case scenario then? Or do you want to be the new outlier? Do you want to be the new guy that figured out how to produce making contact half the time? I just don't good luck And maybe somebody could do that, but I'm not gonna bet on that guy. 00:23:35 Speaker 4: You know. 00:23:35 Speaker 3: I'm not gonna be like, hey, this is the guy to be the new outlier. It's going to be tough. So that's the problem with it is, Yeah, when you start to look at contact rates across the game, not a ton of guys are even qualifying South of sixty and I think the closest the closest example would have been Murakami, but we didn't even see Murakami have enough time to like start to maybe struggle a little bit or whatever it may have been. He's like sixty one percent. But again, the other aspect of it is murk Kami's one of the most patient hitters in Major League Baseball, so that would probably be the path that Liz would have to follow. 00:24:08 Speaker 5: There is unfortunately some Joey Gallow in his game. 00:24:12 Speaker 1: They're just yeah, like what I'm looking at here, guys, is that like if if there's like a dream scenario here. Nick Kurtz is in the bottom six in Major League Baseball in contact percentage, but Laz from his current rate would need to raise his contact percentage seven and a half percent just to get to Kurtz. He's number six. 00:24:32 Speaker 3: But that is kind of like the dream scenario because you have this elite ability to just destroy the baseball. 00:24:38 Speaker 4: He elevates the ball so consistently, and. 00:24:41 Speaker 3: That's why, like Laz has the path, that's why he's still a top one hundred prospects. Like he's got to be the lowest contact rate of a guy I've ever put on the top one hundred, but that's the avenue and it's still got to be yeah, six to seven percent better. And then you've got to have the you know, the approach and the ability and the consistency I think that Kurtz has. But that is like the dream and that that that's the amazing part with Kurtz is he is kind of the outlier to be as good as he isn't as consistent as he is. 00:25:05 Speaker 4: But to your point, it's got to increase by that much. 00:25:08 Speaker 3: At the highest level, Kurtz was seventy five percent plus. 00:25:12 Speaker 4: I think in the minor leagues. 00:25:14 Speaker 1: Let's shift to Michael Royal here because he got promoted alongside Las. It's clear he can hit, but where is he going to play defense? They've split him pretty evenly this year between second base and left field. Is there any data to suggest he's better at one of these positions after he's actually played these consistently in the regular season. 00:25:33 Speaker 3: It's funny because I think he's come along pretty well at second base, but then this year splitting the time I think is affected as rhythm a little bit at the position. 00:25:43 Speaker 4: When I watch. 00:25:44 Speaker 3: Him, I don't think he's bad in the outfield. I think there's a world where he can be a fine left fielder. And look, I think for a player like him, where you're not going to get a ton of value at any position, he plays, at least be versatile, and I think that helps his case. But I felt like you'd got to a point where he was playing second every day. It looked like he'd found a rhythm where he's very comfortable with the routine. He'd surprise you with the range a little bit, the arm accuracy had improved. But now that he's playing both, and I think it's a good thing that he's playing both, but it just has I think affected some of the consistency at second base and has affected his ability to maybe even make some of the routine. 00:26:21 Speaker 5: That's it. 00:26:21 Speaker 3: I think he's fringy at both, and I think that's a good thing. I'd rather you'd be fringy at two than one. And he's definitely not a disaster by any means in left field, and it's coming. It seems like he gets better each time you check in. 00:26:33 Speaker 2: Yeah, and just in terms of like Mariner's positional fits, that feels like a potential a ros or rain of replacement, because it's pretty likely Randy's going to sign elsewhere after this season, and the Mariners don't have a ton of open spots on their infield. But you know, you can maneuver it next year, where Donovan's still playing a majority of third base. He obviously have Cole Young and Colt Emerson up the middle and Arroyo and left. I mean, I think that would all work out positionally. 00:26:57 Speaker 3: I think so, And you know, he's quick enough to cover enough career. I think if he's really focusing just on that position, I think a Royal will get more and more comfortable out there and get to a point where he can be fine. And yeah, I think left is a little bit less demanding in general anyways. 00:27:12 Speaker 4: But I think with a Royal in general, I don't see why. 00:27:16 Speaker 3: He couldn't be a forty five grade defender at left field or forty grade at worst. And it was always gonna be bat first with him anyways, so I think he could be more than fine out there. 00:27:27 Speaker 1: What's your evaluation of what we've seen from Colt at the big league level. 00:27:31 Speaker 4: You know, you always kind of figured it was gonna be a bit of a process. 00:27:33 Speaker 3: You also know that he's long been one of my favorite prospects and guy that we had number two in our latest update overall and had number three. I think even before that the start of the season, I think all things considered. 00:27:44 Speaker 4: He's he's been solid. I think there's a little bit. 00:27:47 Speaker 3: Of him now of late too, just being on the defense and just try to trying not to. 00:27:52 Speaker 4: Strike out so much. 00:27:52 Speaker 3: Like it just seems like that's uncharacteristic territory for him. You saw a little bit of it and trip away though even too, which I think that Emerson situation, it might be part of the reason why they want Las up there too, is like even though this stuff might be sharper and double these guys are so good at executing and talking to players in their experience and making the adjustment in the past. Is like these catchers, they'll see one swing that you make and call the next pitch accordingly, and that never really happens in double A where they know they can kind of figure out how to get you out. It's a lot of big league former big league or guys that are up and down type of catchers, and the game planning is just different and all those different things, and you saw Emerson, who's just been so good back to ball wise, even in TRIPA, that strike out rate jump by ten percent. So I think with him, it's just kind of getting used to the idea that hey, I'm gonna whiffle a little bit more than I'm used to, and I think he's going to obviously chip away at that. But on the other side of it, it's seven homers in forty one games in a situation where I still think he's again battling it on the defense a little bit. 00:28:53 Speaker 4: I think is encouraging. 00:28:55 Speaker 3: I think the underlying I think people look at the savon page and say, oh no, But I don't worry about that as much. For a twenty year old who's getting his first taste of the big leagues and for a team that's been trying to spark it offensively, team that's really struggled from top to bottom against lefties anyways, I think a lot of other rookies in his position would be maybe insulated a little bit more, and he's just kind of been thrown out there, which I think is great because if the Mariners is going to reach their ceiling, it's because coleld Emerson really finds his stride in the second half, but I think overall it's been solid. I think there's been some yellowish flags. I thought the swing decisions would be a little bit better. But it's important to remember that he's only played thirty or forty four games above Double A. 00:29:34 Speaker 4: And this is a player that also lost out. 00:29:36 Speaker 3: On a lot of minor league games period through injuries in the past, so he's still kind of developing at the highest level. 00:29:42 Speaker 4: He was just good enough for his last phase. 00:29:44 Speaker 3: Of development to be still while he's trying to help a win now big league team. 00:29:49 Speaker 2: Let me ask you about one more prospect before we get to a little bit of draft stuff, because it's the prospect that currently sits at the highest spot on your guys' list. And we talked about Kate Anderson for the first few minutes this episode, and for every good reason, because he's been phenomenal. You guys have him ranked to ten, which is a stunt, like you're the ten rank prospect in baseball. You're doing a lot of things really really well. But you guys have Ryan Sloan at five, and I feel like there's no point at this point where you can talk about one arm in the Mariners system without the other. 00:30:18 Speaker 5: And we talked about Cade, but why do you love Sloan? 00:30:22 Speaker 3: Yeah, And this is like the important note of you know, we're ranking future big leaguers and not the not minor leaguers right because if you're ranking minor leaguers right now, of course Kate Anderson, it might be the best prospect in baseball. But and I think Kate Anderson projects really, really well, and you could see a guy that could be could be a front line arm I think most likely Lands is a really solid too. Ryan Sloan has the stuff to be an ACE, and Ace is not the best pitcher on a team aces And it's funny talking about this with scouts is like, I think people think there's thirty Aces. 00:30:57 Speaker 4: There's like eight to ten at a given time. 00:31:00 Speaker 3: If that that's generous in Major League baseball. Sloane has that kind of stuff, and I think it's important to note like he's just turned twenty years old, he's in the same league that Yes, it's been amazing how Kate Anderson's been able to limit damage, But Swoane, I think people might look at the era and be like, oh, it's inflated. The ball was flying ridiculously out there. He had a couple I would just say it kind of clunker starts, but otherwise the strikeout to walk rate this kid is was nineteen years old at the start of the season. He's seventy seven strikeouts to twelve walks at double A. The thing that I get most excited about is his fastball is averaging ninety six and a half miles per hour and it's not even It might be one of my least favorite aspects of his arsenal and of his game. It's the whole pitch mix that stands out to me. I think his sweeper is one of the best in the minor leagues. The cutter is fantastic. The fact that like he just picks up a baseball in spring training and says, I'm gonna try to figure out how to throw a sinker and adds that. And that was the biggest thing, because I think the one concern was, Okay, what's the face the fastball shape gonna look like. The best way to insulate fastball shape is one throw really hard to throw another fastball, and he's doing both of those things. So when you have all of those things coming together where you've got a clear plus heater. You've got a seventy grade sweeper. This splitter just continues to come along, and that's a plus pitch, and then this bridge cutter in between, and then oh yeah, by the way, this newly turned twenty year old six foot five, two hundred and twenty pound, you know, just stud commands his stuff outrageously well, like seventy percent strike rate on fastballs, sixty eight percent strike rate on breaking balls, and a sixty percent strike rate on the on the splitter, and that could come along a little bit more, but it's not bad at all for where he's at. We're talking about a potential ace. If it all comes together. 00:32:54 Speaker 2: That where would he I mean, that's so fun to just hear and hear you break down because you're one hundred percent right about there's a different There's not thirty aces in baseball. Every team can have a number one, but you're one hundred percent right the aces in baseball. You're right, there's there's less than ten. And it's the names everybody knows Scoobale, Skimes, Sanchez, Yamamoto like that group. So to hear you say he could one day be in that rank of guys is Marrion's van should be pretty excited. 00:33:21 Speaker 3: I'm glad I could say that after like just the whole lass uh uh rain on the parade there, but no, they should be. And you also put it like you put him in an organization that like it's like the logan. 00:33:32 Speaker 4: You look at the logan Gilbert. 00:33:33 Speaker 3: Template and you build with Sloan and you have your hands on swe earlier. You have some one that's ahead of where Gilbert was at at that age. But you have the success I think with so many different talented, talented right handers. And doesn't mean that it's going to end up the same way, But I would love to just get Mariners people on record that have been there long enough to see, like all of these guys and say, how does Sloan compare to talent wise to all of them at the age that you brought them into the organization. And my guess would be that they'd say Slowness is as talented, if not the most talented, of any of them. 00:34:11 Speaker 1: Where do how does he look different in a bullpen? You think, because it sounds like the Murders will bring him up in I would guess September and put him in that bullpen for the past. 00:34:23 Speaker 2: So that's the reporting out there and we'll see if it happens. But they think in September Caid and Sloan are both going to be in the pen for if this team makes the playoffs. Their ideas like, just get your best thirteen arms in the organization on the roster and see what happens. 00:34:36 Speaker 3: I love it because also like two elite makeup guys too, that the experience would be so invaluable for them, and having another left team the fold in general with with with Kid would be great. Like I said, I think the one area is like maybe the fastball could get hit a little bit just because of the shape if he's if he's not executing it as well as he possibly can. But then you've got the two different fastballs, and then him in short spurts s everaging ninety six, he's touching ninety nine plus on the fastball affording with triple digits. If he's in a one to two inning spurt with adrenaline, he's probably gonna be sitting ninety eight ninety nine exceeding triple digits. And if you're doing that fastball shape matters a lot lot less and he has touched one hundred this year, So like, I think that fastball sweeper combination alone in right on right matchups would be a nightmare for hitters. And then the fact that he's got the cutter and the splitter too is great. 00:35:31 Speaker 4: But I think if you're putting him in a position. 00:35:32 Speaker 3: For success, like he could be at low leverage right on right situations and just be way too good for that spot. So like the field, because the feel for the splitter is still coming along, he doesn't even need it. You go right on right with that seventy grade sweeper and a fastball at ninety eight and two different fastballs, I think he's gonna be pretty good in a bullpen. 00:35:53 Speaker 1: Let us tell you guys about Cozy Earth. Cozy Earth's mission is to make home the best part of your life. They send us their bamboo she set. 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Sure, let's okay the. 00:38:30 Speaker 5: End of the show, we can come back to it. 00:38:31 Speaker 4: Yeah, I'll give you a good answer on that one on the back end. 00:38:35 Speaker 2: So with that, let's transition a little bit to the draft, because it's like TJ said, we are days away from the MLB Draft. Every draft seems to have its own theme or its own kind of makeup. 00:38:46 Speaker 5: Does this draft have a theme to you? 00:38:49 Speaker 3: This one is interesting because you know, twenty four was very college heavy. I think twenty five felt like it was a little bit more high school heavy. 00:38:58 Speaker 4: This one, I just think is top heavy. And I don't mean that. 00:39:00 Speaker 3: To say like the Mariners won't get somebody really good. And we already saw this in the twenty five dropt. There's been like second third rounders that have just been going off that all of a sudden are top one hundred prospects. It just feels like for me, there's a clear like Tier one one A and it's Chilawski, you know, And you can say this in a lot of years, but I just I feel like this year especially, it just kind of jumps down a little bit, at least just for the obvious before these guys played professionally. When you look at chowlawski Emerson and Lackey especially, like those guys just kind of feel like they're in their own element and even you could maybe throw Buris is like the one buffer guy between that. But then when you go to the next tier of like those bats, I just think it kind of drops, which doesn't affect the Mariners at all. I'd be kind of worried about it if I picked at like nine, because I'm like, I'm in this a little bit of an in between phase. Again, things always change, but as of right now, that's the one theme for me is just and then the other is just. 00:39:58 Speaker 4: I feel like it's it's a heavy at the top. 00:40:01 Speaker 3: There's a lot of arms in the Mariners range, and I think that's why they're kind of tied towards a lot more of those arms. 00:40:07 Speaker 4: But for me, I think that's that's kind of the case. 00:40:11 Speaker 1: Are the Mariners going to get back to their roots in this draft and go back on a run of drafting college pitchers? 00:40:17 Speaker 3: This would be kind of the draft to do that. I think it depends on how things shake out, you know, like who they got on their big board and whatever it may be. However, with the way that you assume, and it doesn't always go that way, but the way that you would assume, the draft would kind of unfold. It seems like a lot of the guys that would be on their perceived big board would that would be available, there would be arms, and so I could see it going that way. 00:40:44 Speaker 4: That said, like we're going to talk about some individual players. 00:40:47 Speaker 3: I think there's a couple of bats, one in particular that if he's there, and maybe I'm wrong, I just I really like this guy and Bo Lawrence I think he could go earlier than that, and I based on what the Mariners have done in the past, I think would be a guy that they would really like and just just kind of fits the bill of they have such a good eye for just these these advanced high school hitters with the makeup that is just going to work really well, and like they draft people so well. I love Bo Lawrence and I think he could be a good fit for them. But when you look at the way that you anticipate the draft to run off, it seems like a college arm kind of fits the bill for them. 00:41:24 Speaker 1: Let me know if organizations think this way, because like if you're the Mariners, this this group of people running the org have been there now for a whole decade, and they have a decade's worth of data that every time they pick a college starting pitcher in the first round, the worst case outcome is the guy who threw seven shoutout innings on Sunday in Emerson Hancock. Like that's literally out of the college pitchers, that's the worst one they drafted. Or so I guess you what, Roldan, why would you do anything else when you have like examples of these high school hitters you've picked, where you have one super blue chip prospect in Colt Emerson, but then you have a lot more volatility after that. 00:42:00 Speaker 2: I was gonna just say really quick, like, I guess you could throw Jorangelo into that bunch, but if he's the worst one, you got Brandon Donovan out of him. 00:42:06 Speaker 3: But that's going to say you knew, you you he still had a ton of value and you maybe knew the writing was on the wall that wasn't as good as you'd hoped, and you capitalize, right, It's funny because I think that one hundred teams are cognizant of like what they're good at, and I think a big part of that has to be, like, hey, we we develop these types of players quite well, and we do well there. But at the same time, you don't want to shoehorn a pick to fit your your tendencies if the draft doesn't call for it, right, And I think that's where it's there's a balance. I think if you've got two exactly similar players in their big board, it's twenty one and twenty two, and one fits kind of what they've had a lot more success with, I think that's something they consider. But you could also argue that the Mariner's about a lot of success with you know, high school bets, and they've had a lot of success in a lot of other ways. And actually, like in the time that we've had now, I could give you a couple of the answers of guys that I think are going to ball out in the second half. Both are high school bats, by the way, But I think I think it's something they consider. But ultimately, I really do believe, especially in MLB draft, aside from the variable of like negotiating the deals because it is kind of open season more than people like to think in terms of just like negotiating it and that being a big. 00:43:23 Speaker 4: Part of it. 00:43:24 Speaker 3: It's the best player available that they can work a deal with, and if that doesn't work out, then yeah, maybe they go back to what they're comfortable with. 00:43:33 Speaker 1: When do these agreements take place? Like, are there agreements in place right now? 00:43:38 Speaker 3: I think there's a lot of tentative agreements in place right now. Yeah, and a lot of back and forth and a lot of things change, especially as it gets closer. But a lot of phone calls, a lot of busy agents, a lot of conversations. If this goes like this, then you know, we'll agree to this and all of that stuff. But I will also say it goes the other way off and a lot I hear all the time players being drafted. 00:44:01 Speaker 4: I had no communication with the team. 00:44:03 Speaker 3: We just And that's one where it's maybe the team had two or three guys that they had some arrangements made with they came off the board, or they they as a pick got closer, changed their mind, somebody else came in with a better off, whatever it may be. Bottom down, a team behind the Mariners offered a couple hundred thousand dollars more who knows, and they got a panic and go make another pick, and they'll just go off the big board and say, we haven't really talked to this guy yet, like let's take him and we'll figure it out. 00:44:30 Speaker 4: And it kind of. 00:44:31 Speaker 3: Goes all ways, which is why the MLB draft is just so nuts. 00:44:35 Speaker 2: So different than the NFL draft and the NBA draft in that way, because you know, there's not negotiating like that in those drafts for the most part, or in baseball it's so different. Let me let me throw a couple of names at you, because at least in mock drafts and and what you guys have talked about at points two. If the Mariners draft the college arm, something they've done a lot, the guys that seem to be in that mix are as follows. Because there's a couple name You've seen Kyd Townsend from Old miss. You've seen Cole Carlon from ASU. There's Tegankuns from Tennessee. There's Mason Edwards from USC. There's probably a couple of it I'm missing, but there's a handful of college arms projected around that range. Is there one guy you like better than the rest of that bunch. 00:45:17 Speaker 3: I like Townsend the most, I think, and I like him as a good fit for this or too. The fact it's funny because it's such a deep mix and you'll get swowns. It's similar in the regard that, like, if there's one knock, it's probably that the fastball performance. And now Swan's fastball is performing really well because he throws so hard at the level and the two fastballs, but like Townshend's fastball, you'll get the specs. I would have thought it would perform a little bit better. 00:45:42 Speaker 4: It didn't. 00:45:42 Speaker 3: That was like his one achilles heel, I guess. But there's so many secondaries and such a sharp combination of breaking balls and a pretty good change up as well that I think that's a really fun pitcher for them to build on. And they say, Okay, well, maybe you know, he finds a tick or so, or maybe he finds change up or whatever it may be. 00:46:01 Speaker 4: But Towns in like the cutter looks like it could be an elite pitch. 00:46:05 Speaker 3: It's just wipe out the slider off of that looks like it could be a plus pitch as well. The changeup is flashed above average hole mix and a curveball as well, and the fastball like it's getting nineteen plus inches avert. I just think his release can be a little bit stock and I think hitters just tend to see it pretty well. So that's something that you know they'll they'll try to work through. But I don't think of the group of arms, I don't think anybody has it as complete of a pitch mix as Townsend does. And I still think he can be able to work through the fastball, maybe underperforming a little bit. 00:46:36 Speaker 4: Why did he have the most? Oh? Go ahead, low? 00:46:38 Speaker 5: Oh? 00:46:39 Speaker 2: I was gonna say, there's still other guys to talk about, But why do I feel like he's going to be the pick? I was wondering who your answer was going to be amongst this? He kind of feels like a Mariner. And it's not just because you said it. That's exactly the name Joe Doyle throughout to us a couple of months ago, like the right. Yeah, so you guys have both said Townshend feels like a really good fit, paired with again right handed college arm, decently polish, like has a couple of pitchers that have the chance to be really really plus offerings. 00:47:05 Speaker 5: I don't know. 00:47:05 Speaker 2: For some reason, I'll call my shot here now and I have nowhere near the information that people like you and Joe do, But I feel like that's gonna be the pick if he's there. 00:47:15 Speaker 3: It's exactly how I felt when I was going through it. And the other fun part is, I know a lot of teams kind of subscribe to this, but the Mariners as much as any they don't draft the era right, and it's like a four to seven eight career era for Townsend, late Bloomer in terms of just like really finding it command wise. This past year, you walk twenty and thirty four innings twenty twenty five, and he walked twenty two and double the innings, you know, this past season. I always feel like the Mariners love those up arrow guys that still aren't even close to hitting that next step, and it's a template that. 00:47:47 Speaker 4: I just think they can work really well with. 00:47:50 Speaker 1: Does he have the highest upside of this batch of pitchers at that pick or is there someone else? 00:47:55 Speaker 3: Pitching is so tough because it's like an abstract dar like there'll be guys that I just don't think have the same up but then they add two pitches, or they find something and or they find two ticks and it's like holy crap. 00:48:06 Speaker 4: So you never know. 00:48:07 Speaker 3: But when you look at like Cold Carlin, like it's there's a reliever risk there, but he has a wipeout slider from the left side and average ninety six with his fastball, So like theoretically, if he finds a third pitch that's more reliable and he's filling up the zone, that guy could have his high of a ceiling he as anybody. But for me, when I'm looking at just the template and what i'd want to work with and what you can kind of build off of as a starting pitcher, I think Townsend does have the highest ceiling because even when you go to like Tikan Kun's like fastball's got great shape at ninety three to ninety five, but then the secondary's just lagged behind. He's got a good curveball. I think that looks like a plus pitch, but that's the upper seventies curveball. So you always wonder how some of those like slower breaking balls are going to perform against professional hitters. I think it'll perform well, But then the gyro slider didn't perform as well, and the rest of the secondary's just lag behind Mason Edwards. It's like ceiling wise left inner from usc like low nineties. He has some deception to his delivery, but anytime I'm using the word deception, the ceiling is not going to be as high. So it's a low nineties with deception. Crossfire curveball is a banger, but this is a guy that's going to need to execute to have success. So I do think Talenten has the best or the highest ceiling of those guys, assuming Carlin doesn't like spawn a new pitch and just just you know, have this like Peytent Toley type of ascension. 00:49:30 Speaker 1: What about someone like Cameron Flukey, who we've also seen. 00:49:34 Speaker 4: Sheer raw ceiling. 00:49:36 Speaker 3: You could make the Flukey case, and I think that would be the one guy that I think has maybe the highest individual ceiling of the bunch. But he also comes with like, you know, some concerned floor wise, you know, like he's coming off of injury that limited him a fair amount this year. His fastball maybe as good as is just about anybody's in the draft. You look at Flora like that's probably the gold standard in general in the draft, but there's effort in the delivery. It's a long arm action. The command just off of the injury just wasn't there. But when you look at what could be with Fluky, this is a guy that has again, I would say other than Flora, probably has the second highest ceiling pitching wise in the draft. Maybe you could probably throw Gio Rohash because he's a prep left. He throws fuzz as well. But I think when you look at Fluki's fastball and pair of breaking balls and he's six six, that's someone that I think the Mariners will look at though, and if they picked him, it's like we feel confident that we can clean a couple of things up with the delivery, and if he's healthy, he can be a rocket ship. But you're gonna have a lot more I think hands on work there to get to that ceiling if. 00:50:44 Speaker 2: They're gonna go position player. As we start to wrap this conversation up, you already mentioned Bo Lawrence. We can start with him, but if they go bat over arm in this draft, Bo Lawrence is the high school bad who you're really high on. So why do you like the guy? 00:50:58 Speaker 3: Swing is so advanced and I think there's so much projection in there too. He's younger for the class. He's still eighteen years old, will be eighteen until September, middle of September six five, two hundred, and really is moving well on the left side of the infield. For he may ultimately slide over to third, but I think he could be really solid there and they'll probably give him some opportunity. 00:51:17 Speaker 4: To prove that he could. 00:51:17 Speaker 3: He could stick it short, but regardless, like moves really well on the left side of the infield. 00:51:22 Speaker 4: I'm just so impressed at how smooth the swing. 00:51:24 Speaker 3: Is for a kid that's that big and long levered and just just already so ahead in that regard, and you think about how much power could be in there as he just continues to fill out, because he's still just very slender and the swing is very smooth. But I think could he could generate a little bit more violence in there, but it's all already so repeatable. 00:51:43 Speaker 4: He has such a good feel for the barrel. 00:51:44 Speaker 3: You know he's going to grow into more strength and I think kind of fits the bill of the Mariners really focus on the way kids carry themselves. 00:51:52 Speaker 4: I really like the way he goes about his business. 00:51:54 Speaker 3: I think this is a guy that's very mature for his age, and that's big reason why the Mariners have so much success out of the draft too. I think Lawrence checks a lot of their boxes and and again I think fits the bill of the type of high scores that they've had success with. 00:52:08 Speaker 1: What other bats do you have in mind? 00:52:10 Speaker 3: I think the other that I've heard a decent about a bit about, and I think you're gonna have a lot of pressure on the bat, but manags are a lot to like with the bat is Logan Hughes. 00:52:19 Speaker 4: Crazy bat speed, can. 00:52:22 Speaker 3: Absolutely pulverize velocity and and is good enough against breaking balls. I think the swing is you don't want to see much change from there, Like he's he's already in a really good spot. And I just think from what you see from him production wise, I could see Hughes being a guy that they just get excited about. 00:52:38 Speaker 4: The bat. 00:52:38 Speaker 3: You see like a dom Can zone type like it kind of fits, kind of fits that mold. There's just so much violence to the swing, but also at the same time pretty controlled and making a lot more contact than you'd expect. 00:52:49 Speaker 2: So who's your so who's your narrator's prospect? That's going to go off in the second half or. 00:52:53 Speaker 4: Having a good two And I'm sorry I was not ready for that off the dome. 00:52:56 Speaker 5: We kind of we kind of sideswiped you with that question. But I don't know. 00:53:00 Speaker 3: I've been a little bit slow on the last couple of days fighting this cold, I swear, But Johnny Farmelo has been on another planet, and that one should have been on the top of my head right away, just because I think Farmelo I talk about personality and makeup that you buy into, but just just also has always had all the talent. It's just been injured, frankly, like it's just been not being available and not really being able to develop properly. You know, last thirty games, he's got one thousand and forty two oh ps a one to sixty five WRC plus he's coming along defensively in center field. I think the fact that he's chipped away at some of the swing and miss well and in that span, by the way, only twenty two percent strikeout. Right, He's patient, He's sitting the ball hard, don't I'm really excited about what Farmelo's doing. And then Nick Becker, it's going to be a challenge for him at low a like. I think that's going to be a general challenge, but the quality of contact and speed combination is crazy, So once he gets up from the complex, there might be some swing and miss, but I think there's a guy that's going to turn enough heads with with what he can bring to the table defense, speed wise, power wise, and with how much more power could be in the tank for this nineteen year old. He's been really productive at the complex, but I think if you can find a way to cut down on the whiff a little bit more, this guy could be a monster with the power, speed, power, speed defense combination. 00:54:17 Speaker 4: ARM. 00:54:17 Speaker 1: This has been awesome as always. We will all be together for the draft, so that should be a ton of fun and we'll love to get to check with you in person about whatever goes down this weekend in Philadelphia and the Mariners pick at number twenty four. Always appreciate you taking some time to come on with us and hope to have you on again soon anytime. 00:54:34 Speaker 4: Guys. You know I love it. I appreciate you guys having me on well. 00:54:39 Speaker 5: Shout out to ARM. 00:54:40 Speaker 2: I'm definitely fired up for the draft on Sunday and I cannot wait to see what a bunch of these prospects have in the second half, Kid Sloan Farmelo, a bunch of these guys, our guy Nicki Becker. Arm's great and unlike TJ said at the start, the way he breaks things down is really really informative, and every time we talk with Arm, I always end up learning so much. Let me just make one quick note before we start to wrap up the pod. We didn't talk at the start of the show about the scene around Seattle on Monday for the World Cup, So let me just say, very very very cool environment. It was packed as we all thought it was going to be. It was a very cool scene around the stadiums. All that being said, Tmusa is a bunch of frauds. 00:55:23 Speaker 1: I mean this is typical, right. 00:55:25 Speaker 5: Yeah. 00:55:25 Speaker 1: You get to the point where you play countries where they have better players at every position, and it's like yeah, and then someone like me who doesn't actually watch soccer realizes like, okay, like all the players and the other teams play in the Premier League or in at PSG or something, all these top teams and in the US it's like not really, It's. 00:55:46 Speaker 2: Like, oh, it's like Christian Polisic sometimes starts in the Premier League, it's like, oh, that's our best player. 00:55:53 Speaker 1: Then reality sets in and you're like, oh, oh yeah, right right. See in other countries, well they pay youth players to play in their academies. In the US, you have to pay for it, and that kind of it kind of answers the question on why soccer players aren't as good. 00:56:06 Speaker 2: Yeah, Poliitic really does not have one single standout World Cup moment, does he. 00:56:13 Speaker 5: Like Donovan's had, his, Dempsey had his Politic does not have one. 00:56:17 Speaker 1: I mean his standout moment from this World Cup was him getting kicked in the calf and missing a game and a half. 00:56:22 Speaker 4: Mm hmm. 00:56:25 Speaker 5: That was too bad. 00:56:25 Speaker 2: It would have been such a cool scene if if they had won, like the scene afterwards if they had won. 00:56:29 Speaker 1: But it was still really fun down there. As you talked about, every single viewing party anywhere at any bar or any any of the ones the city put on were all just jam packed. Every single neighborhood had hundreds, if not thousands of people crowded around the screens to watch these games. Unfortunately, it was just kind of flat, so flat from about like the thirtieth minute on. 00:56:51 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean they scored it, tie it up in thirty thirty seconds later, let up another. 00:56:56 Speaker 1: Goal and then yeah, it didn't score again. Now it was a bummer. It would have been nice if it continued. But at least we did get the maximum amount of like great games in Seattle as we possibly could of, so that. 00:57:05 Speaker 5: Was pretty great. 00:57:06 Speaker 2: If there's one Seattle takeaway from this World Cup, we already know it, but hopefully the rest of the world knows it now. Seattle's a pretty awesome sports town. 00:57:13 Speaker 5: It really is. Fans show out. 00:57:15 Speaker 1: Now, they really did. For a bunch of people, including myself, we don't really watch soccer, but for an event like this, you have to show out. 00:57:22 Speaker 2: Yeah all right, That just about wraps up this edition of the Marine Layer podcast. 00:57:27 Speaker 5: You guys know the drill. 00:57:28 Speaker 2: If you want to listen to the full form podcast, you can do so wherever you get your audio pods. Make sure to download these episodes. If you're listening, go rate and review. Please leave at five stars. If you're listening to these podcasts, and if you're watching on YouTube, just take a second make sure to go hit that subscribe button. You can find us on our website too. We're at Marine Layerpod dot com, where our episodes are all there, Patreon's there, podcast merch is all there. Go check it out Marine layerpod dot com, and then find us on social media. We're everywhere. We're posting content every single day at Marine layer Pod. That's TJ a'm lyle. As always, we thank you guys for tuning in. We'll talk to you soon.