Episode 463: Reacting To More Mariners Coaching Staff Changes And Jerry Dipoto Speaking To The Media

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to episode number 463 of the Marine Layer podcast. It's going to be a packed episode. We'll wrap up Rick Riz's career with the Seattle Mariners. Both Jerry DiPoto and John Stanton talked to the media today. And then on top of that, there are some names out there for the Mariners managerial job. We'll break all that down and more. 00:00:18 Speaker 2: Reminder to you guys, before we start the episode, just make sure to do us a big favor. Make sure to go download these podcast episodes if you're listening. Make sure to go rate and review and hit that five-star review when you do so. Go hit subscribe on YouTube if you're watching. You can check all our stuff out at our website, which is marinelayerpod.com, from our merch, which I've got on, to our Patreon, to our episodes. It's all on the website. And then find us all across social media at marinelayerpod. 00:00:44 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 Monday afternoon, September 28th, the first day in quite a while where there is no Mariners game today. There is no Mariners game tomorrow. We just have, well, our thoughts and a lot of silence, though not really that much silence, to be honest. 00:01:22 Speaker 2: No, Monday was a pretty busy day. There's a lot to unpack. It wasn't a silent Monday. They don't have games anymore, but there's going to be a lot of news this week. And I think we'll get to a lot of that here. 00:01:32 Speaker 1: I think they certainly got a head start on a lot of their off-season stuff right away. There was not dilly-daddling. There was not waiting around or anything. They're to the point. But yes, we'll talk about a lot of that coming up. We did promise some Rick Riz conversation that we did not talk about on Sunday evening because that was focused on Dan Wilson. Let's start off here with Rick Riz wrapping up his Mariners career. I put this in a social post and I want to say this again here. I thought the Mariners really knocked his final weekend out of the park. Not to play on the field. The play on the field is whatever. But the stuff around Rick was truly awesome. And the way they handled Sunday, I thought was a perfect send-off to Rick Riz. And watching that final game was... I think everything as a fan, you kind of hate to see. You just don't want that to go away. But it was really cool for Rick to get to experience that and feel the memories and emotions come up with him in that final day. 00:02:33 Speaker 2: Yeah, I didn't even realize they could turn the entire radio broadcast on throughout the stadium. Maybe that's just me having no feel for technology, but I feel like I've never seen them do anything like that other than when they announce the all-star lineups. For example, Joe Davis announces the all-star lineups each year because they turn his mic on throughout the stadium, usually on the broadcast, and it's him essentially doing the PA announcement of the lineups. That's what they did with Rick Riz for his final farewell once the game ended. They turned it on throughout the ballpark. It was awesome. I mean, everybody could hear it on TV. Everybody could hear it on the radio. Everybody could hear it in the ballpark. And to a T with Rick, it was exactly what you expected. It was heartfelt. It was thanking all these people. It was upbeat. It was very selfless. Rick wanted to make it very much not about him and about all the people around him. yeah, it was great. It was exactly what you expected, but it's still really sad and pretty sentimental to see it come to an end, but they did it in a really good way. 00:03:37 Speaker 1: It was really positive. Very authentically Rick Riz to his last game in a, when the Mariners are 10 games under 500 at 76 wins and firing their manager and entering a tumultuous off season, Rick still finds a way to be very positive. And I know there are conversations around Rick's positivity on whether or not you can eye roll a bit at it in certain moments of the season. But I do think it's going to be one of the things I miss the most about him because in life, it really never hurts to be positive. There are obviously moments where positivity just doesn't really fit, but in general, people appreciate positivity more than they appreciate negativity. Positivity has a much longer shelf life than negativity does. And no one, talks in a more positive manner that I know of in a broadcast setting than Rick Riz does. And it's something that we'll probably notice going forward with Mariners broadcast. Not to say Goldie and Gary and the color analysts are not positive, but Rick Riz is Mr. Positive. And it's going to be something that will just not be the same now that he's not there anymore. 00:04:48 Speaker 2: Somebody watching this or listening to this is currently screaming into their phone and saying, well, the two of you should talk to Rick Riz more often if positivity is such a long shelf life. 00:05:00 Speaker 1: Hey, we were pretty positive last year when they made it to the ALCS. 00:05:04 Speaker 2: I'm kidding for the most part. Listen, people know that have been along for the ride with us. Give us things to be positive about and we will be positive. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the year of 2026 to be positive about aside from Rick Riz. who is an absolute legend and is Mariners royalty. He embodies the Seattle Mariners. He's one of the first people that pops into my head when I think Seattle Mariners. And, by the way, when a statue is eventually unveiled for Rick, because I'm sure it's going to happen at some point, they have to put it next to Dave, right? In right center field. Doesn't it just feel fitting? Number one, there's a spot next to Dave Niehaus at that statue in right center field, which every fan... Ken and I'm sure many have walked by or taken pictures at over the years, but there's a, there's an open chair next to Dave there. I feel like it's only fitting that Rick and Dave hold that statue together because like, I mean, it's so much of what Rick embodies, like carrying on the legacy of Dave Niehaus and talking so fondly about what Dave meant to him as a friend, as a broadcaster, as a mentor, et cetera. They're so intertwined and so connected that, When that statue gets unveiled, because, again, I'm sure a Rick Riz statue is going to get unveiled at some point, it feels like it would be only fitting to put it next to Niehaus. 00:06:26 Speaker 1: I think there's no way it's not. I will guarantee you that's where his statue goes. He's not going out there with the players. Rick's spot is inside the ballpark at a broadcast desk, and that's the one. I don't think they're going to build him a new one. I think they would add it to that because I think that would be an even better statue than just Dave out there alone. 00:06:50 Speaker 2: Agreed. 00:06:50 Speaker 1: Because no broadcaster in any sport really is ever alone. There's always a pairing of some sort. 00:06:56 Speaker 2: Yeah, agreed. And again... just to see the way they honored him this weekend, players tipping their caps before and after the game, staying on the field to listen to his speech and doing the fireworks in honor of him. All of it was great. That was a very, very fitting, positive, upbeat way to send Rick Riz off in his final season. 00:07:22 Speaker 1: My favorite part of Sunday was, so this is, Goldie on the television broadcast. There were a lot of good stuff, uh, on Rick on the radio broadcast. Besides the fact radio, since the Seahawks were playing, they were on a different frequency that missed the final three outs of Rick Riz's career, which I think is insane. 00:07:45 Speaker 2: It's insane. 00:07:46 Speaker 1: Uh, anyways, that's not the story. Rick was still very good on radio. He had Buhner on with him. He had Griffey on with him. There's a Griffey thing I have to talk about here, but we can do that at the end. Uh, But I think my favorite part was on the TV broadcast where it's Goldie and Ryan Roland Smith. And for the TV broadcast on Sunday, they have three simulcast innings where it's Rick calling the game on television and on radio, which has happened. It happened with Vince Scully in his latter days with the Dodgers. Whenever he would call a game, he would do both radio and TV at the same time. This was an inning where Goldie and Hyphen were doing it, and they're talking about Rick because there's ultimately not that much of the season left to talk about besides the final game of Rick Riz. I think it was the eighth inning. And Goldie is talking about his first, I think it's his first year in Seattle. Goldie came to Seattle, he was, I believe, the same age you and I, or I guess I am currently, not to age you out, am right now, 28 years old. I think that was his first year back in 2013. I thought he was 29, but I could be wrong. All right, then maybe then I'll say he was Lyle's age when he started as a Seattle Mariner. Congratulations, Lyle. Wow. 00:08:57 Speaker 2: There you go. Look how little I've achieved in my life. Look how little I've achieved in my life comparing me to Goldie. Anyway. 00:09:04 Speaker 1: Goldie and Hyphen are telling stories about Rick, and Goldie is talking about his first year in that broadcast booth, and I believe they're talking about being at, I'm guessing maybe it's the second year Goldie was in town, maybe 2014. Yeah. Because it was at FanFest. They're talking about a FanFest story. And he's talking about following Rick around because he didn't really know where to go. Oh, no, no. 00:09:30 Speaker 2: This was Goldie's first year because I think he'd gotten hired before FanFest started. And as a result, he obviously didn't know the layout of the ballpark. So he's following Rick around. 00:09:40 Speaker 1: He's following Rick around and they run into this family where the son comes up to Rick and says, Rick, oh my God, Like I think it was, can I get a signature or could I get a picture? One of those two, I can't remember exactly what it was. Um, but the note from the family was Rick. I always, I always go to sleep listening to you. And then Goldie stops, stops telling the story. It's just quiet on the broadcast for 45 seconds. I'm like, did they cut Goldie's mic? It's like, I was wondering what was going on. But then Goldie 45 seconds later is like resuming the story and And talking about how, you know, in the minor leagues, no one was listening to him. And he had no idea that he could have that kind of impact on people. And then I almost feel like Goldie was like subconsciously in the moment as he's telling that story, like, like fueling the emotion of Rick Riz not being there anymore, catching up to him on the broadcast. And I thought that was, I thought that was like a super special moment of like, of like, you know, kind of in a, in a, some sort of sense, mentor mentee. of Aaron Goldsmith kind of like now letting go of Rick Riz out of the broadcast booth. 00:10:52 Speaker 2: In a lot of ways, it's paving the path for Goldie moving forward because you look at the Mariners broadcast team moving forward, Goldie's the face of it now. Forever it was Riz, of course, but now it's fully Goldie. Sims is gone. Riz retired. It's Goldie. And yeah, it's almost a passing of the torch story in some ways. Obviously, Rick's on radio and Goldie's on TV, so it's a little different, but When you think about the face of Mariners broadcasting, it is now going from Rick to Goldie. And Goldie sounds like, you know, I don't do all the things I do here without the help of Rick Riz. So I think everybody has a Rick Riz story. He deserves all the praise. He deserves all the flowers, everything. But yeah, he's just a legend in Mariners royalty. And he'll be around at the ballpark doing different things for a long time. And that's the way it should be. And that's the way Rick, I'm sure, wants it. 00:11:41 Speaker 1: But. 00:11:42 Speaker 2: Yeah, we just wanted to make sure we start on a good note today and not bury the greatness of Rick Riz because we know people are tuning into this episode for what is currently very, very current information and has much more to do about the future of the Mariners, which is not all positive, but we don't want to shortchange what's a very positive story and an absolute legend. So we wanted to make sure we started with that. 00:12:08 Speaker 1: Yeah. And so excellent job, Rick. He's still going to be around the ballpark, as he said. He's still going to be around spring training all the time. But I thought his final broadcast as the voice of the Mariners was very fitting, very good, very positive, very strong. Did you hear Ken Griffey Jr. on that broadcast, by the way? 00:12:28 Speaker 2: I did. Keep going. 00:12:31 Speaker 1: I couldn't help but notice is like, I didn't hear a ton of it directly on radio. I think I was going to go walk my parents' dog in this moment. So I like, I tune over to the radio to listen on the two minute drive from my apartment to my parents' house. And I just so happened to pick the exact right moment where I hear the words come out of Ken Griffey Jr. 's mouth. Yeah, it seems like we need a bit of a change of culture. I was like, whoa. Is that Ken Griffey Jr., the face of the Mariners franchise, on the Mariners radio broadcast while games are still going on saying, I think we need a bit of a culture change. I was like, whoa. I was not expecting to hear that. 00:13:17 Speaker 2: I mean, the season was essentially over. There was four innings left. Is he fooling anybody? No. 00:13:24 Speaker 1: I was just surprised to hear it. 00:13:26 Speaker 2: I mean, Griffey also then said we want it even more than fans do, and that sparked some conversation. Yeah. 00:13:33 Speaker 1: Well, Griffey's now an owner. For people that still don't realize this, Griffey is part of the ownership group. Yeah. 00:13:40 Speaker 2: Do owners want it more than fans? I mean, I don't know how you quantify that, but.... 00:13:46 Speaker 1: Probably depends on the person. 00:13:49 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:13:49 Speaker 1: Could I guarantee that every single owner in First Avenue Entertainment wants it as much as fans? Probably not. 00:13:57 Speaker 2: Probably not. No, you know, no, I mean, there's too much to do today. We do have a grippy story from the year, but maybe that's a story. Maybe that's a story for another day. Or maybe that's similar to my Carrie Carpenter insane reaction video where we can give people a code word. And if they want to hear it in person, they can come up to us in person. I haven't fully decided on that one yet, but we do have a story. 00:14:23 Speaker 1: So maybe, maybe when it's a slow news day. 00:14:26 Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe. Maybe during the lockout when there's nothing to talk about. Yeah. Okay. 00:14:32 Speaker 1: Speaking of things to talk about, we do have lots of things to talk about on today's episode. Before we get to that, I want to tell you guys about Emerald Queen Casino's upcoming entertainment lineup. Sons of Legion visits EQC on October 4th, Gary Allen on October 9th, WFC 199 on October 17th, and then Bear Grease on... on October 23rd. Get your tickets today at emeraldqueen.com. Emerald Queen Casino is the entertainment capital of the Northwest. And while you're there, you can check out Slough Hall's Steakhouse. Rooftop dining at EQC gives you mountain to sound views, paired with premium steaks and creative cocktails. You'll just have to see it to believe it. Come by Friday and Sunday from 4 to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 4 to 11 p.m. Get your reservation today on OpenTable or by calling 253-441-3101. It's 253-441-3101. So everything we didn't talk about yesterday, Lyle, we get to talk about right now. Let's start off with the updated decisions on the Mariners coaching staff going forward. The Mariners have decided to let go Kevin Seitzer, Manny Acta, Perry Hill, and Eric Young Jr. What is your reaction to that? 00:15:45 Speaker 2: Not shocking. Look, all those people served roles in the organization, some of them for a really long time, and some of them served some really good roles. But when a season goes like this, it's not all on one person. And we've talked about Dan plenty. Anybody listening to this podcast knows that. But it's not only on Dan. There is a collective failure, as Jerry used terminology-wise, that went on throughout the organization this year. And when a season goes like this, unfortunately, there's a lot of people that pay the price. Paired with the fact that when you bring in a new manager, usually a new manager wants to come in and for the most part hire his own guys. So it is not that shocking to see a lot of these coaches let go. I mean, Manny Akta is of the service slash Dan Wilson guard. Perry Hill is the Scott service slash Dan Wilson guard. Kevin Seitzer has been here a couple years. He was Dan's guy. Eric Young Jr. has been in the organization a while, but was part of the Dan Wilson staff. And the new guy is probably going to want a lot of his own people in place. So I understand it. A lot of these people are really good people. They did some good things, but not shocked they're going to move on. 00:16:55 Speaker 1: What it tells is there needs to be multiple new voices in that coaching room. That's for sure. And the other thing that it tells is that it is all guys in charge of position players. Carlos Cardozo is the only one of the position player side among full-time coaches that remained. How they went about choosing those, could I say it was because of age? Age played a tell at least for three of these four guys. Eric Young Jr. is not old. But, I mean, Kevin Seitz, Armani Akta, and Perry Hill, certainly like the elder statesmen of the coaching staff, sans Dan. And those guys decided to go. Meanwhile, the Mariners decided to bring back Trent Blank and Pete Woodworth. who also both sound like they have multiple years left on their deals, which probably contributed to that, on top of what Jerry explained as a long resume of success, which is true besides the final three months of the season. Yeah. 00:17:53 Speaker 2: Honestly, that's a good note. I didn't even really think about that or pick up on that, but you look at the coaches staying versus the coaches leaving, it is possible age went into this, especially if they're going to hire a younger manager one way or another because of the coaches that stayed and The guys, as we know, for now, that are staying on, and news could always change once a full staff gets announced and maybe quietly some other people leave on their own, but for now, here's what we know. Pete Woodworth, younger guy, staying. Trent Blank, younger guy, staying. Carlos Cardoza, younger guy, staying. Austin Nola, bullpen coach, younger guy, staying. And Jake McKinley, who's the field coordinator, younger guy, and as far as we know, staying. So yeah, that is interesting. It is a lot of younger people staying in the organization. 00:18:38 Speaker 1: I was expecting them to, at the very least, clean sweep everyone that dealt with position players because I think those were the biggest underperformers. I was a little surprised about a couple of holdovers. Carlos Cardoza, it's hard to know what exact impact a coach like that has on a roster, but I was looking that you got rid of the other four but not him. I thought it was interesting. The other interesting one, which I can't really explain... besides the fact he played for the Mariners a while ago, is that Edgar Martinez is going to continue with the Mariners in some sort of role. I know he doesn't have really a full-time role, not technically, he's not flying to all these different road trips and coaching the players hands-on every single day, but I do find it surprising that They let go the hitting coach that Edgar hired in Kevin Seitzer and the man in Dan Wilson that Edgar worked closely alongside with to hire Kevin Seitzer and bring along this kind of philosophy of hitting. And clearly, Jerry wants a new idea of hitting. the, the front office wants a new idea of hitting and how they're going to game plan against these guys. But like the quote unquote director of hitting, whether or not that's his title or not is staying. I thought it was a little confusing to me. 00:20:04 Speaker 2: I mean, again, For a team that has so much centered around their team's Hall of Fame, Edgar is five times as revered in this city as Dan is. And people speculated forever about when Dan was going to get let go that there was going to be some PR spin on it. And I can promise if that's the case with Dan, and we can get to that a little bit later if we're going to rehash it, that it's even more so the case with Edgar. So the Mariners could very quietly just say, yeah, you're going to have a much, much smaller reduced role moving forward where sometimes you're around and sometimes you'll help out and every now and then we'll have you talk with players and maybe you'll roam around at spring training a little bit. But if you listen to Jerry's press conference, he said, whether or not that means Edgar's in the dugout for all 162 is to be determined. which could be his way of just saying, yeah, very quietly, we're just going to phase Edgar out. We're not going to put him under bad PR. We're just going to get new voices in for the hitting department. And he'll just kind of be a rover like he has been in the organization for different points of his career. 00:21:07 Speaker 1: And that's whatever. It's probably going to be dependent on who the new manager is and what they think of Edgar Martinez. But I have a hard time thinking someone from outside the organization is going to be like, yeah, Edgar, you can help me pick the last hitting coach, even though The one you picked got fired in two years. 00:21:23 Speaker 2: Yeah. Again, this hitting group needs fresh and ideally younger voices. It is very old school, the hitting group that they've had over the last couple of years. And you need young voices. 00:21:36 Speaker 1: I wonder, like, who is the next manager or is the front office going to, like, have more input on the hitting coach? Like, that's not a question that was asked today. 00:21:45 Speaker 2: That's a good question. I guess we'll find out. I guess we'll get some more intel as time goes on because they're going to have to hire the manager first. That's first. And then they'll figure out the rest of the coaching staff. But yeah, it's a good question. It's a very good question. Oh, we left out one name for somebody who wasn't on the list, but also a younger guy. And as far as it seems, he's returning, which is Danny Farquhar. Again, I mean, he's on that coaching staff and sounds like he's returning, which fits the billing, which is younger voice seems to be staying around. 00:22:17 Speaker 1: And Jake McKinley. 00:22:18 Speaker 2: I said him. 00:22:19 Speaker 1: The field coordinator. 00:22:20 Speaker 2: Oh, you did. I said him. 00:22:21 Speaker 1: Yeah. I will say it doesn't mean they're coming back next year. It just means they were not let go out of their contracts. Yeah, they could find a job promotion. 00:22:32 Speaker 2: Sure. They could go elsewhere. 00:22:34 Speaker 1: I mean, I do feel like there's always a possibility that Torrey Lovello gets here and wants to hire his own guys. I think the pitching coaches I could say are safe. Yeah. the fact they were brought up specifically by the president of baseball ops gives me the impression that they're at their safe. And I would think of manager comes in. He's like, Oh, there's the, we have two pitching coaches who have great relationships with the entire pitching staff. Like that's fine with me. But like, I would guess those are the only two. Otherwise, you know, if someone else, if Tory Lovella wants to hire different people, if he's the guy, I don't know if there would be much pushback to that. There's not going to be much pushback for me. like the coaching staff laid its resume out in 2026. And that's just not a whole lot. You want to take away from that season and bring it over in a 2027. Yeah. 00:23:24 Speaker 2: I know some people online today were a little up in arms about EY getting let go. And he was a really good dude. And I'm sure he's going to find another coaching job elsewhere. But again, this is unfortunately the price that gets paid with a season like 2026. And When he's the outfield and base running coach and you have base running disasters all over the place, unfortunately, somebody usually pays the price. Yeah. Yep. 00:23:49 Speaker 1: I'm just not that shocked. 00:23:50 Speaker 2: I don't know what else to say. I'm just not that shocked. It's the same thing with Perry Hill, right? I know Perry's a legend and he's done it forever and he's helped a lot of people. Him and JP clearly had a good relationship. You saw the hug that they endured on the last day of the season on Sunday. But again, the facts are the facts. The Mariners were... the worst defensive team in major league baseball this year, it wasn't particularly close. And Jerry highlights that and the presser that we'll get to here in a minute, people unfortunately pay the price for things like that. 00:24:22 Speaker 1: Let me read you what, read everyone what I tweeted out in case you didn't see it. Like in summary, and like this applies to Dan Wilson as well. Like once you take a big league coaching job, getting fired as part of the gig, no one like lasts in their job forever. Even some of the great managers of all time get fired. Very, very rarely do you just get to resign and go away. Eventually, the team will move on from you and find somebody else because the game is constantly evolving and not everyone can evolve at that kind of speed. And like the Mariners were the worst or one of the worst offensive, defensive, base running, situational awareness, and focus teams in baseball. And like that reflects fully on the coaching staff. So when you have all that information and then you're like, okay, which coaches should we bring back? It just, you can't be surprised when stuff like this happens. Just like if you ask these coaches, like, was I surprised? No. Even if you didn't think you did anything wrong and it was the more the blame was anywhere else, it's your group you're in charge of. And if they suck, then you bear the responsibility for it. 00:25:31 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, agreed. So as a result, we'll see some new coaches next year, which again, I think is needed. I think they need new voices. It's a good thing. 00:25:39 Speaker 1: And unfortunately for coaches, they don't have a union like the players do. Union protects players even if they suck. They get these nice, long, guaranteed contracts that are hard to get out of or that shoulder the team with a massive amount of money through the following years. Coaches don't get that luxury. 00:25:57 Speaker 2: Right. Agreed. 00:25:59 Speaker 1: Managers, coaches, et cetera, all the small people don't get it. No union. Right. 00:26:04 Speaker 2: Should we move on to the Jerry Presser or is there more you want to talk about with the coaching staff? 00:26:08 Speaker 1: No, I think it's pretty self-explanatory. The team was bad last year and the coaches are paying the price for it. 00:26:15 Speaker 2: Do we want to quickly go through the new managers that have been leaked out there? 00:26:20 Speaker 1: Yeah, we can do it. These all come from our friend Adam Jude, who laid out a few ideas. Go check out his full article for a lot of his reasoning for some of them and the likeliness of all of them. But the number one option is not surprising. He's been talked about. a kajillion times in the Mariners community so far, Torrey Lovello. I honestly think, Lyle, if the Diamondbacks, who I don't think have made a decision yet. They haven't. 00:26:47 Speaker 2: Have they not made a decision? 00:26:49 Speaker 1: Not yet. 00:26:51 Speaker 2: Just not as of time of recording this, no. 00:26:54 Speaker 1: Right. What the Diamondbacks have been doing with Torrey Lovello, it sounds like, is they've been offering him a bunch of one-year contracts. and the reporting out of Arizona is if they offer him another one-year contract, he's going to say no. If the Diamondbacks offer him a one-year contract, and the Mariners interview him, really like him, and offer him a two-year or longer contract, so two or three years, then Torrey Lovello is going to be the manager of the Seattle Mariners next year. And it would be an attractive. 00:27:23 Speaker 2: Role for him. For sure. And that lines up with the quotes that Torrey put out Sunday, after the last game of the season, when he was asked about his job going forward, and Lavello did say, I want to be wanted. And given the reporting coming out of Arizona paired with that quote, that would make sense. When Lavello says, I want to be wanted, and he's only getting potentially offered a one-year contract, I'll use the Art Howe example again in Moneyball, because he says it in the movie, and it's true. What Ardhouse says in Moneyball is a one-year deal for a manager says a similar thing to a one-year deal for a player, which is there's not a lot of faith there. And if that's the case, and Lovello sees opportunities elsewhere, like potentially Seattle, where somebody will offer him more money and has more confidence in him to lead the charge, then it makes sense why he'd want to go elsewhere. 00:28:16 Speaker 1: Option number two, another pretty obvious and popular name, is Steven Vogt. But this is noted... and maybe we should have talked about this a little bit when we were floating his name out there before. Since he is under contract in 2027, there's one of two things. Either the contract would need to be broken or the Mariners would need to trade for him. 00:28:36 Speaker 2: Right. 00:28:37 Speaker 1: So the Mariners would need to offer prospects or big league players for the manager. And maybe the Guardians would ask for big league players. The Mariners traded Lou Piniella away for Randy Wynn back in 2002. If I have the year right, I'm pretty sure I have that year right. That's kind of how that goes. 00:28:55 Speaker 2: We have not seen a lot of those trades in 20 years. I can't even think of one that's happened recently. 00:29:02 Speaker 1: Did Bruce Bochy get traded? 00:29:05 Speaker 2: I don't think so. 00:29:06 Speaker 1: I want to say there was one that happened in the last 10 years. 00:29:10 Speaker 2: I don't remember a manager getting traded for a player. In the NFL, I remember Sean Payton's contract got traded from the Saints to the Broncos, but I don't think it's happened in baseball. I don't think it's happened in baseball in a long time. So that would be different. And look, Boat's going to be a popular name. 00:29:27 Speaker 1: Oh, John Farrell in 2012 from the Blue Jays to the Red Sox. 00:29:32 Speaker 2: Oh, interesting. Okay. Anyway, it doesn't happen often. And Vogt's obviously going to be a very popular name because he's coached here, former catcher, had tons of success in Cleveland so far. And it'll be a name I'm sure the Mariners, like, pursue. The question is if they execute the pursuit. If they decide he's the guy, we've got to have Steven Vogt. It'll be interesting. There's a chance the Mariners could pay the Guardians a certain amount of money to poach him away, but we know the Mariners don't pay their coaches all that great, so that would take some financial commitment. So we'll see. Those two names will be popular, for sure. 00:30:09 Speaker 1: And those are going to be the two most popular names, I would imagine. 00:30:13 Speaker 2: Probably, yes. 00:30:15 Speaker 1: Other options. Rocco Baldelli, former Twins manager. He got fired from the Twins. I believe he works for the Dodgers now. Chris Negron, former Mariners coach. currently with the pirates as their bench coach, I believe. 00:30:30 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:30:30 Speaker 1: And then, and, and Kai Correa. 00:30:33 Speaker 2: Boom. He's on the list, baby. We're like, I'll say we're at the 20 yard line. We have to start by the Mariners acknowledging that they'd be interested in him. And there's still a lot of hurdles to clear. He'd have to get to the final round of interviews. He's going to have to interview. Well, he'd have to outshine other candidates, but he is on the list. We're on the board, baby. 00:30:58 Speaker 1: Never wrong, dog. Just first. Never wrong. Just first. Just early. 00:31:03 Speaker 2: Listen, we'll talk more about all these candidates in detail. Maybe later this week. Maybe next week. It'll be soon because that's going to be the big story in town now for the Mariners is who's the next manager going to be. I will leave it at this and we can break it down at a further day. I'll say the same thing that I tweeted earlier today. That guy's attention to detail and Kai Correa, like you've heard us talk about, like you've heard Jordan Schusterman talk about, It's pretty unparalleled, man. That guy is as prepared and as detail-oriented as you'll find. Is he going to get the job? I don't know. It's going to depend on a lot of things. But I will bet you he interviews well. I can almost assure you that. 00:31:41 Speaker 1: If you're going to ask about plan or process, that's not going to be much of an issue. 00:31:46 Speaker 2: No, not at all. He is sharp. That would be the Mariners essentially trying to find their Mike McDonald. Yeah. 00:31:53 Speaker 1: Okay. Okay. Before we get to, or break down on everything Jerry DiPoto said, and he did say quite a lot, let's pause here for an ad. 00:32:02 Speaker 2: 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 300. He had an 840 OPS and a 141 WRC +. 41% better than the league average. Player two hit 185. He had a 563 OPS and a 63 WRC +. So who would you pick? The clear answer is player A, right? because Player A is 2025 Dominic Canzone, and Player B is 2022 Abraham Toro. Well, you can apply that same logic to our friends over at Davis Law Group, who offer better service with even better results. 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Before we start really digging into things, because shocker, there are some things TJ and I are going to have to talk about that we have our own gripes with. But let me start with this. He actually was about as accountable as I've seen him in a press conference in a very, very long time. There was not a lot of shoving blame elsewhere. There was not a lot of gaslighting. There was not a lot of, well, we're going to make excuses for a bad season and point to injuries, et cetera. There was none of that. He did actually, for the most part, say all the right things, hold himself accountable, and not put his foot in his mouth. So I will give him that credit. I want to start with that before we get into other things. He actually, for the most part, said the right things. 00:35:54 Speaker 1: It was very much the opposite of his 2023 press conference. He diagnosed where the blame was. He took accountability for his mistakes, whether it be hiring, whether it be player acquisition, whether it be where the issues lie on the team. He was fully accountable to all of that. I want to give Jerry the credit to what he said. Here's the main issue I come back to with all of this, though. While he's right when he's saying all of that, it is all his fault. He is responsible for all of this. I'm glad he knows that, but that's the problem we have where Jerry is going into next year in charge, and he's still making all these mistakes in year 11. That's the other side of this coin. 00:36:42 Speaker 2: Yeah, it is. Sorry, I'm laughing because there's going to be something we get to later because we're going to talk about John Stanton's interview on King 5 too as we're sitting here. There's a quote of his and that that is getting currently cooked on Twitter and we'll get to that later. But we got to get through Jerry first. And yes, Jerry enabled all of this. He was transparent. He said the right things. He held himself accountable and that's good. But you decided to interview absolutely nobody else two years ago. and bring in Dan, despite never having managed, having essentially no feel on the modern game with analytics, having to coach him up to no end from what it sounds like from weekly coffee meetings. Like, this is on you. And we're going to get to a lot of the things that he talked about, but he did not speak fondly on Dan Wilson. He didn't directly say Dan, but if you piece it together, Jerry was talking about a lot of things in those 30 minutes that direct right back to Dan Wilson, and Jerry was not speaking fondly of them. 00:37:42 Speaker 1: And. 00:37:43 Speaker 2: Two things can be true. He has every right to be frustrated about it, but he also enabled all this. When everybody said, well, what the hell are we doing interviewing nobody and hiring a guy who's never managed, who doesn't have a feel on the modern game two years ago? Well, this is what we've been saying for 25 good months now. This is what TJ and I have been sitting here bitching and moaning about on podcast after podcast for the last two years. And it's night, it's, It's funny to hear how much fans pick up on these days and how close it is to what the front office is actually seeing. I'm not sitting here saying we're as smart as the people in the front office. Obviously, we're not. Nowhere close. But for all the things the fans pick up on, it is funny to hear them talk about the same things. Us talking about things like the team has no accountability, they lack focus, they lack energy. The fact those were things Jerry's directly pointing to in this press conference... it kind of gives fans some validation. It says that the things you're seeing, you're not crazy for seeing. And we saw it all the last two years. 00:38:49 Speaker 1: There was not a whole lot of defending Dan Wilson in this press conference. Not in the slightest. I know people thought we were hard on him yesterday, but if you listen to what Jerry said in the press conference today, he was really hard on the job Dan did this season. He's not saying his name directly, but pretty much every broad stroke complaint he had about this 2026 season that did not include himself were directed at the coaching staff. And the reporting that Adam Jude did that that relationship deteriorated once Jerry fired Bobby McGiannis, like it, it stands out. We've now heard from both sides posts like post season and their words are telling us that exact same thing. I mean, I'll read a couple of the things that Jerry said from the presser. Cause I, we did notes on a bunch of this before the show, Jerry was asked what team culture should look like, what he wants good team culture to look like. He said, This year we tolerated an environment where things didn't live up to our own standards. And he said player accountability is going to be a very important part of hiring the next manager. He was also asked, what does accountability look like? And what Jerry said is, to him, it means willing to tolerate less than full effort. Or I should say, not willing to tolerate anything less than full effort. 00:40:11 Speaker 2: Full focus. Jerry said the team we were watching mid-season was a team that was playing without full urgency. I mean, he's not saying the words Dan Wilson. Every single one of those things is directly on the manager. Directly. Again, TJ said it too. I know people thought we were hard on him yesterday. I mean, we've been hard on him since the day he was picked to manage this team because he had no business doing so. Again, very nice guy. A lot of people like him. Players spoke up for him. Nobody's negating that. This is about what he did as a manager. And once you take on the role of an employee... your franchise icon quote-unquote narrative goes out the door and you become the employee of the team who's very, very public to their criticism because he did so many things that totally destroyed this team, this year especially, and in the postseason at points last year. Even non-postseason things last year at points. So Jerry didn't directly say it, but he's saying a lot of the same things that we've had our ridiculous frustrations about for two years now. And he said them very publicly today. And I'll turn it back to you here in two seconds, and I'll say it again. Jerry enabled all this. This is as much on him as it is on anybody, even more so than Dan, because Jerry's the one that let Dan take on this job. But the things Jerry has been highlighting very, very highly and, like, parallel the things we've been talking about. 00:41:42 Speaker 1: And why Jerry said they didn't make a decision in season is because... He said making a decision in season is very difficult, in his words. Whatever that means, whoever's decision that was, where Jerry didn't feel like it was worth, this team was worth saving, then that's what he ended up making. The tolerance. 00:42:06 Speaker 2: Let me say this in terms of the messaging of how Dan was let go. Because somebody did ask Jerry, did you decide to let him go or did he walk away? And he said, those are details that are going to stay in house and don't need to be shared. It's like, oh, so yes, he was fired. 00:42:23 Speaker 1: I really think if Dan resigned, they would both have said he resigned. 00:42:27 Speaker 2: Correct. 00:42:27 Speaker 1: Yeah. 00:42:28 Speaker 2: He was let go. 00:42:29 Speaker 1: He was let go. 00:42:31 Speaker 2: Yep. 00:42:32 Speaker 1: Just listen to the words today and you will understand why that is. Because Jerry was very frank about all of this. The fact he was saying like tolerated an environment that was well below our standards. Like that just, I think that paints the entire picture. Dan, Manny Acta, all the other coaches on that roster, like this is their culture that they're fostering in that clubhouse. And I could imagine some of the frustrations from that front office up there in the suite as they're watching a lot of this unfold. Let me talk about another thing that I think really stood out from this. And it comes from, I think, Jerry's most popular quote on the day. Jerry said in this press conference, quote, if I didn't have a job... Let me try that again. Jerry said in his press conference, if I didn't have a job today, it would be justified. What that quote tells me is that speaks to the standard of this organization, that Jerry DePoto admits that he thinks... it's justifiable to fire him for the job he has done with his team. 11 seasons and done. And yet what's happening, Lyle? He's in charge next year again. Mm-hmm. 00:43:46 Speaker 2: Gets more time. 00:43:46 Speaker 1: I'm glad Jerry's transparent enough to admit this and knowing like, man, I just haven't done a good enough job. I took a gamble on a guy with no experience. It has led to our most disappointing season. I wouldn't be surprised if I'm fired. 00:43:58 Speaker 2: Great. 00:43:59 Speaker 1: Total transparency. 00:44:00 Speaker 2: But he's not. Again. 00:44:03 Speaker 1: Because... The standard of the organization doesn't seem to be high enough to warrant that. That's what that tells me. And that's troubling. It's not new, but it is troubling that that's not enough. Where the president of the team admits he could be fired, but still hasn't been. 00:44:23 Speaker 2: I mean, the disaster... that ensued from hiring Dan Wilson is enough on its own for him to lose his job. Because you were in a peak contention window, and while, yes, Dan can't hit, he can't pitch, he can't field for these players, a lot of the lack of success falls on him, like we've talked about plenty. And because of that, yes, it would have been totally justifiable if Jerry were no longer here. That alone was enough. And there's other things that haven't gone perfectly either. And we've highlighted plenty of them. But you're right. They are letting him back. Now, I think the fact there's a lockout coming and a shortened time period to put all new systems into place does have a role in that. But that doesn't change the fact that it's not changing. 00:45:10 Speaker 1: Exactly. That stood out to me a lot. Here's something else that stood out to me. I know a lot of people don't like if the manager is essentially synonymous with the front office and they play, quote unquote, iPad baseball on the field. But here's what happens when you do the opposite. The front office clearly has a philosophy. They have a way they like to build the roster. They have things they want to teach the minors at every single level. And then it gets admitted to Jerry DiPoto that multiple MLB players referenced to him what they learned in the minors this year got abandoned once they got to the big league level. And that's not all those players were in the minors this year and got promoted where it's like Colt, Laz, and Michael Arroyo all came to Jerry and said that. I'm guessing it's players in the last five years that have been in the minors and now have come up to the big league level. Because the philosophies the Mariners have had in the minors hasn't really changed that much. But stuff in the major leagues has changed a lot. And the sound of that quote makes it sound like these guys are stepping into this environment that was in place this year and going like, Oh, like all these things that were being preached and philosophies were supposed to be attacking don't even matter at the big league level, which is why the synergy of this next manager is very, very, very important because clearly that's not something that worked. It honestly confuses a player where it's like, well, I spent all this time learning and teaching like your philosophies as an organization and we're not even acknowledging it once we get to the big league level. So it's like, why am I wasting my time on that? Now I'm thinking about something completely different. Yeah. 00:46:55 Speaker 2: It is very odd. And it's very odd that because of all that, and you hear those stories about players saying how much is different, but it's also paired with all these players that are speaking up for Dan Wilson about that, like about how they wish he wasn't going and they wish he was still the manager. Isn't that a little odd? 00:47:17 Speaker 1: Or that they were shocked. 00:47:18 Speaker 2: Yeah. Isn't that a little odd if you have, Stories from Jerry about players telling them how philosophies and systems weren't in place in the big leagues compared to the minors, but then you have players saying that, oh, we're shocked that Dan's not going to be the manager anymore. We wish he still was. You know what it is? Before I even go deeper into that, what this all comes back to is what we've continued to talk about, what plenty of people have continued to talk about. Lack of alignment. That is a complete lack of alignment that just can't happen at the big league level or in an organizational environment. It just can't. Everybody's got to be on the same page. It sounds like from that, not everybody was. 00:48:00 Speaker 1: Here's another thing. 00:48:01 Speaker 2: I will note, too, and this goes back to so many of the things we've talked about with Dan, because you had Logan, Cal, Julio, and Brian Wu all speak on Sunday about Dan not returning as the manager, and all of them essentially said that It stings. It's on us. We costed him his job. You hate to see somebody you've developed such a great relationship with not be here anymore. He's such a great person. We have so much respect for him, et cetera, et cetera. Do you notice if you're going to read those quotes, if you have read the quotes, if you go after this and read the quotes, do you know what a common theme there was? 00:48:44 Speaker 1: No baseball. 00:48:45 Speaker 2: None of those four guys noted a single baseball related thing for why they're going to miss Dan Wilson. which goes back to the thing we've just talked about ad nauseum. He can be a nice person. He can be somebody that people really like, but nice guys finish last oftentimes. I'm exaggerating a little bit, but that is partly why that phrase and that terminology has been existed in the world for a long time. It's like, that doesn't always get you to where you want to go. And this clearly didn't. And I think that actually segues well to what my next talk is going to be. point was from some of the things that Jerry said in this presser, which was, he was asked about, are players going to have input in the next decision for their next manager? Are they going to bounce ideas off players and bounce ideas off Cal specifically, since he's such a leader and often has such a hand in things. And Jerry says, no, Look, we always bounce ideas off Cal. He's always involved. We always have conversations with him. He always knows what's going on. But he said, no, we're not going to take player input on the next manager. He said it's not fair to the next manager and it's not fair to the players. And that's exactly how it should be. And this highlights that players don't often always know what's best for them, whether they think they do or not. They don't always know what's best for them. You have leaders of your team all saying the best thing for us was Dan Wilson. Dan Wilson just won you 76 games and has the president of baseball operations of your team saying the defense was atrocious, the culture needed a shakeup, there wasn't accountability. Not just us saying it. I get it if people are going to roll their eyes about two dumb podcasters saying it. But when you have the president of baseball operations saying all those things need to change, yeah, players don't always know what's best. 00:50:32 Speaker 1: That's very, very, very well said. And then he adds on to that. like changing what they did last time. Cause they directly asked Jerry if they were going to interview multiple candidates. He said, yes. And he directly referenced last time. The, the hiring process of Dan Wilson is a reason why they are doing that instead of doing what they did last time, which better late than never to admit that it does still just highlight how bad that process was when they hired him. 00:51:02 Speaker 2: It'll make, it'll make no sense. to this day and for 50 years. The day we get an answer on why they decided to do no hiring process and just let Dan Wilson take over the reins with no experience and no feel for the modern game will also be the same day we get an actual answer on why Edward Bazzardo was in Game 7 of the ALCS. Those two things are essentially the Mariners' great mysteries to fans. They're two questions that every single person essentially wants an answer on, but we may never get. 00:51:34 Speaker 1: Here's the last big point from me today about Jerry. If there's one thing I thought Jerry was the most frustrated at, I think it was the defense. Jerry was furious when he was talking about the Mariners' lack of competence on any level when it came to their defense this year. And there is a quote that very much sticks out to me. Jerry DeCoto said, quote, being a bad defender is a choice. Which Mariners is he talking to with that, Lyle? Because that does not sound like something that's just a throwaway line. That's not used as something I think that is just a generalization about defense. I think he's talking about Mariners players not putting in the necessary work to be a competent defender. Because right before that, he notes, yeah, we've had a lot of guys who have been good defenders in the past take a massive drop off this year. Again, probably just speaks to the culture and the standard where it's like the standard is not being upheld by the culture of the coaching staff and the players. So yeah, who's he talking to? 00:52:45 Speaker 2: You asked me which Mariner. I don't think it's singular. It's plural. There could be other people at the top of each person's list when they hear that, but you want to list off a few? I'm sure Julio's on that list. I'm sure Randy's on that list. I know Randy's about to be a free agent, but we have certainly all as Mariners fans had our conversations about Randy's defense. Those two I'm sure are on there. I would bet you Naylor's somewhere on that list because Naylor certainly had his problems at first base this year. I don't know how much JP factors into that because unfortunately JP's just aging and he doesn't move all that well anymore and he's not really a natural shortstop anymore. Maybe it's less in his bucket. But I would think a couple of the aforementioned guys I just listed out were on Jerry's mind. Maybe Julio's at the top of that list. 00:53:35 Speaker 1: Maybe a couple of the right fielders. It's possible. Dom? Yeah. Or Raley when he was defending. He was the worst defender in baseball. It's all possible. But yeah, those seem like very pointed words. He was not describing his defense. He seemed to be calling out his defense. 00:53:53 Speaker 2: And it's interesting. One of the things we noticed over the last year... especially, but last couple years, the Mariners don't do a whole lot of outfield drills, at least when they're at home. Now, we've talked to some of the beat reporters that say they do a little bit more of it on the road because they know the lay of the land well at home. At least that was the reasoning that they've picked up on for why they don't do it all the time at home. But it still is noteworthy that, again, like, It's a major league team that doesn't do consistent outfield drills and was playing really, really, really bad outfield defense. 00:54:28 Speaker 1: You don't have to do outfield drills if you're already good at it. I wouldn't have a problem with it. It's like, all right, your process is working, but it's 81 games into the season. You watch the terrible outfield defense you have out there, and you go for an entire homestand, and you never see them take outfield drills once. I don't know if this is working, guys. So yeah, this is just a laundry list of things that I think all circles back to the culture of the baseball team. But that point seemed to be the most, the one that ticked Jerry off the most. That they were probably sitting up there in the president's suite on the 200 level during the season, watching this defense and throwing things. 00:55:13 Speaker 2: I mean, the money I'd pay to see a live cam on them in. 00:55:19 Speaker 2: Boston, when Julio misplayed that ball. 00:55:22 Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. Not good. 00:55:24 Speaker 2: I was about to say when Julio misplayed the ball this past week against the Astros, but the season was over by then. Maybe by then they had just come to terms with everything. When they were still playing for something in Boston and that happened, I can't imagine the looks on their faces with a play that literally cost them the game. Yeah. 00:55:44 Speaker 1: Yep. And cost them a whole lot. Yeah. Anything else from you? 00:55:51 Speaker 2: Those were my big notes. I think we all, I think the two of us just hit on all the big notes that we took notice of from the presser. I guess the one other thing that we didn't get to, but there's not that much to take away from it, is Jerry again took accountability and admitted that the way they communicated the piggyback was about as bad as they possibly could have from the start. They admitted that. Yeah, it was not good. So at least we got that. 00:56:21 Speaker 1: Now to close out this episode, John Stanton also blessed us by speaking in a King 5 interview with a friend of ours, Paul Silvey, today. I wouldn't say there's quite as much to take away because ultimately with owners, they can say pretty much whatever they want, but the only thing that actually matters is what they actually do. Was there anything that stood out to you? 00:56:43 Speaker 2: There are three notes, and I'll save the best for last because it's the one currently getting ratioed online. 00:56:49 Speaker 1: I haven't even seen the one getting ratioed online, so I'm going to be surprised here. 00:56:53 Speaker 2: You can be surprised, and that's why I'm going to save it for the end. Number one was he notes how paying for past production and giving out these long 8- to 10-year deals is a waste of money, he said, which I did find funny because that's literally what Vladdy just said a couple days ago. And I understand that those contracts often don't work out, the Trey Turners, the Xander Bogarts contracts of the world. I get it. But I don't think a large majority of Mariners fans was ever absolutely hell-bent, absolutely up in arms over the fact that the Mariners didn't give Xander Bogarts $ 200 million, or no, way more than that, $ 280 million over 10 years. I don't think it was contracts like that. The only two contracts Mariners fans have ever absolutely banged the drum for that were of the longer-term deals were, one, Juan Soto, people were clamoring for that when he was a free agent. But once the deal went down in Queens, people said, okay, $ 765 million for 15 years, a deal that Jeff Passan literally called a very bad contract. People moved off that one. They said, okay, yeah, we're not going to pay him that. The only other one besides that is Shohei. That is the only contract people have absolutely banged the drum for and said, yes, give him whatever he wants, because guess what? Shohei is not only the greatest player to ever live, but he's a literal cash cow that has made the Dodgers back all their money and then some in the time that he's been in L.A. So that quote, that report from Daniel Kramer that came out early into the Otani free agent sweepstakes will never, ever get out of my head. Where the Mariners admitted that they were balking at the money for Shohei Otani. Dude, that's the only one. Stop generalizing with 10-year contracts. Nobody's demanding, not nobody, but a majority of people are not demanding 10-year contracts for every free agent ever. Nobody's going to demand a 10-year contract for, say, a Suzuki. But, yes, saying Shohei Ohtani's bad money, well, objectively, it's not. You would be a richer man right now if you had paid for Shohei. 00:59:06 Speaker 1: The other thing with that is that people are waiting for a World Series every... that's really the only strategy this ownership group has not tried. They've tried mid-level free agents. The first year of the five-year contract for Josh Naylor is certainly not making that kind of strategy look great, but Naylor could bounce back and have a good year next year. Objectively, Lyle, the process of that is not bad. The The only thing is they haven't won a World Series yet, and you haven't handed out a contract like that. So you might as well try. That's really what it comes down to. 00:59:37 Speaker 2: Well, and it's, again, the generalization and the messaging of it. If he were to say, look, most 10-year contracts really don't work out, and we'd like to strategize with a more optimal process that gets the bang for your buck out of production from your players. But... with the exception of guys like Shohei Otani, or even if he doesn't want to name names, with the exception of a very few, that's usually the process we'd use. Brother, again, you publicly balked at the money on Shohei. I will never get over that. Every single one of these owners would be a richer person right now if they'd signed Shohei. 01:00:11 Speaker 1: I think people would have less of the problem with it if they were winning 95 to 100 games with the current payroll they have, but they're not doing that. Correct. I think that's what it comes down to. 01:00:22 Speaker 2: Agreed. Totally agree. The second of three points I noted was he came out with the quote of, they didn't feel like they had needs to address at the trade deadline. And I heard that and I was like, what? Now, it wasn't a great market, but they did have needs to address. 01:00:40 Speaker 1: That might have just been his way of saying that. Because then he pretty much said that right after. It wasn't a great trade market. It's like, all right, whatever. 01:00:47 Speaker 2: So it was a note I wrote down, but again... It's not the biggest note in the world. I just kind of rolled my eyes about it a little bit. Maybe he misspoke since he did say it wasn't a great trade deadline after that. Again, it's not the biggest quote in the world. The one that is currently making its rounds is the third one that I have noted. Do you want to guess what it is? 01:01:06 Speaker 1: Is it about the selling the team question? 01:01:09 Speaker 2: It is. 01:01:09 Speaker 1: Okay. 01:01:10 Speaker 2: It is about selling the team. So toward the end of the interview, Paul Sylvie asked John Stanton, for fans out there for clam... For fans out there that clamor for you to sell the team and that they want new ownership, what do you say to that? Here was John Stanton's response. Selling the team is a risky proposition and that you don't know what the interest of the new owner will be. In which he further elaborates on that and hints at the idea of, well, new owners could move the team out of town and there won't be a baseball team here anymore. Dude. I mean, that is a total slap in the face to fans. That right there. 01:01:50 Speaker 1: Because you know what he also noted in that? The Sonics. 01:01:54 Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, it's like, well, you guys happy that we don't have a basketball team anymore? I'm keeping the team in Seattle. That's the bare minimum. Like, we expect our owners to not move the team out of town? Great. Now, how about build on that? 01:02:12 Speaker 1: Yeah. Not great. That's... I thought it was strange that the first thing he brought up with that question was, you can move the team if I do sell it. Because that's essentially a negotiating chip. 01:02:26 Speaker 2: Yes. 01:02:28 Speaker 1: That is a negotiating chip that the owners of a team use in every single negotiation, whether it be a stadium negotiation or a negotiation in price or whatever. Like they always will use that. That is their ultimate bargain chip. That's how these billion dollar franchises get hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to pay for their stadiums that they then get to keep every dollar of. Cause it's just the, it's the ultimate bargaining chip. And it's, I think it's total bullshit because the reason these teams are so valuable is because of us fans. 01:03:01 Speaker 2: Correct. 01:03:02 Speaker 1: That's it. 01:03:03 Speaker 2: Well, of course it's bullshit and it's bullshit that he's bringing this up. And again, giving the fans a total slap in the face. and essentially dangling something over their heads of, well, what if I sold the team to somebody that moved the team out of town? Like, come on, man. Again, these are your paying customers, and you're publicly giving them a middle finger with that? No. And when he talks about in this interview, too, because he keeps talking about in the interview how they've upped payroll every year, okay, by a technicality, yes, you've upped it by less than $ 2 million, right? between last year and this year. It has not upped very much. If you want to use the technicality, sure. Let's not act like you're raising it by $ 40 million and you brought, I don't know, you didn't bring Tarek Skubal and his money into town this offseason like Jude wrote about in December and we talked about as a potential really interesting idea. You weren't doing things like that. You barely upped it. Like, if you want to use the technicality, it is by definition correct, but I'm not exactly bragging about it either. 01:04:14 Speaker 1: No. Payroll's not the number one issue, but they could always spend more money, because currently they have a rotation that is unsigned in the future. 01:04:23 Speaker 2: Well, and you're about to lose Randy Rosarena. How are you going to make up his production, and how are you going to reinvest his money? Because sitting on it ain't going to fly. 01:04:35 Speaker 1: Nope. Nope. 01:04:36 Speaker 2: Yeah. There's a reason. 01:04:39 Speaker 1: This is a good ratio. I just opened Twitter to look. It is. 01:04:42 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. People are pissed. I told you. People are not happy with that quote, and I can't blame them. Again, it's a total slap in the face to your fans. It's a total slap in the face. Yeah, you're reading this in live time as we're sitting here recording, aren't you? 01:04:58 Speaker 1: Oh, and the King 5 also put out the one on him paying free agents in the The title of this clip was wasting money on free agents. Three replies, no likes already. Oh, oh boy. 01:05:13 Speaker 2: Yeah. Again, we always say that we want transparency out of the owners. And again, Stanton absolutely should be fielding questions for the season that just went down. And in some retrospect, he is by doing this interview with Paul Sylvie, but From just a PR perspective, if you were to get into the minds of Mariners PR, there's probably a reason they don't trot John Stanton out there all that often. I mean, every time he steps onto the field to give a speech these days, he gets booed by the crowd very noticeably. And then when he does interviews like this, he's putting things out like giving the fans a slap in the face to, well, if I sell the team, they might just move out of town. Good lord. Good lord. 01:05:58 Speaker 1: There's not a lot of positive PR to come by putting your owners consistently in a press conference or interview setting. 01:06:05 Speaker 2: And there's a reason. 01:06:06 Speaker 1: Pretty much only, only downhill. 01:06:08 Speaker 2: Well, and there's a reason he doesn't do a whole lot of interviews because things like this come out. 01:06:13 Speaker 1: It's not been a good year for like Seattle-based billionaires on TV interviews. I'll say that. Stanton today, Steve Ballmer. Yeah. 01:06:25 Speaker 2: Listen, Jody, the only time Jody talks is during good things. 01:06:28 Speaker 1: Well, no, she doesn't talk at all. 01:06:31 Speaker 2: Right. Well, I meant when they won the Super Bowl. She said a couple words, but yeah. 01:06:36 Speaker 1: But no sit-downs. I don't think you ever heard from the Allen family ever on anything. Like when they traded Russ or fired Pete, they put out a press release and that's it. 01:06:45 Speaker 2: You know what, man? 01:06:47 Speaker 1: It seemed to work out well for them. 01:06:48 Speaker 2: I was going to say, they did things the right way. They made things very much not about them. They gave the... front office and the coaching staff, all the resources they could ever need, and they were successful. They'd win. They were the perfect owners, the Allens. They did everything really well, man. They did. Anyway, packed episode, a lot to talk about, and I'm sure we'll have plenty more to talk about this upcoming week when we do further podcasts. So, yeah, a lot to dive into on a Monday where they miss the playoffs, isn't there? 01:07:19 Speaker 1: We do have a good post-season press conference. It's always chock full. But now, you know, now the offseason starts. Now we're having coaches. And then once November hits, it's going to be a month-long scurry of free agency and trades. 01:07:34 Speaker 2: Agreed. All right. That just about wraps up this edition of the Marine Layer Podcast. You guys know the drill. If you want to listen to the full-form podcast, you can do so wherever you get your audio pods. Download these episodes if you're listening. Please make sure to go leave that five-star review when you rate and review on the audio platforms. If you're watching on YouTube, hit subscribe. You can also find everything at our website, which is marinelayerpod.com. All of our episodes are there. Our merch is there. Our Patreon's there. Again, that's at marinelayerpod.com. And then find us everywhere on social media. We're always posting content at marinelayerpod. That's TJ. I'm Lyle. As always, we thank you guys for tuning in. We'll talk to you soon.