Episode 427: The Mariners Flop In Miami + Should They Seek Out A Brendan Donovan Replacement In The Offseason? (Mailbag)

00:00:00 Speaker 1: What's up, guys, just wanted to let you know about our next live event and it'll be Tuesday, July twenty eighth over at the Emerald Queen Casino. We're doing another Mariner's Trivia night where we'll have a bunch of prizes to give away to you guys and a bunch of fun Mariners topics to go through, and we'll be sticking around to watch the game with you guys. And they take on the Dodgers in that series, So come on out. You can watch Mariners Dodgers with us. You can get it on some trivia, you can win some prizes, and you can come hang out in an awesome spot like the Emerald Queen Casino. So again, mark your calendars. That's Tuesday, July twenty eighth, six pm at Emerald Queen Casino. Come on out and join us. 00:00:33 Speaker 2: Welcome to episode number four, twenty seven of the Marine Layer Podcast. It's a mailbag episode, so we'll open it up and answer your best listener questions. We'll also react to the Maritors getting swept by the Miami Marlins. 00:00:45 Speaker 1: Reminder of you, guys, before we start this episode, just do us a favor. Make sure you're downloading these podcasts if you're listening, and make sure to go leave that five star review on Apple or Spotify or wherever you're listening to your podcast. If you're on YouTube, take a second to just go hit that subscribe button. 00:00:59 Speaker 3: It's the best way to support. 00:01:01 Speaker 1: You can find us on our website marine layerpod dot com, where all our merch is there, episodes are all there, Patreon is all there again, that's marine layerpod dot com. And then find us on social media. We're everywhere and we're posting content every single day at Marine Layer Pod. 00:01:16 Speaker 2: Let's get it rolling and we welcome you to this episode of the Marine Layer Podcast port of the Just Baseball podcast network, recording here on Thursday evening, July ninth. Fly. Oh my god, does that feel exactly like it did one year ago and the Mariners got swept against the New York Yankees going into the break? I mean exactly like it. I think we felt like this exact same feeling as we felt right now. 00:01:55 Speaker 1: We also totally saw this coming right you stopped a mile away, you stop from away, because what do we keep saying? This team so far this season has shown absolutely positively zero ability to stack wins and yes, for those of you that are gonna say, well they had a five and one home stand and one two series at home. Yeah, after losing two series in a row and then you go lose another series on the Road to the Marlins. Go back to that episode we did a couple of weeks ago where we talk about all the yo yoing win a series, lose a series, win a series, lose a series. 00:02:30 Speaker 3: It's been like that all year. 00:02:31 Speaker 1: And then you won two series in a row and lost two series in a row, so those totally cancel each other out, and then you lose another series and not only lose, but get swept here against a really good team in the Marlins. Again, they do not stack wins. 00:02:45 Speaker 2: And why do they lose these games? Lyle, It's because these same issues that we complain about over and over and over and over again just constantly keep appearing. There was only one new thing I learned in this Marlin series. That's it. One new thing, and that was something was up with Bryce Miller. Tonight, a guy who had a strikeout or a thirty one percent higher than his walk rate this season walked more guys than he struck out, and he got shelved for the first time this season with this velocity way down across the board. Yeah, like, that's the only new thing I learned about the Seattle Mariners in this series. 00:03:21 Speaker 1: So I wouldn't freak out about that too much. If you want one silver lining from the series. Divis did ask him postgame, like was it anything health wise, and Bryce said no, I felt fine. I just didn't have my best stuff today. It was a little hot, like I just didn't get going away I wanted to. So I don't think it's an injury thing. 00:03:37 Speaker 2: But I learned that he is human this season, that he's not going to have a Clayton Kershell like season. That's what we learned. 00:03:43 Speaker 1: Well, at some point he was going to have a tougher start, but then nobody picked it up around him either. 00:03:48 Speaker 2: No, the things I did not learn about this start, the offense was or about this series. The offense was terrible. Situationally, in Tuesday's game in extra innings, I had no idea what Weston Wilson was running to third base of the ball hit in front of him, like a base running play that gets you benched in high school doing that, At least my baseball coach in high school would have benched you if you made that base running mistake in a crucial game. You would have not seen the field the next day. But you know, it's just kind of ho hum for the Mariners these days. And then there was the inexplicable at bat to end the game on Wednesday where Cole Young didn't challenge a ball that was clearly outside and love Cole didn't even think that he needed to challenge it until well after the game ended. 00:04:35 Speaker 1: That's what Cole said, Do you mean that is what he said? 00:04:37 Speaker 2: He told Ryan Davish. Yes, he did not realize it until he got back in the clubhouse and checked his phone and other people were telling him he needed to challenge that pitch. Like just the situational awareness in those two instances like just non existent. 00:04:53 Speaker 1: Look, we love Cole, like you said, this is very much a pro Cole Young pod. But yeah, in that situation, that can happen. I mean, I'm not saying the Mariners win that game. I still don't think they do, but at least you give yourself a chance. But you know what, man, this comes back to the same thing we've talked about a million times. You can forget about the offense for a second, because what we're talking about here is the controllables base running mistakes, not challenging pitches. They've looked sloppy on defense this year. They had more of it here in this series against the Marlins. 00:05:24 Speaker 3: This is coaching. 00:05:26 Speaker 1: Cole Young deserves some of the blame for not physically challenging the pitch on Tuesday, sure, or on Wednesday. 00:05:32 Speaker 2: Sure, it's a fifty to fifty split. It's fifty to fifty splits. 00:05:36 Speaker 3: Yeah, but you don't. 00:05:38 Speaker 1: When something like that happens, that shows there's been little to no communication about having to know the situation and have the awareness to do that by the coaching. 00:05:49 Speaker 3: Staff in that moment. 00:05:51 Speaker 1: Because if that had been hammered home to Cole Young and the rest of the players, that doesn't happen. Cole Young challenges He's got nothing to lose. So when things like that happen, there is a serious coaching aspect to that. We've said this all year, man, We've said it all year. This has been a totally fundamentally unsound team that plays a ton of sloppy, self destructive baseball that is totally in their control, and it costs them all the time. This isn't even the physical stuff. Are we pissed off about the offense and like rolling our eyes at how putrid they've been over the last month of course, like they they've strung next to nothing together besides that absolute outburst in the Blue Jays Saturday win, like for the most part the last month, again, they've looked horrendous. But that's more physical and as frustrating as that is, like that, like that's just getting. 00:06:43 Speaker 3: Beat on the field. 00:06:44 Speaker 1: You make sloppy mistakes on the base pads and with your decision making and on defense and not challenging pitches. 00:06:51 Speaker 3: I mean, that's coaching. 00:06:54 Speaker 1: That is coaching, and you know, you know where we stand with that stuff, man, Like you guys know where we stand with all that. 00:07:02 Speaker 3: Let's put it like that. 00:07:04 Speaker 1: And it does not shock me that these situations pop up and issue the rise with this manager. 00:07:12 Speaker 2: There's gonna need to be some self reflection. This All Star break that they're seriously is gonna need to be like an evaluation by the players and by the coaching staff that they're gonna have to find some way to get more out of this roster that they have. There's no way that a roster this talented should be sitting at five hundred at this point of the season. This point of the season. By the way, while where the Maritters are now sitting at exactly five hundred is their worst record at this point of the season since twenty nineteen when they lost ninety three games, how is that a thing? How is that possible for this team? 00:07:49 Speaker 1: Because they have a laundry list of problems that are gonna have to get fixed in the second half or they're in big trouble. Because this is not as simple as just a snap your fingers. Things start to click in the second half, they'll just get rolling. It's possible they do. But is it fair to say there is a very long list of things that has to get better. It's not one or two things, right, Yeah? Now, okay, In fact, let's read it all out. Here's what I highlighted for what the Mariners have to get fixed in the second half or they straight up might not make the playoffs. Let me know one by one if these are valid. Number one, Cal has to be Cal or you're in big trouble. 00:08:33 Speaker 2: Uh correct? Yeah, Cal cannot be one of the worst hitters on your team. 00:08:36 Speaker 1: Julio's gonna have to go scorched earth in the second half like he often does, or this offense is not gonna even come close to reaching its potential. 00:08:44 Speaker 2: I would say yes, that checks out. 00:08:47 Speaker 1: Number three, Brendan Donovan has to get healthy. This was supposed to be a table center of your lineup and a guy you were heavily relying upon this offseason and this season. 00:08:55 Speaker 3: He has to be on the field and healthy. 00:08:58 Speaker 2: Checks out. It's harder to score or runs when you're best on bass guy is not at the top of your lineup and barely has been this season. 00:09:05 Speaker 1: And by the way, it is still really unclear when in the world he's coming back. 00:09:10 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, we got such a vague answer, like he's down in Arizona doing tests and he might go on a rehab assignment in the Complex League soon. But they're not even sure. Man. 00:09:21 Speaker 3: We got some Brendan. 00:09:22 Speaker 2: Donovan questions in the mailbag, so we don't have to dive into it too much right now. But I mean, my confidence level on h of him coming back and being like the Brennan Donovan you traded for this offseason that you envisioned in this lineup. My confidence level is at about five percent. 00:09:38 Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, number four. We are sitting three games from the All Star break, and Josh Naylor is a negative WAR player after getting a ninety two million dollar extension this offseason. 00:09:50 Speaker 2: That needs to turn around. 00:09:51 Speaker 3: Now. 00:09:52 Speaker 1: I know his first two weeks were horrendous and he's hit a little better since then, but season results are season results, and as we sit here more than halfway through the season, in terms of games by Baseball Reference War, he is at negative zero point two. This is the guy you paid ninety two million dollars to and. 00:10:08 Speaker 2: For a team with a budget like the Mariners where they they they say they're not gonna overspend, that's part of their strategy, and when they do go and spend, they want to spend on the right players. Well, you know, if this is the kind of production they're getting out of that money to actually do spend, it's really just gonna hamper you. And Josh Naylor sends June first, Yle like, even despite the first the bad first couple of weeks, he has been a below average hitter since the calendar turned to June. Yeah, and that's just that's not worth ninety two million dollars. He doesn't make that value up on defense, Yeah, it's hard to as a first baseman. 00:10:43 Speaker 1: Number five, they are the worst team in Major League Baseball against left handed pitching, and they desperately need at least one, if not two, right handed bats at the trade deadline. 00:10:53 Speaker 2: What's bad about this is that I don't even know how high up this ranks on the Mariners list of problems. It's so long and there are so many big ones, but this one is very glaring. 00:11:04 Speaker 1: And by the way, there's nobody on this market that's going to fix your offense. They might help a little, there's no fix. There's no nailers or forty nine home run ginos on this market. Number six, they are as sloppy as can be defensively on the base pads and knowing the in game situations. 00:11:21 Speaker 2: The only way that changes is with the guys currently on your roster. That's it. 00:11:27 Speaker 1: And this is in no particular order, by the way, I just listed these out. Number seven. Dan Wilson is horrendous with his in game decision making, which has been very much hammered home plenty on this podcast. But as we've seen in the first half of the season, it has cost them more games. 00:11:46 Speaker 2: I don't know what you want me to say. 00:11:48 Speaker 3: I mean, you can just say valid or invalid. 00:11:51 Speaker 2: Yeah, the valid, very valid. 00:11:52 Speaker 3: Okay. 00:11:53 Speaker 1: Number eight, you need Matt Brash healthy because you have seen this bullpen thinned with him on the IL. You don't have the depth that you once did, and that's not going to be till at some point in August. 00:12:03 Speaker 3: They say. 00:12:06 Speaker 2: The bullpen has I don't want to say take it a back seat, because they've certainly had their issues. The bullpen did not pitch very well at all in this series against the Marlins, especially in the first first game and then the game today, but they are missing one of their most important pieces for how it's structured. 00:12:26 Speaker 1: Yeah, one hundred percent. Your go to pivot guy, one of the best ones in the league. You just haven't had him most of the year. Number nine, Brian Wu cannot get sheld in every road outing he participates in. 00:12:40 Speaker 2: Very valid, very valid. Impossible to be good if your best pitchers are not, in fact not good. 00:12:46 Speaker 1: And for half his starts is putting up uncompetitive outings that just can't happen. 00:12:50 Speaker 2: He's uncompetitive is the key word. It's not blow average, it's not just below his norms. It's uncompetitive, not giving yourself a chance. 00:12:58 Speaker 3: I mean, as Ra starts with a six on the road. 00:13:01 Speaker 1: Unfortunately, Like we love Wu, we love watching him pitch, but unfortunately he has not had it at all on the road this year. 00:13:07 Speaker 2: No, And if you ask him what the answer is for that, or ask really, frankly anybody what the answer for that is, the answer is I don't know. 00:13:16 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:13:17 Speaker 1: And number ten, to close it out, pick a concrete plan with your starting rotation. If I see one more piggyback post trade deadline. 00:13:27 Speaker 3: I'm gonna lose it. 00:13:29 Speaker 2: Valid. 00:13:31 Speaker 3: That's ten. 00:13:32 Speaker 1: That's ten things right there, man, that they need to change in the second half with about sixty five games to go, and I don't know if all those can get fixed. 00:13:41 Speaker 2: Let's compare this to last year. What were the list of things the Mariners needed to get better at at this time last year? Since we're saying they're in the same spot pretty much as they were last year, what are the differences here? I think at this time last year, the Mariners needed health in the rotation, right, that was number one. Number two, they needed much more production offensively at first base and third base. What else am I missing? 00:14:11 Speaker 3: Those are two really big ones. 00:14:14 Speaker 1: Well, had their home road splits come into play at that point yet, I think they. 00:14:19 Speaker 2: Had, Yes, they were already they were already existing. 00:14:24 Speaker 3: Yeah, that was another. 00:14:27 Speaker 1: The main one I remember is just the offense being putrid for a while, to rely on on cal Way, too reliant on cal. I mean, but now we sit here today with this offense, They're not They're not relying on anybody. 00:14:41 Speaker 3: And that's the problem, isn't it. 00:14:43 Speaker 1: There were options out there to go augment the roster, to not just have it beyond cal And when Julio got hot in the second half, your lineup was really lengthened by that point. 00:14:52 Speaker 3: I mean at the trade deadline. 00:14:54 Speaker 1: Your lineup went Randy, it went Julio, it went sixty home run Cal Naylor, you had Gino, you had who am I forgetting. 00:15:04 Speaker 2: Well, you have King Zone hitting pretty well at this point. 00:15:07 Speaker 1: Yeah, you did so, Like the lineup was really lengthened at that point. Right now, not only is there nobody on the market to do that, but the guys that are supposed to be the juice of your order or not hitting like the juice of your order. Again, we just had it in our list of ten things. Josh Naylor is still a negative war player. 00:15:29 Speaker 2: And if the Mariners want to change pieces on this roster, they're gonna have to let guys go if they want to change this lineup. There's just too many for the amount of guys that aren't performing, there's still like there's so much of a clog in this lineup. If you're trying to move some pieces around to get the offense going, and you want to bring guys in from the outside, well, the easiest way to make room for that is you're gonna have to move on from guys like at some point in the next month before the trade deadline. If that's what your goal is, then that's what you're gonna have to do, whether be a DFA, whether it be a trade, whether it be a demotion like that's that's how you really create room for going and adding different pieces to this roster, if that's what you so believe, because I'll tell you what, like for a lineup that's as bad as it is, it's still like a very clogged roster with not a lot of room. If it just stays the way it is. 00:16:21 Speaker 1: Maybe Luke Rayley is one of those guys like we've talked about. I mean, him and Canzone is a very odd fit together on this roster. I mean, you could look at JP Crawford because if Donovan comes back and you have Colt Emerson at short I know it's been a struggle for him, but you knew Colt was gonna have struggles in his rookie year. Most twenty year old rookies do. And if you're gonna stick with Colt and you're gonna get Donovan back, and JP since June has been brutal at the plate, and you know what he can't do defensively at this point, do you consider it. He's a free agent at the end of the year. 00:16:53 Speaker 2: So looking at those two infielders right now, your options are essentially this for what they've done over essentially the same period of time time. So JP Crawford since the beginning of June has a seventy four WRC plus. He plays third base and is a well below average defender over there. Cole Is I would say he's like an above average defender at shortstop. From what we've seen it, it's been good at short He's got a fifty five WRC plus, striking out almost thirty eight percent of the time, I believe over the last month. So that's like, those are the decisions, right, If you're gonna clear up room on your infield, your decision is between those two guys, whether you're gonna demote or you're gonna trade. How tradable though is JP Crawford. If that's your move, somebody would take him on. You might have to eat some of the money, but somebody would take him on. You're not gonna get that much back. But if the idea is just clearing up a spot on your roster for somebody who you think is gonna improve the roster, then that's why you'd trade him. It's not to try to recoup maximum value. It's to segue and give an avenue to somebody else. I don't even trust though Brendan Donovan to come back and fill one of those spots at this point, I don't. 00:18:06 Speaker 3: It's totally fairy. Hasn't been healthy again. There is a flurry of problems here. 00:18:12 Speaker 1: As we said on the ninth of July recording this, I'm gonna be honest for all the frustrations we've had through the first three months, and there's been plenty of them. This series is the first time I've started to really think there's a chance this team does not make the playoffs. 00:18:28 Speaker 2: Well, the Rangers hold on tonight, they will not be in first place, so I think that's totally valid. I thought of this a different way. Rock Bottom is so cliche, but watching Bryce get shelled tonight made me feel like this series to the Marlins, a team that is very clearly a contender and a good baseball team but not more talented than you, just thoroughly out playing you all over the place, where this kind of feels as rock bottom as I felt now that you're one superpower this season, at least for the last two months. In Bryce Miller got hammered tonight. That's where it kind of feels bad for me. 00:19:08 Speaker 1: I just can't put that much emphasis on a bad Bryce Miller start because he's been so good. 00:19:13 Speaker 2: Like it happens, and I'm not saying this is the entire season, but it just kind of summarizes how bad this series was for the Mariners, that even your best guy is not untouchable and there's not gonna be a cal Raley type season to carry you this year. So if Bryce Miller was gonna be cal rally of last year as a pitcher, he would pitch the rest of the season to like the tune of a one to eight e arra and a thirty four percent strikeout. Right, just an inhuman stat line for a Mariner, that's what he would do. But he's not gonna do that, right because we've seen, Yeah, just there will be starts where Bryce Miller looks like this. His velocity's down, whether it didn't warm up or stretch, or his mechanics are a little off, or god forbid, he's not healthy. Then this is what you get from Bryce Miller. And you're facing a team in the Marlins, which is not more talented than you, but is playing significantly better than you. They look a lot more buttoned up than you are, and they're certainly producing a lot better too. Goldie read this stat off on the broadcast where he said, if you were to blind blindly look at these two teams before the season, you were to look at the Marlins lineup and the Mariners lineup, and you were to say, Okay, one of these teams is ninth and slugging this year and the other team is twenty fifth and slugging this year. Who would you choose. Oh I think I know, I very clearly picked the Marlins to be twenty fifth and slugging in the Mariners ninth Nope, Nope. 00:20:40 Speaker 1: A line up with Cal Raley, Julio Rodriguez, Randia Rose Arena, and Josh Naylor is twenty fifth in Major League Baseball and slugging percentage. 00:20:49 Speaker 2: That feels like a problem. Oh and they're like the worst team in baseball with runners in scoring position. Well, at least they get twenty five this week. 00:20:58 Speaker 1: Well, at least they get to go to Tampa place that's been an absolute house of horrors for them the last few years, and they get to play the best team in the American League in the rais great. Have I mentioned how fired up I am for All Star Week? I mean I cannot wait to just get on the plane and go to Philly and enjoy ourselves at All Star Week, Which, by the way, if any of you Mariners fans out there are gonna be in Philly, please let us know, because we'll just be walking around. We're gonna be doing a ton of content all week. So if anybody's gonna be out in Philly for All Star Week and wants to meet up and wants to say, hey, tell us, but not only does this team need a much needed break, we need a much needed break, like to just get out of the Mariners world for a couple of days and have one of our favorite weeks of the year take place where we get to see all these different people and do all these different things. 00:21:44 Speaker 3: Thank god, I'm so ready. 00:21:48 Speaker 2: It would be as cool as it would be for more Marriers to get selected to the All Star Game. I'd rather these guys just take the time off and like, really look in the mirror, yeah I will. All Star Week might be distracting, Like there really needs to be some self reflection going on from most players and coaches and people in the Mariners organization about like what this team is and how they're gonna turn this around, because it's just not good enough what we're watching right now. This is supposed to be the World Series team. Of all the teams we've watched in this era, this is supposed to be the one. Because after this season, you might have to start thinking about trading pitchers. There's gonna be a new financial system in place in Major League Baseball. There's a lot of things that you just might not be able to cash in on that you had the ability to in the past. So that's the they got to sit back and realize how important these final sixty ish games of the seventy ish games of the season are and how they're gonna perform significantly better than they have this season. 00:22:50 Speaker 1: I might throw out the B word for this weekend. 00:22:53 Speaker 3: I really might. 00:22:54 Speaker 1: And part of it's because we're gonna be so busy in Philly and doing a bunch of stuff for All Star week. I think the B word's getting thrown out, and it's our first one of the year. I think I'm boycotting this race series. 00:23:07 Speaker 2: I think, well, our mental health might be a little bit better. 00:23:10 Speaker 1: Like this is the first series of the year where it's like, yeah, I'm not turning it on. I'm not watching for the for the good of the people. We Owe you Guys podcast three times a week, so obviously I'm gonna keep very much up on what's going on and what happens game by game, But yeah, I might be taking some games off. I like, I can't watch much more of this. 00:23:31 Speaker 2: No, I don't think Lolon will be sitting in the hotel room watching a Mariner game. 00:23:35 Speaker 1: No, I think it's officially time for our first official Marine layerup pot boycott of the year. 00:23:42 Speaker 2: So that means we haven't watched a series in Tampa in two years. 00:23:46 Speaker 3: Oh, because we boycotted the race series last year too. Yeah, good god. 00:23:51 Speaker 1: Well, yeah, we'll keep everybody updated of things we're up to during All Star Week two because we'll still have three podcasts during All Star Week and I'm sure there'll be things to talk. 00:24:01 Speaker 3: About, so we'll do that. 00:24:03 Speaker 1: Then I'm sure you'll get some more hotel podcasts like you did when we were in Denver a few weeks ago, Like people talked about I'll make my bed this time. Yeah, well is your bed made now? 00:24:14 Speaker 3: Yeah? Oh I can't tell mostly all right, Well. 00:24:17 Speaker 1: Anyway, yeah, well, well we'll get to kind of escape for a few days hopefully and recap some other things except for Monday's podcast, because well again, let's see what happens against the Rays. 00:24:31 Speaker 2: So Mondays should be interesting. We didn't even realize until this week when we were talking to our friend arm Light and who if you didn't hear him great conversation on Wednesday's podcast, go check that out, that they switched the days with the draft this year and We had literally no idea until this week. 00:24:47 Speaker 1: I did not realize the draft was Saturday and the Futures game is Sunday. Almost always, the Futures game Saturday, and the draft is Sunday. They flipped it this year. 00:24:54 Speaker 2: It works out really well for our schedule that the draft is Sunday, so we can just go home and react. So now I think we'll probably we just sit on the Mariner's draft. Well, I guess they'll have their entire draft by the time we tape on Sunday night. 00:25:06 Speaker 1: Which is tough because I like to dedicate some time to get people fired up about the class. But god, if this team gets swept by the Rays, I feel like it's just gonna get swept under the rug. 00:25:17 Speaker 3: Almost the draft. 00:25:18 Speaker 1: We'll do a couple social posts on it, and that'll do some due diligence obviously, Like I'm sure we'll find somewhere to react in real time to when the Mariners make the pick. 00:25:27 Speaker 3: But yeah, we're gonna have to. We're gonna have to split. 00:25:29 Speaker 1: Up our time on Monday's Pod between Okay, here's the race stuff and then we'll do draft stuff. 00:25:34 Speaker 2: Yeah, and if time stay fit, So you guys don't. 00:25:38 Speaker 3: Don't. 00:25:38 Speaker 2: You're like, oh my god, Kate Townsend, I'd love to hear about Kay Townsend. And then I was like, I can't watch this team anymore. 00:25:46 Speaker 3: I mean, that will be happening. 00:25:47 Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, I think there's gonna be only so much we can say about the Race Series if they lose two of three or more. I mean, if they lose this Race Series, I think we might have to cap that talk at five minute. That's because what are we gonna say about that series that's any different than this series. 00:26:03 Speaker 3: It's gonna be the same complaints. 00:26:04 Speaker 2: I mean, we could say that for pretty much every Monday Reaction podcast after they lose on the weekend, which has been way, way, way, way too many times this season. I honestly wish they just lose in different ways so that we'd have something different to talk about. But unfortunately, it is really just the same playbook with this team over and over and over again. So that's just where we're at. I guess if you're in Philly this week, send us a DM. We'd love to say hello. We are collabing with our friends at Just Baseball for a trivia night on Tuesday night. But more details of that will come out soon. 00:26:36 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's on It is Tuesday. 00:26:39 Speaker 1: Oh, I don't want to blank on the name of the bar in Philly. You're gonna put me on the spot. We are doing it at a bar in Philly and with just baseball. We're gonna be watching the All Star Game and we're gonna be doing trivia. 00:26:51 Speaker 2: Perhaps perhaps we'll get people the full promotion on Monday's podcast. 00:26:55 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:26:56 Speaker 1: Unless yeah, unless we can pull it up really fast, because it is somewhere, but. 00:27:03 Speaker 2: We're just I know where it is on a map. 00:27:05 Speaker 1: But I'm if if you're okay, if you're gonna be an All Star Week and you want to know where this event's at, you can tell us and we can look for you, because that'll be a lot easier than us just sitting here trying to find it. So I will say one final thing before we wrap this up. But you know, it's times like this where you know, hopefully people appreciate the realness. We wish we were just talking about all the good things about this team, but that wouldn't be doing anybody's service because what we do, and you guys know, we're by the fans and for the fans. 00:27:40 Speaker 3: We call it how it is. 00:27:41 Speaker 1: We tell you how we're feeling, no matter no matter what they have not played well, we're going. 00:27:48 Speaker 3: To tell you they don't play well. 00:27:49 Speaker 1: If you watch these Mariners broadcast, and look, it's not the fault of the people that are the on air talent, obviously, Like there is topics that they get told they're going to talk about, and there are things I'm sure they can and can't say, but regardless, like. 00:28:04 Speaker 3: You know, if you watch some of these games these days. 00:28:06 Speaker 1: Like it's it's a lot of talk that seems to be like avoiding the real problems. Goldie does what he can like and Goldie does to his credit, and hyphen died a bit too here on Thursday discuss some of the problems that this team's faced as of late. 00:28:23 Speaker 3: But you know, it feels like you could really be diving. 00:28:27 Speaker 1: Like again, this is not the fault of the on air people, but in general, it just feels like it's almost like swept under the rug a lot of the underlying issues with this team. And look, if the team was playing better, we wouldn't be talking about these things. We'd be talking about all the positives. But you guys want, like there's If there's anything I've learned about doing all this, there is nothing fans want more than transparency. Fans deserve and appreciate transparency, and that's what we sit here and try our best to do for people. So when they're not playing well, we're not gonna sugarcoat it. Man like they're not playing well, So we sit here and we say it. 00:29:04 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's well said, well said, And I appreciate our place in this, in this Mariner's talking head community about what we bring in the realness and all that. 00:29:14 Speaker 1: Hopefully it does bring something to people. I hope hopefully people can tune in. It's like, Okay, I know they're going to keep it real. 00:29:20 Speaker 2: Now a place where people can be transparent with us are our mail bags. We have a great mail bag today, a bunch of your questions to answer. Before we get to the mail bag, wanted to tell you guys about Emerald Queen Casino's summer lineup of shows. War visits EQUC on July seventeenth, Brantley Gilbert on August twenty second, and Pete Davidson on August twenty eighth. Get your tickets today at Emerald Queen dot com. 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For what I look for in everyday clothes, I'm looking for something comfortable, but a little stylish as well, and I think both of these check those boxes. Just so you know, Cozy Earth has a lifetime warranty on their clothes, a hassle free return process, and a one hundred nights sleep trial on their sheets. Summer should feel easy for everyone in the house. Cozy Earth's bamboo sheet set, Everywhere pant and every Day Polo are meant to keep you cool, comfortable, and actually relaxed all summer long. Head to was the Earth dot com and use our code marine for an exclusive twenty percent off. That's code Marine M A R I N for an exclusive twenty percent off. And if you see a post purchase survey mention that you heard about Cozy Earth right here. And a reminder to you guys before we get into this mail bag, the place to go if you want to be a part of these mail bags these days is our patreon. Patreon dot com slash Mariene Layer Pod gets you priority access to these mailbags. If you have a question you submit it, it gets pushed right to the top. If you are a patron of ours, you can also you also get access to add free episodes in a monthly video call with Lyyl and I so that sounds like something you'd be interested in. The place to go is patreon dot com slash Marine Layer pod Patrick on Patreon has the first question, and he's a little bit confused why Cole Young is not challenging in that game on Wednesday. 00:31:53 Speaker 1: Oh well, maybe we took the words right out of Patrick's mouth or he took the words right out of ours, because yeah, we highlighted this at the start of the episode. He has to be challenging that, and again, part of it's on him. But when something like that happens a just clear fundamental mistake, I think it's on the coaching staff. Somebody has got to be in the ear of not just Cole Young, but all of these guys to let them know the situation and say, hey, when this occurs, whenever it happens throughout the season, because at some point it'll happen to you. Challenge the call. You can't take them with you. The game's over regardless, Just challenge the call. Yeah, I don't have a good answer for why Cole Young didn't challenge that. 00:32:36 Speaker 3: I don't think Goldie did either. 00:32:37 Speaker 1: Goldie sounded pretty pretty surprised when Cole didn't challenge that pitch. 00:32:42 Speaker 2: I think it's a fifty to fifty split. I think that Cole Young is responsible for being as informed about the entire situation of his at bat as he possibly can be. You know how we've talked about that sometimes people have told us the players aren't always tune in on all the coaching decisions that go on, like bullpen decisions, because they're very focused on doing their job because it's their role in the game to win. Therefore, they're not going to waste time thinking about other things, which is fair and I understand that. But Cole Young going to the plate like does need to understand the situation he's in of all, right, how many outs, how many guys are on, how many challenges do I have? What's the score? What are scenarios in which I would use a challenge like this? Knowing what kind of situation we're in, Like, he has to know that before he's walking up, And it is also partly partially the coach's responsibility to tell him everything I just listed out that Cole Young already needs to know if the player is not going to go get that information himself, which the players have all this information available to them on the iPads and the dugout all game long. Then the coaches walk over to the player with said iPad and point out every single thing they need to know going up to the plane. Mm hmm. Everyone needs to be aware of the situation at all times. And in that situation, whoever was at fault? I mean, at least on the record, it was Cole Young. We don't have anything on the record otherwise, but that's not great. I don't have an answer, Patrick. 00:34:10 Speaker 3: I wish I did, but I don't. 00:34:14 Speaker 2: Next question comes from Christian on Patreon. Christian's question is who if you had to pick one player to pick up the trind and lead this team during a second half surge, who would it be. 00:34:26 Speaker 1: It's one guy and one guy only. For me, it's your highest paid player. It's the face of your franchise, Julio. Julio's career ops in the second half is nine to oh two. This is when he's supposed to thrive. This is when he puts the team on his back, and his first half's been pretty status quo. For Julio Rodriguez first half, it's been pretty average at the plate, but he always makes his seasons by what he does in the second half at the plate, and if the Maras want to get to where they want to get to this year, that has to kick into high gear. So it's not even really much of a thought for me. Yes, Cal needs to get it going because you can't do much with Cal hitting like this, But Julio anchors these teams in the second half always, so it's gotta be him. 00:35:08 Speaker 2: So I totally understand the Julio argument, and I think he is gonna be good in the second half because that's usually how it goes. And he's giving us, he's given us nothing to believe that that's not gonna happen. But at least Julio's been average to slightly above average at the plate offensively so far the season. Cal's been bad like they need Cal. Cal presents the biggest difference at the plate for this team in the second half plat out And you know what sneaky honorable mention would be Josh Naylor as well, because Josh Naylor just hasn't looked like a ninety two and a half million dollar player for the Seattle Manners this season. 00:35:46 Speaker 3: Well, that's certainly a positive sign. 00:35:47 Speaker 1: Who needs to step it up in the second half, and our answers are, oh, your three highest paid offensive players. 00:35:53 Speaker 3: Great, Yeah, that's. 00:35:54 Speaker 2: That's not very encouraging. Michael on Patreon asked, would it be a satisfying deadline if the Mariners just picked up two leverage bullpen arms. 00:36:06 Speaker 1: No, you need bats, the two the two bullpen arms could be great, you need bats. I think the only way I could give the Mariners a path for their deadline that has no offensive acquisitions is if one of those bullpen arms is Mason Miller. 00:36:25 Speaker 3: That's about it. 00:36:26 Speaker 2: I was about to say if they trade for Mason Miller and Garrett Whitlock, then I'd say that to win. 00:36:31 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, agreed. 00:36:33 Speaker 2: But if you're gonna play like you're gonna play the game, Okay, who would you rather at this deadline? It's like one bullpen arm or one bat, one bat, two bullpen arms or one bat. That's a good question. What do you think. I'd probably still lean the bat. 00:36:46 Speaker 1: Yeah, same agree, because at least. 00:36:49 Speaker 2: You do have reinforcements coming in the bullpen with Matt Brash and reliever performance is volatile and someone can be hot for two months, whereas the lineup gets exposed every single day and has been for a good chunk of good chunks in student. 00:37:03 Speaker 1: First, which if you don't get a bat, you're either going to miss the playoffs or if you get into the playoffs. Let me just blueprint it for you exactly how every single team's gonna attack the Mariners. They'll have their starter face the lineup two times through, and then it's oh, we're the third time through the order. Here's every single lefty we have at you ballgame. If you do not go get right handed bats who can hit lefties. There is a clear and concise way to expose the Seattle Mariners, and every team will do it in the postseason if they don't fix this thing against left handed pitching. 00:37:34 Speaker 3: Because they're the worst team in Major League Baseball against lefties. 00:37:39 Speaker 2: Next question comes from Bryson on Patreon. Bryson's question is could you guys highlight some of the Mariners' non top prospects, So he says, preferably outside the top twenty top twenty. 00:37:54 Speaker 3: That's a lot, man, I. 00:37:56 Speaker 2: Mean I had a I mean I had a couple they've had. The Mariners have had a couple of stand out hitters down in the minor leagues this season that are not inside their top twenty prospects. I mean the highest guy when I was poking around earlier, Carlos Himenez and Everett has the third best WRC plus in the in the Northwest League, and you know he's he's their twentieth ranked prospect, so he still is in the top thirty, but among Northwest League guys, I mean he's hitting pretty well. And then the other one is, uh, I'm gonna screw up his last name, Charlie. Uh oh yeah, Bolencen No no, no, no, no oh the hitter. 00:38:37 Speaker 1: Oh, because I was going to talk about Bolencen. 00:38:40 Speaker 3: Ye, pag I got it. I got it. 00:38:42 Speaker 2: Yeah, he got it, Pagalorini. Okay, there's some extra vowels in there, which I was gonna get confused at. He So he is second in double A and WRC plus, like number one is host Way Apollo of the Dodgers, who's a stud blue chip prospect, and number three is Las who's who's hot. June has propelled him up the WRC plus rankings, and the so Charlie is you know, he's well. So he's been on the older side. He's not ranked as a prospect, but he's been he's been hitting really well. He's been mashing. In terms of pitchers, I mean starters, there's not really any others besides your top two guys out there. 00:39:18 Speaker 1: Yeah, I'll give you a couple of arms. Number one. We talked about him plenty. We'll continue to talk about him because he's one of our guys. But how about Lucas Kelly. You know, he's got good stuff. His overall season numbers don't tell the full story because there was a couple outings where he got babbitped a little bit, and there was a couple outings where, you know, he gave up a few runs. And early in the year he was finding his footing a bit, and we were talking to him about it when we were in Everett earlier this year. Lucas Kelly, all of a sudden, in his last about seventeen or so innings, has given up to earned runs and he's punching tickets like no, like nobody's business that guy. Come next year, he's got a real shot to be in the Mariners bullpen because he's got big stuff. He can rack it up in terms of strikeouts, and he's really looking sharp over the last month or so. 00:40:08 Speaker 3: I would say him, and then yeah. 00:40:10 Speaker 1: Another guy we got to know a little bit in spring training. Really nice dude, and like back to back years in a row now he's shown some really good stuff at points is yeah, Charlie Beilinson is he's got a two to one era down as a reliever in Double A right now, that's pretty good. 00:40:25 Speaker 2: There's so many guys we could highlight Bryson so and Bryson does mention he'll be at our EQC trivia night on July twenty eighth, which, if you didn't hear it at the start of the podcast, Low and I were doing another trivia night at Emerald Queen Casino Tuesday, July twenty eighth. The Mariners will be playing the Dodgers six pm. We had a great turnout last time. You want to win some prizes and play some Mariners trivia with us, that'll be a really fun time to do so. But Bryson, yeah, you can talk about more prospects with us at that point. Okay, next question comes from Cameron on Cameron's question is, uh, I can't remember if this has been talked about before. Do you guys think they're just keeping Dan Wilson around as manager? Because it's the fiftieth anniversary of the franchise and he's a quote unquote Mariner's legend and they don't want to ruin his legacy, and the bye firing him before the ceremony. 00:41:20 Speaker 3: You know how I respond to that, Cameron. 00:41:24 Speaker 1: That that's not like the craziest tinfoil hat take I've ever heard. That would be kind of a Mariner's thing to do, whether you believe he should keep the job or not. Like haven't they done things in the past where like they haven't cut somebody because they had a promotional night coming up. 00:41:42 Speaker 3: This is like ten twelve years ago. 00:41:45 Speaker 2: Well, the one instance I remember was the Mariners firing Don Wakamatsu on Asian American Heritage Night. Well, I think that's in the opposite that was. 00:41:56 Speaker 1: And then I think there was a Dustin Aclee like giveaway or something at some point, maybe it wasn't Actlee, somebody had a giveaway coming up, and either I thought, if I remember it right, they were like let go the day after or something like that. Point being the fact that the Mariners have this fiftieth anniversary coming up and Dan Wilson is going to be part of it because he's in the Mariners Hall of Fame. 00:42:20 Speaker 3: He has an eighty crew WRC plus. 00:42:22 Speaker 1: But he is going to be part of it because he's in the team Hall of Fame. 00:42:26 Speaker 3: Yeah, I could. 00:42:27 Speaker 1: I mean, it's like, I don't know if that's really what maker breaks it or not, but like, that's not the craziest tinfoil hat thing I've ever heard. 00:42:35 Speaker 2: I think the bigger reason than that fiftieth season celebration is the fact he's under contract. I think that's it. Do you know what the Mirrors hate? Do you know what the Mariners hate? Buy it paying people who don't work for them? 00:42:49 Speaker 1: Well, sure, but it's not like a manager has never been fired in the middle of a contract. 00:42:54 Speaker 2: No, But under this ownership group, in this front office, they don't like eating money at all. That's why we were so shocked with the Mitch Hanniger thing last year that they're actually willing to eat all of his money and cut him. We're not like as privy to coaching contracts as a player contracts because coaches contracts are not publicly available. But I mean, even Scott's service level, they waited into a two months left on his contract to fire him. 00:43:23 Speaker 3: MM hmm, yeah, yeah, that's true. 00:43:26 Speaker 2: So yeah, I would agree with you. I don't think it's the craziest thing in the world. But I don't think if they're not firing him, like that's the reason. I think then the biggest reason is that if they if the front office had made the decision at this point they were going to let him go, the bigger reason would be the owner. In my opinion, the owners would come down and say, oh, no, we're paying him all this money. You can't fire him. I mean, I can't pay this money. 00:43:51 Speaker 3: I could see that too. 00:43:53 Speaker 1: I mean I think I could also see the owners saying, well, but isn't he gonna be a big part of the fiftieth anniversary night? 00:43:58 Speaker 3: And it's like, well, maybe, yeah, I mean probably, but. 00:44:02 Speaker 2: There is no. I don't think there's as much crossover in communication between the marketing department of the Mariners in the front office department of the Mariners. 00:44:11 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's probably fair. I'm just saying, like, do I think that is the reason. No, But again, when I listen to Cameron say that, like, is again, is it the craziest take I've ever heard? I Mean, we've heard some crazy ones over the years. So no, again, like it never fails to amuse me talking about who's in the team Hall of Fame Again, Dan Wilson had a career eighty WRC plus, his career ops starts with a six, and he's in the team Hall of Fame. 00:44:42 Speaker 3: Literally. 00:44:42 Speaker 1: In other words, if Mike Zanino had played ten years with the Mariners, that means he would have gotten in the team Hall of Fame because he was a better offensive catcher than Dan Wilson and just simply played less years. Like it is crazy, like I understand he caught ten years, but what he was he was on the team with Kengri and Edgar and Randy Johnson. 00:45:03 Speaker 3: Like okay, so. 00:45:05 Speaker 2: I don't know, man again, like Eve, and I've had this conversation so many times. 00:45:09 Speaker 3: I yeah, yeah, yes, I don't know. 00:45:14 Speaker 2: The Mariners Hall of Fame is not purely built off of stats. 00:45:17 Speaker 3: Well, no, otherwise a Rod would be in it. 00:45:19 Speaker 1: But again, it's just funny, like you got Griffy in there, and you got Edgar in there, and you got Randy in there, and you got each row in there, and then there's a guy with an ADWRC plus and the team Hall of Fame with again an ops that's in the six hundreds for his. 00:45:29 Speaker 2: Career, or even someone like I don't know, Raoul Labanya's. 00:45:33 Speaker 3: Yeah, like he's not in it. No, he was there a decent while. 00:45:38 Speaker 2: Yeah, now that we're a month out, is Kyle Sekert showing out. 00:45:43 Speaker 3: Absolutely not. 00:45:45 Speaker 2: He's gonna be on that list. He'll be in the top ten of the list, of course, just still be on the list. 00:45:50 Speaker 3: It will be on the list. 00:45:51 Speaker 1: And you know, I'm sure, I'm sure he will be extended in invitation. I would at least assume, well, Kyle's show up. Yeah, I doubt it. 00:46:00 Speaker 2: Yeah, we have not been know we've not not been given any information to believe that that will happen based off of everything else that has happened. 00:46:09 Speaker 1: What if Kyle Segert actually decides last minute to accept the invitation and he does some crazy like grand entrance. Remember like when when ab at Raiders Camp before he totally lost his mind showed up on a hot air balloon to Raiders Camp. 00:46:22 Speaker 3: What if what if. 00:46:23 Speaker 1: Kyle seger did something like that, like and that was his presentation as he like swoops in for the ceremony almost unannounced and just makes a Grand entrance. 00:46:32 Speaker 2: It's possible. Here's what I wonder if they're doing the fiftieth season, are they gonna so I would hope they're gonna announce everybody, right, Are they gonna have everyone walk out like when they do a Hall of Fame induction, I would assume. Okay, So you know how when Randy got put in, uh, Howard Lincoln was uh Howard Lincoln was sitting there and Randy walked right past him and ignored his handshake. So Jerry sits in that same that same poor Is Kyle Sieger going to do that to Jerry Depoto? 00:47:05 Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, Like again, like if Kyle Zeer the camera and he knew that. 00:47:14 Speaker 1: Like that crossover was about to happen, Like, I think that's a guy that still has some grudges, which is why we don't think he ends up showing up. But if he did, oh, I wouldn't be shocked if he tried to make a moment like that happen like at all. 00:47:29 Speaker 2: By the way, and Randy made it happen, and he was as vocal, if not more vocal, than Kyle Seger about his disdain for Howard Lincoln. 00:47:38 Speaker 1: By the way, last thing before we move on to the next question. As we're talking about this, A Rod better be there if you want to see me absolutely blow a gasket about one thing this season. 00:47:50 Speaker 3: I'm not even kidding. 00:47:51 Speaker 1: The one thing that could make me blow a gasket more than anything with the twenty twenty six Mariners on field play is if A Rod is not invited to this fiftieth anniversary celebration. Now, if he's busy or he decides not to show up, Okay, if this man's not invited, I'm gonna blow a gasket. 00:48:14 Speaker 2: Who was a better chance of being there, Kyle Seeger or Alex Rodriguez a Rod? 00:48:18 Speaker 1: Because if a Rod's invited, I think he would love to get the chance to try to make amends with the city of Seattle because we've talked about in the past, none of his three teams have truly claimed him at this point, Like he obviously isn't going to be a Ranger like remembered as a Ranger. He wasn't there long enough, and there's there's a complicated history in New York too, So I think if he has a chance to be accepted somewhere, especially with a team with a lot less of a history in terms of its players than the Yankees, and. 00:48:48 Speaker 2: Some leniency of accepting players what's that? And some leniency of accepting players into certain honors like Dan Wilson into the Mariners Hall of Fame. 00:48:59 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that too, which again like all the more reason I blow a GASKDF He's in the team Hall of Fame, and then A Rod's not invited to this thing. I'll lose it and I'm sorry, Like I usually don't help it. I hope so like he may not show up, maybe he has something going on, but he'd better be invited. That's all I'll say, because I've said this a million times. If you look at the Mariners like all time greats on their walll at spring training, or you look around the ballpark and you see all the team history, this organization acts like the best player in franchise history in terms of a like single season war didn't exist. A Rod had the single best season of anybody in franchise history and is one of the best players to ever put on the jersey. You could argue he's the greatest at his peak, but this organization acts like he doesn't exist. Usually I don't tell people how to fan I'll probably go on another tangent about this in like a month, but usually I never tell people had a fan, I'm sorry if you boo a Rod twenty five years later, like like, step up with me, we're gonna have We're gonna have a real debate in person, or potentially worse, if the fans don't vote a Rod into the top fifty. If either one of those things happens, if he's not voted or three things, if he's not voted in, if he's not invited, or if the crowd legitimately boos him when he comes back, we're gonna we're gonna have some real problems at the very least me and whoever I see booing. 00:50:26 Speaker 2: Oh, that'll be a fun one about a month from now. Okay, we got a lot more questions left, but before we get to those, let's pause here for an ad. 00:50:35 Speaker 1: Let's compare two players. They're making similar contracts, but you have to pick one guy to be in your lineup. Player one hit three hundred. He had an eight to forty ops and a one forty one WRC plus forty one percent better than the league average. Player two hit one eighty five. He had a five to sixty three ops and a sixty three WRC plus. So who would you pick the clear answers Player A right because player A is twenty twenty five dominant canzone and player B is twenty twenty two. 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And if you know, I don't think Schmid's the greatest defender. I think that would be a pretty tough one to pull off. 00:53:41 Speaker 2: He would be expensive. If you were to trade for him, you'd probably want him to just replace Brendan Donovan because that's kind of the role he plays. He's all over the place for the Giants. I don't love his offensive profile. I mean, he he does not walk at all, which is he's got like a Luke Rayley, but from the side approach, which is pretty volatile. And if fans are frustrated at Luke Raley right now, they probably be pretty frustrated with Casey Casey Schmidt. But Luke Rayley's also put up so much better offensive seasons than what Casey Schmid has put up in I believe, parts of four seasons in the big league so far. It's just not something if you're trading for this guy for the price, like you want him to make like an impact in your lineup. I don't see Casey Schmidt as an impact player in your lineup, So I'm out on that. 00:54:27 Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think it's the best fit. And again he's really not a great defender. So yeah, two percent walk rate this season, that's crazy. 00:54:36 Speaker 2: How's that possible? 00:54:37 Speaker 3: Like two percent? 00:54:38 Speaker 2: That's that's tragically low. Yeah, Jevin is asking on Patreon, are the Marilas the most mid team in baseball? 00:54:50 Speaker 1: I mean, considering all the yo yo they do, I don't know if I can call him the most mid team because we do know on paper they're supposed to be talented, but the fact they continue to say it right at five hundred, it does make you raise an eyebrown and ask the question if you want the single most mid team in baseball? I mean, unless they get hot. I always look at the Rangers as that they they just epitomize mid to me. They are an old, highly paid team of veterans that does not have a high ceiling. 00:55:19 Speaker 3: So could you argue it's the Mariners? Sure? If I had to pick one team, I'd probably say the Rangers. 00:55:26 Speaker 2: I'd agree, Yeah, I'd say it. I'd say the Rangers are pretty mid. I don't. I don't see many other teams that quite fit that, right, you know, usually teams in the central a little bit more mid. I mean the Guardians this year are pretty mid. 00:55:41 Speaker 3: Yeah, Dimmondbacks are a little mid. 00:55:45 Speaker 2: Relative to expectations. Though, if you were to say, if you were to do like ratio of World Series odds to like current midness, then the Mariners win. 00:55:54 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:55:55 Speaker 1: Yeah, So all right, let's Alex, I'll just say, let's try to let's try to rip through these final fee Yeah. 00:56:01 Speaker 2: Alex on Patreon asks should the Mariners be targeting the best hitter available at the deadline or the hitter whose offensive profile fits best into tea mobile park? 00:56:11 Speaker 1: I mean, if it's up to me best hitter. The problem is, I don't even really know who the best hitter is. You could say Byron Buxton or Wilson Contreras, but there is far from a guarantee those guys are available and or get moved. And if you get past, then what do you call the best hitter? Is it Taylor Ward? Is it Ryan Jeffers? 00:56:30 Speaker 3: Is it? 00:56:31 Speaker 1: It's just like like yeah, like, I'd like to see him trade for Taylor Ward. It's a good fit and I think he'd fit the team. But he might also just be the best bat because there aren't any marquee bats available, and I don't see Buckston or Contreras really getting moved. 00:56:48 Speaker 2: There's usually a pretty strong correlation between best bat available and best fit for tea Mobile Park. The only guy we sit here in a like out outwardly like pounded the table for them not to get yet is Esoch for it is based on fit. I think we were right on that one. Yeah, everyone else, I mean, they just need a right handed bat. I wouldn't sit here and worry about fit. 00:57:10 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's fair. 00:57:12 Speaker 2: Alex also asks about would you guys prefer trek Scouble starting every fifth day if you're gonna go trade for him or Mason Miller in the proposed super pen with Ryan Slodan, Kane Anderson. 00:57:22 Speaker 1: Oh, again, We'll have to dive more into Mason Miller at some point as we get closer to the trade deadline because if there's actually a chance he's getting moved, like that's a very very fascinating conversation. But I would say, I mean, okay, are we taking the team control into this or are we just talking about twenty twenty six. 00:57:42 Speaker 2: I mean control has to be part of it, because that's a big thing with Trek Scoogel. 00:57:48 Speaker 1: Sure, So if that's the case, man, I might say Mason Miller because it's not just a reliever. 00:57:55 Speaker 3: It is the best reliever. 00:57:57 Speaker 1: Hands down in the game, who is very, very, very controllable, and it's not gonna hit free agency for a long time. 00:58:04 Speaker 2: I'm biggest impact on this team. That's tough. I I feel like the game would be made easier. Oh that's so, that's so tough. 00:58:20 Speaker 1: It is tough, right, because originally I just wanted to say scooball. But with the control and with the absolute dominance of Mason Miller, it just changes things again, like your baseball games turn into eight innings, they are legitimately eight innings with Mason Miller on your team, and then all of a sudden, it's your starters don't have to go as long, and you can use Brash when he gets healthy. 00:58:40 Speaker 3: Earlier and freer earlier, and you can use. 00:58:42 Speaker 1: Munos in the eighth and then Mason Miller. 00:58:46 Speaker 2: I'm gonna say, based off of need on this roster, Mason Miller, I think they both impact the game in each their own way, Like they're each gonna give you a much better chance to win postseason games, which this all comes down to, Mason Miller will get to pitch probably two to two times for every one time Tarek Schoogle starts, and with that super pen, you were gonna have the ability to essentially shorten the game, just like Terek Scooble shortens the game with you when you start. But I'll lead Mason Miller for now. I'll say Mason Miller with the control I like it. Cheryl asks, is it time to move on from Jerry Depoto while he's done, While he's done a fantastic job of acquiring players, It appears that he's trying to puppet master directing players on the field. 00:59:32 Speaker 1: I don't think the latter half is true. Again, you can have your gripes with the front office, but. 00:59:40 Speaker 3: I don't. 00:59:41 Speaker 1: Again, I don't believe that there is total lockstep between the dugout and the front office. Like there's a part of me that believes, like, in terms of the in game management stuff, the front office people more agree with what a lot of us are saying about the in game management and they would manage it differently. 00:59:58 Speaker 3: I don't know that for certain. 00:59:59 Speaker 1: I don't know that for fact, but just because the front office is so forward thinking and analytically driven, and Dan manages like he's essentially trying to be loop Panella, which is an outdated way to manage a thirty five years ago. I just don't believe that they owe that they see eye to eye on all that stuff. 01:00:20 Speaker 2: I also don't think it's time to move on from Jerry. I think the job he does with the farm system and the staff he's built out there has been phenomenal, and ultimately he has acquired a ton talent this season, they're just not really performing. The biggest gripe you have with the front office this season is their management of the starting rotation, right, But we will see a month from now, or less than a month from now, whether or not all that jockey actually does something for them, or if they're just going to go to the plan that we've been suggesting since the very start. Yeah, but I'm with Lyle. I mean, I think there's a lot of the gripes you have with the front office is probably actually more so the fault of the dugout instead of the front office. 01:00:59 Speaker 3: Yeah. No, I don't. 01:01:01 Speaker 1: I don't think Jerry's going anywhere. I'm not saying he's perfect. I'm certainly not saying you love all his quotes that he puts out in public, but the actual job he's done. You can't find many GM slash President of Baseball ops across the game that have developed better in the farm than he has the last decade. 01:01:19 Speaker 2: We've said it a lot, I'll say it again. We get a lot of comments where it's like, oh, Dan's just following Jerry's playbook on how to manage a baseball game up well, and I don't think that's true at all. 01:01:31 Speaker 1: No, No, I literally think Dan Wilson tries to manage like he's Loo Panella, which even though Lose the greatest manager in Mariner's history, like the way Lou managed back then doesn't work today. The game's changed, and it looks like he's managing all the time, like he's essentially in the nineties. It's like, well, I decided three hours ago that this is who who's gonna pitch at each inning, So that's who's gonna pitch. Like that's not matchup any Yeah, no matchup. It's just, oh, we decided hours ago, here's what we're doing. 01:02:00 Speaker 3: No matter what. 01:02:00 Speaker 1: I don't care about platoon splits. I don't care about the matchup. I don't care about where we're. 01:02:04 Speaker 2: At in the game. 01:02:05 Speaker 3: Like, no, I don't. 01:02:07 Speaker 1: I don't think they see eydeye on that stuff. 01:02:10 Speaker 2: Pucci Delgado on Patreon asks is it time to put Brendan Donovan replacement on the twenty twenty six shopping list? 01:02:19 Speaker 3: I mean, you could argue for it. 01:02:21 Speaker 1: I just don't think they will because there's too many other needs they need to address, and they invested too much in Donovan to already say all right, we're gonna replace him with somebody else. 01:02:30 Speaker 2: Yeah, And I I don't think they're gonna find someone to the quality of Brendan Donovan. I feel like if they go out and find that replacement expecting what they're gonna get from Brendan Donovan, that's just not gonna be as good, right. I don't think like Casey Schmidt as you just explained. I mean, it's Brendan Donovan just not as good and you have to pay a lot to acquire him. 01:02:49 Speaker 1: Mm hmm. 01:02:50 Speaker 2: I think you're your gripe with Donovan is that he is just not healthy enough. So uh, Eric on Patreon asks what asks, what's gonna happen in to the left side of this infield once Brenda Donovan comes back from the after the All Star break, or hope he does. 01:03:07 Speaker 3: So there's a couple of things you can do. 01:03:09 Speaker 1: You can move Donovan to left and Randy starts dhing a lot more. I think that's a totally plausible option. You could stick Donovan back at third and JP moves to the bench and is more of a bench back because he's really not hitting. You could bring Donovan back and move him around a lot and get different guys off their feet on certain days. You could put Donovan at third and JP back at short and send Colt Emerson down. I hope that's not what they do. I want to see Colt keep playing in the big leagues and figure it out. 01:03:38 Speaker 3: But it's possible. 01:03:40 Speaker 1: Or you could trade JP and Donovan's the third basement and Colt's a shortstop. Did I miss any scenarios? 01:03:47 Speaker 2: No, I don't think so. Uh. Like this comes back to what we're talking about the beginning of if the Mariners are going to make any hard decisions on this roster, whether they are going to clear space. But you could also come back to the other side and say, is Brenda Donovan the guy worth clearing space for who's he has not been healthy at all this season? Is that worth it? You leave yourself open, right? 01:04:10 Speaker 3: Yeah? 01:04:11 Speaker 1: So I do wonder if there's any sort of action that gets taken by the team in general at the All Star break, because we've talked about action days this season. 01:04:18 Speaker 3: They haven't had a true action day this year. 01:04:21 Speaker 1: They haven't like calling up Weston wilsoner trading for Buddy Kennedy doesn't count. They have not had a true action day where they say, Okay, something has got to change. 01:04:31 Speaker 3: We haven't seen that yet. 01:04:32 Speaker 2: No, no, no, we haven't that's it. That's a good mail bag, lots of very very good questions appreciated, guys. We will have a mail bag next week. It might be a bit on the shorter side since we'll be recording that in Philadelphia, but we will have a full first half and after this ray series of questions to ask, it'll the draft will be over and the deadline will be a couple weeks away, so it should be a fun one. 01:04:57 Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, shout out to you guys. 01:05:00 Speaker 1: Always bring it on these mail bags and we love answering your questions. If you want to send in your questions, like TJ mentioned at the start, you can go to patreon dot com slash marine Layer Pod go sign up. We would love to have you with that. That'll just about wrap up this edition of the Marine Layer Podcast. You guys know the drill. You can you can go download these episodes and you can find us wherever you get your podcasts. If you're listening on the audio side, go download these episodes. Please leave a five star review if you're listening, and if you're watch on YouTube, make sure to just take a second and go hit subscribe on YouTube. You can find us on our website marine layerpod dot com. You can find all of our episodes there, patreons there, all of our podcast merches there. That's at marine layerpod dot com. And then check us out on social media. We're everywhere. We're on all platforms and we're posting content every single day at marine layer Pod. 01:05:46 Speaker 3: That's TJ. I'm Lyle as always be Thank you guys for tuning in. I'll talk to you soon. 01:06:01 Speaker 1: Stutt