Episode 73: Tayler Saucedo, And Debating The Idea Of Cody Bellinger This Offseason

00:00:00 Speaker 1: Welcome to episode number seventy three of the Marine Layer Podcast. We welcome on Taylor sau Sato. We had a fantastic conversation with the Mariners lefty reliever, a Seattle native, a whole bunch of topics to discuss with him. We also have a conversation about Cody Bellinger and if it makes sense for the Mariners to sign him, and do we think it's a good idea if the Mariner should sign him. A whole lot to debate there within the Cody Bellinger tree as a free agent this offseason. 00:00:29 Speaker 2: You're a reminder before we start the show that if you're listening on our audio platforms, make sure you're following us, you download our episodes, you'll leave us a five star review. That's across wherever you get your audio podcasts. Those reviews and downloads do help us out a bunch. Watch us on YouTube, where the video side of a podcast is go like, comment, subscribe over there, and follow us on social media on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube shorts at marine Layer pot. 00:00:55 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, November thirteenth. The off season has been in full swing for exactly a week. And why is show Heyo Tani holding up the off season? He should have signed by now. 00:01:27 Speaker 2: He's really holding up the whole off season. You would think by now something would have happened. It doesn't even have to be the Mariners, but some move, some acquisitions somewhere. We've had nothing. You could hear a pin drop on this hot stove right now because there has not been one trade, one free agent signing, anything that's been even somewhat noteworthy basically since free agency has started. 00:01:49 Speaker 1: And we discussed I mean, these teams are waiting for him to make a decision. All the teams with the money to spend that are going to offer money to show Hayo Tani are waiting to say if he accepts their money before the rest of the free agents shuffle through. Like I would actually be shocked if somebody like Cody Bellinger, who we're going to talk about today, signs before show Hayo Tony, because there's no way a rational, irrational I would say in that sense, I think it's a fair, a fair expectation a team that would be willing to offer a ten to twelve year contract, which I think is what Bellinger would get on the maximum end. But that's also what Shoeo Tani is gonna get. There's no way Cody gets that kind of contract before show Hao Tani signs. So for those other big dominoes to move, Shoh has to make a decision, or he has to at least to tell teams which teams he's not interested in so they can move on. 00:02:41 Speaker 3: Oh. 00:02:41 Speaker 2: I think Scott Boris would die before he let Cody sign before show Hey, because what happens when show he signs, Cody becomes the premier bat on the market. So Boris is gonna tell him, no, you're gonna wait it out, and then we're gonna see what teams will overpay to get a premier bat. And free agency, now, I don't really understand what show Hao Tani has to do with some of the middling free agents that could sign, even the guys like somewhere in the Jamer Candelario range. I don't think Jamer Candelario and show Hey Otani are gonna have much intertwining in free agency. Either a team can afford both of them or they could have, or they'll just get neither of them, or maybe they just get one or the other. Like if a team signs Candelario, there's no reason they can't go out and get show Hey too. And if a team that's more of a mid market team and doesn't spend a lot isn't interested in show Hey, well then they could go sign some of these mid tier bats right now. So that's the part I don't understand. Sure, the Matt Chapman's, the Cody Bellingers, those guys are gonna wait. But the guys the level below them like nothing, like literally nothing so far in free agency. 00:03:43 Speaker 1: Even Tioscar Hernandez, like I would say he's he's probably a little bit under the Matt Chapman level, but he's someone I think at least is the talent level that could sign before Otani does, if he knows where he wants to go. Like say, the Blue Jays are like, okay, well we need some more thumb in the outfield. We our outfielders last year weren't as great offensively, and we'd love to have you back like an like that, Shoho Tani doesn't hold that up. 00:04:08 Speaker 2: Another perfect example of somebody who really isn't relying on show Hey to see what his market's going to dictate. Taoskar could go sign right now, and if a team that signs him is still interested in show Hey, they can go get show Hey. But the money ta Oscar's going to get is not going to be close to what Otani gets. So if he knows where he wants to go, I don't see why that's holding anybody up. Yeah, it's been weird again. I thought show Hey would hold up a lot of the market. I didn't think he'd hold up the entire market because there's been nothing so far. There's been that Mark Kanna trade. That's about it, and. 00:04:39 Speaker 1: It holds up most of the trade market too. Es specially. I mean the Mariners are really the perfect example of this because they need bats, but like the big bat they want on the free agent market before they they go shell out prospects for a bat is still sitting there waiting to make a decision, So they're not going to go give up precious resources and until they until they know they can't get something as good on the free agent market that they think they have a chance in. It is I think a great example in that retrospect, so it has only been a week. Sometimes these things like say want so to trade, take a little bit to piece together and structure and and get physicals and get all the right ideas hammered out. When winter meetings roll around in a little over three weeks time, we will have have had significantly more action. But for now, it's sort of just in a waiting pattern while these teams sort out and wait for the white whale to submerge out of the to it's not submerge. What's the opposite of submerge? Submerge emerge emerge? Yeah, emerge out of the ocean waiting for the white whale. 00:05:46 Speaker 2: And Cody Bellinger certainly falls into that category before we get more into him, because he is our big topic here in this first portion of the show, a quick word from our friends over at Pigotcha's Pub eighty five. Pagotcha's Pub eighty five in Kirkland the best spot in the area to go hang out with your friends, have some great food, drink some great drinks, and watch all the sports you can watch again. Baseball might be over, football, basketball, hockey, anything else that you might desire sports wise is going on and they'll play it over there with their twenty two TVs inside the restaurant. If you head over there, they've got some great food. Certainly try the pizza, but a whole menu of great food options, full drink menu with a bunch of great drinks, and if you're there during the weekday during happy hour you can cash in on some deals. Those happy hours are Monday through Friday two to six pm, which feature three dollars domestic beers, four dollar Manni's Blue Moons, four dollars Mac and Jack's, four dollars wells, and four dollar housewines. Great food, great drinks and great times with your friends over at Pigotcha's Pub eighty five in Kirkland. Go check it out. Okay, So, Cody Bellinger that number two on the market. Are the Mariners interested? 00:06:56 Speaker 1: Let me ask you this question. Would you be interested in a twelve year, two hundred and sixty four million dollar contract? 00:07:04 Speaker 2: Absolutely not? 00:07:06 Speaker 3: Would you? 00:07:08 Speaker 1: That's a little bit much. It's the difference in contract projections from spo Track to MLB trade rumors is pretty massive. So spo track does it's more of just a straight structure of his contract. Comparing similar free agents at his position and similar age, and they came out to five for one to twelve at a twenty two and a half AAV, which is about what he's worth. But then MLB Trade Rumors jumps out here and predicts that he's going to get two hundred and sixty five million dollars over twelve years. I feel like somebody might offer him twelve years. Twelve years seems a little ridiculous for Cody Bellinger given his last two seasons, But in this thin class, in knowing what Cody has been in the past, it's entirely poll He gets twelve million dollars or twelve years, and some teams might be thinking that's a bargain, because I'm sure there might be some teams out there who look at Cody Bellinger and think, MVP Cody Bellinger is still in there somewhere. 00:08:14 Speaker 2: Five for one twelve sounds more intriguing. If that was actually around the ballpark of what his offers were going to be, I would say, Okay, maybe the Mariners should be tuned in on this twelve years. Not only do I think that is a little irresponsible for a guy who has two seasons removed from a forty seven WRC plus for the year that along with that, the Mariners would never shell out a twelve year contract for somebody in free agency unless it was show Hey. They would not shell out a twelve year contract for Cody Bellinger, which is why not only do I think that would be a bad idea, but I don't think the Mariners would even entertain it. 00:08:49 Speaker 1: Do you think Cody and Scott and mister Scottie Boris would So if they're looking at this market and they see that they can't get a twelve year contract. So twelve year contract put Cody Bellenser at age forty and he could retire on that he wouldn't need to worry about hitting the market again. But if he does five for one to twelve, that spits him out into free agency again in his age thirty three season, which if he goes out there and has a great five year stretch over the prime of his career, that sets him up for a final eight to ten year contract at a significantly inflated rate to what he would get right now in the future free agent market. I don't think that's the worst idea in the world either for the teams that want to sign him currently because there would be more options with a five year contract, and it wouldn't be terrible for Cody either, knowing that if he plays well for five years, he's going to get significantly more. He could get that two hundred and sixty four million. I mean, he'd probably get more than two hundred and sixty four million in five years from now over a shorter length of contract. 00:09:53 Speaker 2: Does he want to take that gamble? 00:09:55 Speaker 3: Though? 00:09:55 Speaker 2: I feel like he has no interest in trying to test the market again at thirty three years old, because how many guys really thrive at thirty three years old? Some the hit rate for it is not that high. So if you're Cody, you come off a good year in Chicago, plus Scott Boris is your agent, I bet you they're looking at let's get at least an eight year deal, if not more. That's what I would guess, which is why Scott Boris and the Mariners almost never pair up. Jerry Depoto doesn't like to shell out huge contracts. Scott Boris wants nothing more than huge contracts for players, So I feel like that's more the side they're leaning to right now, being Cody and Boris, which is look when show Hay's gone, it's all about me. We can get a lot of money from somebody that they'll pay it up. 00:10:37 Speaker 1: Let's discuss the player himself. You've been more against Cody than I have. Explain why. 00:10:45 Speaker 2: It's just that in two years, this guy went from being an MVP and putting up a one to sixty one WRC plus to forty seven in twenty twenty one forty seven. So he didn't qualify among the league ranks that year. I don't think he had enough at bats or games played. Had he, though, he would have been the single worst hitter in all of baseball that year with that WRC plus mark, worst hitter in baseball. It was two years ago. And by the way, his twenty twenty two campaign, it's not like it was some all star year because his WRC plus that year jumped up from forty seven to then eighty seven or it was in the eighties range, which great, Like that's well below league average. That is not appealing. If he had had one bad year, like say Cody had a year in twenty twenty one where that WRC plus mark was in the eighty to ninety range, maybe hit nineteen twenty homers, still played some decent defense, but then bounce back the last two years. I'd say, okay, for the most part, the track records there. When I look at two bad years in a row like that, that that is terrifying. That feels like the exact type of guy. Also, knowing what the Mariner's luck that they would sign him and that contract would just flop. So that's my hesitancy with Cody. I think his powers significantly regressed over the last couple of years. I think he's been very inconsistent at the plate, and I think he's going to demand a lot, So I don't if the Mariners are going to have to wisely use their money. I don't know if Cody Bellinger is the best fit to go spend it. 00:12:17 Speaker 1: So your entire basis, it sounds like for not wanting to sign him. Is not the last year he had, but the two before that. 00:12:25 Speaker 2: Yeah, what he did in Chicago this past year was really good. Twenty six bombs, had a great second half. We know he plays good center field defense. He can play the corners too. If you're really buying in on that twenty twenty three season being a turn of the guard for Cody Bellinger, and starting to find himself again. Then sure, then I'd be open to it. I just I cannot look past what happened in twenty one and twenty two that Like, it's not just he was up and down, he was bad and really bad again twenty twenty one. You're talking about maybe the worst hitter in baseball. So if a guy that was two years removed from that all of a sudden is getting two hundred million dollars from you, I'd I'd be I'd be squirming in my seat a little bit. I would be very, very nervous to see how that contract plays out in Seattle. 00:13:10 Speaker 1: Can I sell you on something? Okay? What if I told you Cody Bellinger in twenty twenty three was a completely different hitter than he was with the Dodgers. I mean completely different. And I'm talking good Cody and bad Cody. I'm talking about both of them. I'm talking about he is a different hitter than when he won MVP, striking out only sixteen percent of the time, walking nearly fifteen percent of the time, being among the best hitters in baseball in twenty nineteen and taking home the National League MVP, and like alongside his forty seven WRC plus season. He is a different hitter than both those seasons because in both those seasons he tried to be what he was in twenty nineteen, and twenty nineteen was a success. Twenty twenty one it wasn't. He had some mechanical things. He changes his swing almost every single year. But what we saw in twenty twenty three was a complete, letely different version of Cody Bellinger. He struck out significantly less, he didn't walk nearly as much. His walk crate was only around seven percent this year, which is below league gaverage. He just essentially went to the plate and started swinging a whole bunch, and he made an effort. Not only did just swing a lot, but he was also going to cut down on his swing and miss against breaking pitches, which he did a magnificent job this season. I mean he cut down his swing and miss against off seed in half. It was thirty one point four percent the year prior in twenty twenty two, and then breaking balls and generally dropped that by ten percent thirty four percent to twenty four percent. Those are noticeable things. Those are things Cody definitely struggled with when he was in his final two years with the Dodgers, and he came to Chicago and he made a noticeable effort to sort of change what he became as a hitter. He's honestly what the Mariners want more in this offseason. Besides the fact he's not right handed. He makes a ton of contact whilst winging a lot, super athletic, plays good defense in the outfield, and is a menace on the bass pass. Like that sounds like the guy Jerry wants to go after this offseason. Like that, That is it, and that's what Cody Bellinger was in twenty twenty three in sort of a resurgence as a different baseball player than he was with Dodgers. 00:15:20 Speaker 2: I will say it is interesting that in those twenty twenty one and twenty two seasons, even when he was struggling mightily, he didn't have some sky high strikeout rate. It was about twenty seven percent both years, which is not great. It's not terrible. It's very manageable a twenty six twenty seven percent k rate. It was not in the thirties the way tay Oscar and Gino have had theirs and certainly past years. Does the fact that Cody chases a decent amount scary off at all. So yes, he does not actually strike out, but there is a little bit of chase in his game, and it's been that way his whole career, including this past year. 00:15:55 Speaker 1: It is, I would say a little bit concerning, but that I would say that just kind of the profile hell is, because if you're going to swing a lot, you're probably gonna chase a lot. But even with him swinging a lot, he wasn't swinging and missing a whole bunch. There could be some regression there one hundred percent, But we also need to remember he wasn't playing in the most hitter friendly park in the world in Wrigley Field, so you know, he did probably go through a little bit of that, give or take at some points of the season. If there's something you were to be actually concerned about, you might think his power numbers are a little bit more inflated. He had the sixth highest difference between his actual slugging and his expected slugging. His actual slugging was five point twenty five this year, his expected slugging was around four thirty. Now, he makes up for that in a couple of ways, and Mike Petreilli wrote an article all the way back in May about this, but a lot of the points he made in that article still stand true for Cody's entire season. He got some bounces here and there that helped him out because his quality of contact also wasn't great, which is why his expected slugging was a little bit lower. But you know, his bed bails them out of a lot of things, Like you can have crummy contact, but if you're as fast as Cody Bellinger, as a single turn into into a double very quickly, or a double turns into a triple very quickly, if you if you have the wheels to do so, so when he's grabbing those extra bases, it inflates the number a little bit, even though the quality of contact doesn't doesn't reflect it as much. I would say if there's actually a concern, I would say it'd be his quality of contact numbers instead of his chase numbers, because you know, if you chase but you're still still hitting the ball really hard, you can be like Taoscar Hernandez was this year on the road, where you're still striking out a bunch, but in a better hitting environment, you're still crushing the baseball. Cody's quality of contact is not whataot his. It's not what Taskar Hernandez is. It's middle the pack to blow average. 00:17:50 Speaker 2: Actually, so that was that was the next thing I was going to bring up, was does the quality of contact scary at all? Because outside of twenty nineteen when he just had his ridiculous MVP can Pay, He's never been a guy that's just barreled the hell out of baseballs. It's just not his game. It doesn't mean he's not a good player, doesn't mean he doesn't put up great production. He's just not a huge Faarl Ray guy. He doesn't get like a ton of barrels per year. But you know what if ta Oscar couldn't do that in Tea Mobile Park, just if ta Oscar could not put the season together in Seattle that we all thought he was going to put together despite his hard hit profile, saying oh he'll be find no matter where he goes, then maybe you just say screw it. For the Mariners. It doesn't matter what the hard hit profile is or what Jesse Winker was compared to what ta Oscar was to compare to what Cody Bellinger is. Like, maybe there's no rhyme or reason for TA Mobile Park. Maybe that's just how tough a place it is to hit. Where with Cody you just buy the fact that maybe he changed some things, maybe he is a new hitter, and maybe he can thrive here because he is more of a batsball guy now in a contact guy now. But yeah, you just won't hit the ball all that hard. 00:18:57 Speaker 1: And unlike those two guys, he's a complete player. I mean, base Savant had him eighty first percentile on higher or higher in all three of batting, fielding, and base running run value. You can't see that for those three. For the other two, the other two. Sorry, you can't see that for the other two. 00:19:13 Speaker 2: No, you can't. And that's what makes Cody Bellinger's floor at least somewhat safe, even when he is in a massive slum, even when he can't hit the broadside of a barn. He will play defense. He has always played defense, and he's pretty fast, so usually he's a center fielder. 00:19:28 Speaker 3: Now. 00:19:28 Speaker 2: Obviously if he was here in Seattle, he would not be playing center field, but he can play the corners. He could play right field, and if that's the case, you could put Bellinger in right You could have Julio and center, you could have Kellnick and left. And I think Cody Bellinger wild play a perfectly good right field, if not a really good right field. So look, I still have my concerns. I do like the fact that he turned things around in twenty twenty three. But maybe I'm using less logic here with my reasoning and too much like emotion. But we've just seen so many contracts and trades fly out for the mayor over the years that just seeing what Cody did over those last couple of years scares me in the sense of just the Mariner's luck. Right, Oh, give him a big contract and then it flops. Now maybe again, maybe logically he is a change guy at the plate, But just the emotional side of this, what my brain's saying to me is like, what are the odds it happens again with the Mariners? 00:20:23 Speaker 1: And you made a good point before, you would have less of a problem with this if the Mariner's budget was bigger. But we know the Mariner's budget is. It is not infinite. In fact, it is far from infinite. This was Steve Cohen making this decision. You say, oh, okay, I mean that's that's not a big deal. We know the budget can have one hundred and fifty more million dollars on it if that's what it requires, but that's not the case with Cody Bellinger. If they signed Cody Bellinger to a twelve year contract, I mean, that's like it for the off season for the most part. 00:20:52 Speaker 3: That's it. 00:20:53 Speaker 2: That'd be their one big move. Maybe they'd make a lateral trade or two, but they're not making any more big impact moves like that, so that would be it. Yeah, we were talking about this a little bit pre recording where I said if this was Steve Cohen, he'd sign anybody if it didn't work out in a few years, Like if Cody was that bad and went back to twenty twenty one Cody Bellinger, if this was Steve Cohen as the owner, he'd probably say, all right, we'll release him, I'll eat the money, We'll go sign somebody else. We know John Stanton's not doing that, and we know Jerry Depoto hates constructing a roster like that. So again, if this was a five to six year deal for Cody Bellinger, I would be very very much listening with wide open ears saying all right, let's talk about this. Let's really think about this. Could he come here and change this offense if it's going to cost ten to twelve years and a fat contract, I'm a little more skeptical. 00:21:45 Speaker 1: He just see it just seems like too uh Like. First of all, we see no links to Seattle at all. There has been no reporting that Cody Bellinger is interested in signing at Seattle. I don't know. I don't actually think we think that the Murders are interested in sign up and Cody Bellinger, which you know, maybe if they're in a bigger market and they had more cash at hand, they would at least check in on him, and they might get mentioned in a couple of these reports as places Cody Bellinger could be interested in. But the only two places I'm seeing really is the Cubs and the Yankees. And the Cubs really liked him. He really liked playing in Chicago. I mean, he had a career resurgence in Chicago. His time in Chicago was the reason that he's about to become generationally wealthy in this free agent market. And the Yankees, as we know, desperately need outfielders besides Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger seems like a pretty good fit for that. 00:22:37 Speaker 2: The Giants seemed to be in on him too, So if you want a third team in the mix, San Francisco, and they certainly have money to spend, as we've seen from their failed attempts to sign some free agents in the last couple off seasons. But yeah, it does feel like it'd be the Yankees or the Cubs. And if I had to place a bet anywhere, I feel like you'd probably go back to Chicago, despite Scott Boris's ridiculous quotes, which we talked about on Friday Show at length, But yeah, it just seemed like a fit there. It just seemed like he was really comfortable there. He seemed like he liked the team, he liked the fan base, he liked the area, and he thrived. So if he went back to the Cubs, I certainly would not be shocked. And that's the bigger part of this, right is Cody and Scott Boris have to be willing to listen to potentially playing in Seattle. I will say, I'm gonna give you a round of applause here because you actually did a decent job sales pitching me on the Cody Bellinger idea in the sense of he's a new hitter, he has changed some things. He's not quite the guy he was when he was struggling mightily in twenty one and twenty two. But it still circles back to the idea of would the Mariners even entertain this? And what Scott Boris and Cody Bellinger entertain this? And I don't know if either of those things are going to happen. 00:23:45 Speaker 1: I don't. Yeah, I don't know. If Scott's flying Cody up to Seattle, I don't think so. If Simeon wasn't coming to Seattle, which was a fit, as we we said it was a fit, I don't. I don't know if Cody's I don't know. I don't know. Even if the Mariners were interested, Cody Bellinger would be taking a meeting with the Seat Mariners, so that would be an interesting fit. It's gonna be fun to see where Cody ends up, though, because we're going like Cody when he's playing well, is such a fun baseball player. And he again he made the Cubs significantly better this year, and he was very very good on the Dodgers. We saw the upside that he has, although to his own fault a little bit too much tinkering. It's like you tinker with your fantasy football lineup before you roll out on a Sunday. Well, it seemed like that's what Cody Bellinger was doing every year with his swing, and it did not work out very well for him, and that's why he's ended up in this situation. You can only imagine if he just kept going off that twenty nineteen season, I mean, he'd he'd be probably pushing four hundred million dollars. Oh yeah, two sixty five is you know enough? 00:24:45 Speaker 2: Just maybe not for the Mariners. Again, I think you did a good job convincing me and hopefully some listeners too. Of oh maybe maybe Cody really has changed some things. And again, if this was the Mariners, if this was a five or six year contract on the table, i'd really so to begin with, if it was a five or six year deal, I'd kind of be all ears, But you would have sales pitched me even more, maybe even if you stretch it to seven. But when you get into those double digit years, it just gets a little frightening for most guys. Honestly, most guys not named Showhey or somebody like that. Gets a little frightening, But somebody will give it to him, that's for sure. 00:25:19 Speaker 1: Would you have Okay, so let's just play a slight game here, now that we've seen two years of the contract. If you were to go back to twenty twenty one and let's throw out all the extra curriculars of what is what had happened with the Mariners that season with a certain franchise icon. If you had the option to sign Corey Seger to a twelve year contract, would you. 00:25:38 Speaker 2: Do it so with no knowledge of what he's done since then? 00:25:44 Speaker 3: Right? Uh? 00:25:45 Speaker 1: No, I would say, you know what he's done now, But I'm seeing the situation with Kyle Seger like probably let's say it doesn't exist, because that obviously had a factor. 00:25:56 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I would give Corey Seeger a twelve year contract now one hundred after seeing what he's done in his first two years in Texas. Again, that's knowing what we know now. Back then, I probably would have said in no way. Now, oh yeah, I'd give it to him. I think it's also fair to say Corey Seeger is probably a better player than Cody Bellinger is, despite Cody having an MVP to his name. I think I think Corey is worth a lot more. 00:26:19 Speaker 1: Yeah, well, if it wasn't for some two way guy named sho Hey, I think Corey would have an MVP to his name, So that would be it. But it'll be it'll be interesting. And again, sometimes these long contracts work. They sometimes they actually do. Sometimes they don't, and that's why you run the risk of seeing seeing if it's gonna work out. Before we get to our conversation with Taylor Sasato, let's hear a word from Betterhelp. Is something interfering with your happiness or preventing you from achieving your goals, regardless if you have a clinical mental health issue like depression or anxiety, or you're just a human who lives in this world who is going through a hard time. Therapy can give you the tools to approach your life in a very different way. And that's why I'm excited to tell you about today's sponsor, Betterhelp. 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Glad we were able to make the connection with Taylor Sauceato. You have a little bit of a family connection with his family, which helps with your connection with him on the field and ability to eventually now get him here onto this podcast. 00:28:06 Speaker 2: Yeah, we're pretty excited about this one. So when you're listening to us record this part here, we have not yet done the interview with Taylor. Doesn't mean we're not looking forward to it. In fact, we are very very much so looking forward to it because it's funny. I think Taylor has a lot of similar interests to the two of us sitting right here. He grew up a Seattle sports fan, grew up in the area. He's a big Star Wars guy. He's active on social media. I'd say we check all those boxes, right, Yeah, I. 00:28:33 Speaker 1: Would say so. 00:28:34 Speaker 2: So he's a fan favorite for a very good reason. And you saw how much fans began to love Sasato in his first year pitching here because he was very real. You could relate to him a lot. He's a fun guy. I mean, you saw him with the helmet on running around pregame when the Mariners social team would tweet it out with the Seahawks helmet on, throwing the football around, all that stuff. So we're really looking forward to talking to him because I think there's a lot we've got to add ask him about. I think it's gonna be a really, really fun conversation and we can't wait for you guys to hear it. 00:29:05 Speaker 1: So let's get to our conversation and hear from Taylor Sasato. 00:29:10 Speaker 2: All right, We've got Taylor Sasato, reliever for the Seattle Mariners. I was scrolling through your Twitter account, by the way, the other day and I'm scrolling through some of the replies. What do I come across? You respond to some tweet that says something about nominate Taylor Sasato for People's Sexiest Man of the Year, and you respond saying, oh, yeah, like I'm all for that. So action speak louder than words here. So my question is what photos are you submitting for this? 00:29:37 Speaker 3: Oh? Man, oh, it would probably have to do the probably a sports photo obviously, and then want in a suit. You have my best look, so one of those two. 00:29:52 Speaker 2: Are we talking men's warehouse type of suit or where do you get your suits at? 00:29:56 Speaker 3: I just had a bias suit because I went to that toy a fundraiser that Rick Riz put on and I went and got in that suit supply, So I don't really it's a nice suit. It looked good, but yeah, that was in Bellevue. 00:30:11 Speaker 1: What's your sales pitch outside of the photos? 00:30:17 Speaker 3: But I got a similar body types of DK Metcalf, So that's always Do. 00:30:24 Speaker 2: We need that photo at some point? I don't know if you've got connections to DK or not for the two of you to line up next to each other, but that photo will go viral across Seattle Sports Twitter. 00:30:32 Speaker 3: I say, you do. I have a photo with Tyler Lockett and DK and I do show people because they always they always laugh when I say that, and I'm like, every time I show the up, they're like, wait, you might be onto something. So yeah, I'll probably tweet that someday. 00:30:48 Speaker 2: But yeah, okay, speaking of the Seahawks, we figured before we got into any baseball stuff, as three people that are Seattle natives and just Seahawks fans, we figured we could just kind of shoot the he's about the Seahawks for a couple of minutes here, which I know you spend time kind of tweeting about, and I know you're religiously watching just like we are. So I figured I'd just start somewhere and then you can kind of take it wherever you want to take it. I guess we'll start here. Is it crazy to say that Devin Weatherspoon Legit might be an All Pro as a rookie, not. 00:31:16 Speaker 3: At all that guy. That guy's tested a tone on the field every time, and he's always making some big play. You know, he's always out there and you know he's he's doing what what Woolan's doing it Last year you know, but I think he's doing it at a at a better rate right now. So he's he's awesome to watch. 00:31:35 Speaker 1: Which side of this Geno trainer you on are we? 00:31:38 Speaker 3: Like? 00:31:38 Speaker 1: I'm like, team support Gino because it could it could be significantly worse as we turn on our TVs and watch every Sunday, So like, I don't know where you're at with this. 00:31:49 Speaker 3: I mean, I like Gino. I like Geno a lot. I was on the Geno train when he came in and when Russell got hurt for the four games a couple of years ago. Obviously of them last year and this year. You know, I think the one thing that I've watched is I don't necessarily think it's him, more so the play calling. I think, you know, something that you saw last week against the Commanders was in that last drive, specifically as they were running a lot of short intermediate routes and letting DK run those routes instead of just flying him, you know, up the seams. So I think that if we can go back to what Gino did last well last year was you know, those short intermediate throws, and I think we can get back to those. I think he's gonna be just fine. And obviously it kind of feels like we've gotten away from our run game and it feels like we have a pretty good one to two punch with that, and then I think they just need to utilize that a lot more. But again, I'm not a football expert, but that's just my opinion. 00:32:50 Speaker 2: I think that's some pretty good analysis. I mean, that was basically along the lines of what I was going to say is I'm still team Geno. It sounds like all three of us are in the same boat on that regard. I also feel like they've kind of gotten away from you and some of the tight ends a little bit. So back to your point about the intermediate passes, Like early in the year when they were really thriving offensively, I felt like more of that was mixed in and there's been less of that in the last couple of games. 00:33:09 Speaker 3: Yeah, one d per I couldn't agree more. 00:33:13 Speaker 2: Man, So, what's the ceiling for this team? Like, like, are your expectations legitimately like Super Bowl one hundred? 00:33:20 Speaker 3: Per? I wouldn't think anything different. I'm pretty sure I tweeted it out already too, so but no, I mean, I think they have a great defense, they're young, they're going to fly around. I think Leonard Williams is going to provide that boost, you know, and obviously we have the offensive weapons. Just got to figure out how to use it, you know. But that's always issue when you have weapons like that. You know, we have Bobo and I think he's great. I think he needs to be used a little bit more. But then you have JSN in front of him, you know, and obviously locking in DK, so it's like, how do you do that? And I think they're they're going to figure that out towards the end. You know, I have faith, especially with Pete. You know, we'll see what what Baldrin does with the offense, but I think we're gonna be I think we're gonna be good. You don't really have to worry about the defense right now, you know, especially with how young they are. They look great. Bobby's back there, He's plugging up holes. Is what we needed. So you know, I'm ceilings high for me. 00:34:18 Speaker 1: Well, you can count me as someone who's not quite as optimistic. I'll need to see it. Yeah, Well, I'm like, I watched those Niners games last year. I'm like, I'm gonna need to I'm gonna need to see it. I'm gonna need well, not last week. 00:34:34 Speaker 3: No, not last week, but yeah, that was tough to If they. 00:34:38 Speaker 1: Go out there on Thanksgiving and make Thanksgiving a lot better for all of us, then I might reconsider. But like, I feel like there's still that we still got that gap between there's the Eagles, there's the forty nine Ers, and then there's like the Grand Canyon and then there's the rest of the NFC, And I feel like the Seahawks are still on the wrong side of that Grand Canyon till till I see proven. Otherwise, they're going to have a fantastic chance to prove me wrong here in the next month. 00:35:05 Speaker 3: Yeah, it should be fun. I'm looking forward to it. 00:35:08 Speaker 2: Yeah, if they go three and one in that four game stretch with Dallas, the nine Ers twice the Eagles, like then all of a sudden, maybe and now we're believing. Honestly, even if they go two and two in those games, I'll be believing a lot more because then that would say, all right, they can hang with the big guys in the NFC. But look, I don't think anybody's complaining about six and three, six and three six, and three, if we were going to transition over to baseball a little bit again, something okay, I wanted to start with this. It's something a little bit more on the lighthearted note, because I know you're from here and you grew up in the area. I want to call back something that I want to say I heard around the summertime. So I'm standing around and want of Scott services media sessions and he's just talking, you know, he's answering questions like usual. You walk by, it was toward the end and Scott goes, you, guys have to get a load of this guy. He says about sauced it. He goes, this guy calls me or he tells me when he gets in today that he got lost driving to the and I'm thinking of myself, isn't Taylor a Seattle guy? So like, I don't know, like how does that happen? 00:36:06 Speaker 3: Well, that day was just a day that was a lot of bad traffic, and Siri rerouted me and I didn't really know where I was at. You know, obviously I didn't grow up in the city of Seattle, so I didn't exactly know. I didn't have service, so it was just a bit of a disaster and I got stuck in traffic. But if he's referring to the time where I did get lost in Seattle was after the Cracking playoff game, because I got lost twice. This isn't this didn't happen once, you know. And I've heard Paul tell this story on one of his interviews, which is fantastic that that's out there now. So but yeah, I got lost after the Cracking game. I was supposed to we had a day game and at the time, because I just got called up from Tacoma and I was still living out there, so I didn't We got a day game the next day, so I didn't want to drive all the way back and then drive all the way back here. So I got a hotel and Gabe and Topo we're going to give me a ride back, but their car got broken into. So I was like, I told him. I was like, you guys can just go ahead. I'll just make it easier for you. You know, you got a lot going on. I'll just uber I'm like a mile away from my hotel right now. We'll be fine. And they were like, are you sure, And I'm like, yeah, I'll be fine. And what I didn't realize was my phone was at like four percent and they take off, and as soon as they took off, my phone died and the uber was stuck because of the game and everything, they were stuck. They couldn't get down here. So I was just like, all right, I'm just going to walk to a gas station and buy a charger. That should be fine. Ended up not being fine. I got lost within the city and I left the game probably like eight o'clock eight thirty, and I didn't get home until like twelve forty. And because I would think, I was up all the way up in like Queen Anne, up in the hills, and I just kept trying to take left and I could never get out of it, can never get out of it. And I was walking for hours. I was sweating. I was so thirsty. I was like, dude, this sucks. And I sit down on a bench in his neighborhood and I'm just like sitting there, like I am I going to get home. I'm like going to do this, and I just so happened to look up and I'm like, well, they do say follow the North Star home, So I'll just follow the Star for as long as I can and it brought me over to this hill and it was just Seattle. I'm looking at it and I'm like, oh my god. I was probably like three miles still, and I just started running towards it and eventually got back and out into a hotel. I told them, I was like, my phone's dead. I'm staying at a Marriotte. Was there any way that you can look it up? They're like, yeah, you got like another two miles. I was like, is there a gas station around? They're like, yeah, it's across the street. And I was at that hotel to start the night, or to start this whole journey, and I missed the gas station across the street. So I'm like I could have avoided this whole disaster. And so yeah, once I told everybody that, Scott was like didn't you did you live here? Like how do you? How does this happen? I was like, I don't want to talk about it. So, yeah, it was. It was a bit of a rough night. 00:39:40 Speaker 1: I'll say Taylor is someone who's had some late nights there. So I grew up in Ballard, Like you know, it gets dark and you're walking around. But the thing is, it's like Okay. Am I going towards the water? Am I going away from the water? Am I going uphill? Am I going downhill? None of that was like kick in. It's like, oh, like my hotel is downtown. Perhaps I should walk toward to the skyscrapers I have. 00:40:02 Speaker 3: That's what I was trying to do, but I couldn't. This neighborhood it was like amaze. I'm telling you. It was like I felt like I was amazed from it. I couldn't see anything. I'm like trying to look for like the brightest lights, like seeing if I could see the fade. Nothing, and it was just trapped. I kept taking lefts, so I'm like, surely if I keep taking the left, I'll get back to him. I'm supposed to go. No, I didn't. Didn't work out. 00:40:23 Speaker 2: Okay, So again, it was dark and it sounds like, well, just to clarify, you were walking at one point during that right you said, I walked the whole way for for four hours. 00:40:33 Speaker 3: I was walking. 00:40:35 Speaker 2: Okay, so it was dark. But at any point while you were walking and kind of making your way throughout your whole journey, was there anybody who you walk by? It kind of looks over. It's like, is that Taylor Saucedo just trying to like walk up a hill or something. 00:40:48 Speaker 3: No, no, not yet. No, there wasn't any of that. It was just I only saw like maybe one or two people in this neighborhood. It was a nice neighborhood. So that was that was good. But no, I never I was like I hope honestly, I was like, I hope nobody sees me because at this point I'm like, I'm flating on my mouth drying, like this sucks. 00:41:09 Speaker 1: So would you believe me if I told you I was a big league picture and they'd be like no. 00:41:15 Speaker 3: That's what we all talked about. I was like, yeah, I would have gotten to the point of been like, hey, I'm not a crazy person like I would have been like I played for the Mariners, I'm lost, I need help, like but luckily I was guided by the North Star. So we made it home. 00:41:29 Speaker 1: Well that's good. Yeah, when in doubt, follow the follow the north Star. So is that like one of the things did you guys just while you guys are in the bullpen? I think this is like a question I'll probably ask after this, but is it like, do you guys go around the around the bullpen then and decide and like talk about like that's the third inning. You guys don't have to pitch or warm up yet. It's like, all right, what's your favorite story about getting lost somewhere? 00:41:51 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, we share definitely from like the first like the fourth inning. We're kind of just like sharing stories, talking, you know, bs and all that good stuff. So yeah, there's there's been a lot of funny stories I ever shared. 00:42:07 Speaker 1: If you were to, I would say a podcast appropriate topic of something you guys talk about in the bullpen, like what like what happens in a major league bullpen, let's say in those first four innings. 00:42:18 Speaker 3: Just a whole lot of nonsense. Really, you know, I don't know if I could share any of them currently, but you know, there it's it's a good time, especially with that group that we had. They were they were awesome, Like everybody just mashed like when you find people that all share the same personality together, it's it's a good time. So a lot of good laughs, But I don't know if any are appropriate for the podcast. 00:42:46 Speaker 1: Who's the best storyteller? 00:42:49 Speaker 3: H probably me. I'd probably give myself that one. I feel like I was the one sharing most of the stories. 00:42:58 Speaker 2: But yeah, okay, so who's second Trent? 00:43:02 Speaker 3: Probably Trent also has really good stories. I've obviously been with him with the Blue Jays, and he's he could tell a good story. 00:43:12 Speaker 2: I've got one. I know you said you're not. You don't want to bring most of the stuff up that you guys talk about, but I got one because one of the questions we asked a couple of guys on the mini mic this year is we asked him, if you could go back and see any moment in baseball history, what would it be. We asked Isaiah Campbell this question, and he goes, you know, honestly, due to some pretty compelling conversations in the bullpen, I want to go back in time and see if Babe Ruth was a real person or not. So now I got to ask, like, like on behalf of all Mariners fans, like, where's the bullpen out on this? Is Babe Ruth a real person or not? 00:43:44 Speaker 3: No? We don't, we don't. We don't think he exists. We you know, there's not a lot of videos of him playing. It's just like, you know, pictures are like one like of the same video that we always see him trotting around or doing something. So we're pretty strong on that he doesn't exist, and that who was it Ted Williams hit that like five hundred foot Homer or whatever it was at Fenway. Yeah, that never happened either, So. 00:44:15 Speaker 1: Okay, go ahead. 00:44:17 Speaker 2: The Babe Ruth thing I can actually like be open minded about because like I've heard people say similar things, and that is a good point. It's always that same one video Babe Ruth like in Black and White, takes the swing fast trot around the bases. That's it, Like that cold shot everybody talks about like there's no video of that, there's no like that. No, it's just a picture. 00:44:39 Speaker 3: Yeah. So yeah, we we we all like to get into you know, conspiracy talks like that. So it's fun. Everyone brings a different point of view into it, but we're all pretty much the same. 00:44:52 Speaker 1: So then did you guys walk out to the Ted Williams c. 00:44:56 Speaker 3: Yeah, and we sat out there and we're like, no chance, you know those chance back then there's anybody hitting this And if like guys like David Route with metal bats can't put it out there, then you're there's just no way that They're doing that back in the day with whatever kind of wood they were using. So there's just no way. 00:45:18 Speaker 2: I never heard the Ted Williams argument though. I again, this is what I could be open minded to. I never even really thought about it. 00:45:23 Speaker 3: You got a lot of time in boldmen, You're going to cover every pretty much every topic you can, you know, so you got to keep it interesting. 00:45:33 Speaker 1: Okay. 00:45:34 Speaker 2: So in terms of how you got to Seattle, right, I mean, you spent a couple of years with Toronto, you had a brief little stint with the Mets, but then ultimately before twenty twenty three starts, you end up with the Mariners. So when you get the call and you eventually worked out that, oh, this is where you're going to play your baseball in twenty twenty three, Like it's somebody who grew up here. What's your first reaction when you find out yet, I'm coming home to play baseball? 00:46:00 Speaker 3: Man? Honestly, like it, like my stomach dropped, you know, like everything I think that moment in time, everything stopped for me, you know, because when they when they called me, when the Mets called me, obviously, like I was shocked in the first place that I was picked up because obviously, you know, I didn't have great numbers and it was hurt all last year. And then the Mets called and then like maybe claims you. And then you're like, okay, cool, and then you know I get df D again, and you know, you're like, all right, well I was lucky enough the first time. And I actually the first day that they called, I got DFAD and I'm just like, well, let me just take a look at what them Mariner's situation are with lefties, you know, and I was looking at them both and at the time, everything looked pretty solid. So I was like, okay, well that's just you know, that's just a dream come true. But you know, I'll probably end up back in Syracuse. And so when they called me and the Mats and they were like, hey, I just wanted to let you know you've been claimed by the Seattle Mariners, and I was like, what did you I was like, what did you just say? She was like, yeah, you just got claimed by the Seattle Mariners, and I was like I at that point, I didn't hear anything that she said. I didn't process anything. So that I ran in there, my mom was like doing something. I was staying with them during this time, and she was like making some food and she was like listening to music and I just went over and I was like kind of like slapping her on the shoulder and she was like, what do you want. I was like, I was like, I'm a Seattle Mariner and she was like what. And then she ran into my stepdad's office and he was like on a meeting and she was like, get off your meeting. Get off your meeting. And she was like what do you want, Like this is a port meeting and he was like He's like, you know, Taylor just got picked up by the Mariners, and he just he was like I gotta go. And yeah, it was it was pretty true. I did a couple of paces in the backyard like man, this is this is crazy. This is actually happening. And then when I got that phone call and it just comes over Seattle Mariners, you know, and I'm like, wow, this is this is crazy. So yeah, it was pretty surreal. 00:48:21 Speaker 1: Before I ask you, I guess about like what you've done this season with the Mariners, like off of how you built all this excitement going to play for the Mariners, your same generation of Mariner fans as we are, so like, what was the was the thing I think that sticks out to you most from your childhood about the Mariners and building that connection. 00:48:43 Speaker 3: I just like, honestly, like when I went to the field for the first time in spring training and uh, you see Mike Cameron's in there, and you see Echiro and you know, you're seeing Edgar and I'm like, dude, these are the guys that I watched growing up, and now I'm just going to work with them, Like now we're just sharing the same clubhouse. Like that was really when I was like, man, this is happening. And then you're walking down this spring draining and you're seeing like all the murals of all the people that I played here before, and you know, I just it kind of reamps my love for baseball. Like obviously I love baseball and you know everything, but like being able to go in there and you walk into the clubhouse for the first time and you see that jersey hanging and you're like, everything that you went through led to this moment right here, Like you know, I'm just going to try and enjoy it as much as I can no matter what happens. Like I can say that Hey, I got to put on this uniform for however long. But at the end of the day, like you made a dream that only a certain amount of people who grow up they want to play a sport, they want to play in the big leagues and able to play for their hometown team. There's not many doing that. And so that was just like, he that's a check mark. That's great. You know, let everything else fall into place and see what happens. And so it was really cool. 00:50:07 Speaker 1: I assume Eachro was the first person you went up to to try and talk to. 00:50:10 Speaker 3: I couldn't even talk to him. I panics. He was like he was walking down the hallway and I saw him and like immediate, immediate nervous sweats and I just kind of like paced. I was like and I turned around and I was like, went back to my locker. I was like, why did I do that? Why did I do that? And so I eventually ended up talking to him later, and it was pretty crazy when he came up and he was like, hey, Taylor, and I was like, I'm on first name basis with Eatro. That's that's crazy. So another cool moment was too is when I was when I was younger, I had a broken bat from my camera and I've had it with me in a case since I was a kid. And uh, once I found out Mike was around a lot, I asked my parents to ship out the bat, and right after one of our morning meetings, I went up to him and I showed him and he was like, He's like, how did you get this? And I told him the story and I was like, I've had it since I was a little kid, Like you were one of my favorite players growing up. I was like, you think you could sign this? And he was like of course. You know. He's going around showing everybody in the bag. He's like, this is the wood you need, like stuff like that. It's like really cool. So it's just like just like really cool moments in screen training. I'm just like, man, this is it. This is just a dream come true. 00:51:37 Speaker 1: What's it like Havin intro around the clubhouse during the regular season when when when he's available to. 00:51:42 Speaker 3: Be there, it's like a celebrity saying, just like the biggest celebrity you know. I mean, it's just really cool. And then he's so down to the earth and it's just funny because like he does the same stuff we're doing, and he's still like you like that dude could probably play like they somehow he lose like three outfielders or something like. You know, I feel like he could be that emergency like ten day contract kind of thing and you can put him out there and you know, and he still looks good. It is. It's awesome to watch him do his thing and just be present and still continue to love the game like it's awesome. 00:52:19 Speaker 2: Okay, So major League Baseball in the next couple of years is starting to float out the idea of doing this Legends home run derby, Like how like David Ortiz said he was down and a Rod said he was down. How can we use how can you use your poll to get Eachiro into that thing? Because one of the things I always said about each Heiro is I think that guy could legit win a home run derby. 00:52:38 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you hear about that all the time, like growing up, They're like, he doesn't he doesn't hit a lot of homers, but he can if he wanted to. And so and obviously I'm sure you guys saw that video of him breaking that window and the other day, I don't know how recent that is or if that was you know, this year or what. But like that guy can that guy can still swing it, you know, And I'm sure if he did get to that point, I'm sure his name would be thrown in quite a bit. So that would be really cool to watch. 00:53:07 Speaker 2: What do you feel like the Mariners did both? Okay, so what do you feel like once you got to the mirrors both you did with your kind of approach and repertoire and what the Mariners helped you with that really seemed to click for you this year because the Mariners do seem to have a reputation over the last few years of helping a lot of relievers just kind of be their best self. So what do you think they did with you? 00:53:28 Speaker 3: Well, it's it's so crazy because like, they didn't do they didn't change anything about me. When I got here. They you know, they brought me in and they had a meeting and I've never had a meeting like it before, and they basically just sit you down. They put this whole whiteboard in front of you, and they just basically tell you, here's what you do really well, and even when you make mistakes, here's what teams are hitting. You know, they're like, if you just take the all of your stuff and you just put it in that box in that strike zone, like you're gonna have success. And all they do is they just pump your tires. They're like, you belong here, you can do this, you can be a big contributor. And you start to think, you're like, okay, yeah, really it's it's it's actually not that hard, like and they're like, yeah, and even though you know it's it's still hard, right, it's still the big leagues, but like they just simplify it to where you're like wow, and they show you all those numbers and you and it's just kind of eye opening because like you know, with with the Blue Jays, it was different. You know, they were like, hey, don't do this, don't do that, you know, stay away from this. But then when I got here, I never heard the words don't and know and can't. I never heard those. They were like, do, dode, do and be you. That's their biggest thing is like be you and do these things because you're doing really well, you're just not throwing them or your usage isn't here, or you know, you're not throwing it in the correct area, like all you have to do is move around your They're just really smart and identifying the pitchers and the players that they want and able to get the best out of them regardless of what they've done before. Like they just know because they're really good with those numbers metric wise, analytically wise, and they don't shove it down your throat. They're just like, hey, this is what you do. Continue doing that and don't get away from it. And you're like, okay. And it's funny because like I said that coming in here when I was like, I've never had a meeting like that. And then we got Trent and they had the same meeting with them, and I remember he came out for BP and to throw and he was like, I've never had a meeting like that, and I was like, I said the same exact thing, like you know, and it's just like it's just really cool and organic to see that. And you know, just after seeing what I've seen it, it's not a shocker that they can get the best out of, you know, practically anybody, you know. I mean, i mean look what they did with Toba, Like that guy was in indie ball and you know, you know, thinking about not playing baseball anymore, and then now he's you know, a high end reliever and one of the best relievers in baseball. You know, it's just it's incredible to watch and and you know, especially to be a part. 00:56:13 Speaker 1: Of well part of your game. You think benefited the most from that. 00:56:19 Speaker 3: And like in like what way, like, uh, let's see. 00:56:22 Speaker 1: In like you're just in your like pitching style. 00:56:25 Speaker 3: Just honestly, what I benefited from it was just trust. Like I didn't, like, like I said, when I was when I was with the Blue Jays, it was a lot of hey, don't do that, stay away from this with Riety's and so I just kind of felt like I put myself in a box and it almost was like, man, they really know what's gonna come. And the Mariners are like, you have five pitches, you might as well use all of them. Can play. There's not one that we think that we need to get rid of. Just throw it and trust it. And you know, like I wasn't throwing my change up that much and they were like, like, hell, come, You've only thrown it thirty two times, and I'm like, I don't know. They're like, we want you to throw that a lot more like obviously triple those numbers, you know, and just do stuff. They're just stuff like that, and you're like okay, yeah, well yeah, that's a very simple fix, you know. And so they're just they're just really good at getting the best out of that player. And I just for me, like to steal that confidence and for me like I can't I can't thank you enough. And they've done it for a lot of people, and you could really feel like that belief and that that's huge, especially for guys that are dfaid or up and down and you know, don't have a place where they've fully stayed in the big leagues, Like for them to look at you and you can fully believe that, and it's it's huge. 00:57:53 Speaker 1: How do you measure your success? What kind of numbers do you look at? Like, for example, in this podcast, like we died of like really deep, we're looking at baseball sov We're looking at fan grafts, all these these numbers to try and determine how successful you guys are on the baseball field. How do you, as a player determine how successful you are? 00:58:11 Speaker 3: Just like for me, especially for for me from last year, is like availability like can I be a factor when you need me. Can I stay healthy? You know? All year? Am I available to go? Back to back? Am I available to go? You know? Four out of six? Whatever it is. That that's what I looked at, you know, in the game of you know, in the schedule of one hundred and sixty two games, like you're going to fail in between that that's just how it's going to be. You can't be perfect, you know, not everybody could be the Josh Haders of the world, you know, but or you know whoever else is doing it, but there you're going to fail. And so for me, it's just like can I get back out there? Can I do it again? You know, and just to be available, like you know, I know everybody loves to go analytically driven, you know, that's to determine the success of a player. But you know, and I think in our world, we we don't look at those numbers as much as you know the fans do. Yeah, it could play a factor, and it's a good measure to see where you're at, but like that's not all you know that we look at. We're looking at Okay, well, you know what was the score of the game? Did I limit? Did I give our team a chance to win the game. Okay, yes, you know, I might have gave up that game time run, but it's still tied and we're still going into the eighth with the top of our lineup coming up. You know, there's still a chance to win this ball game. You know, just stuff like that. And you know, I think that's what a lot of us do, and you know, and especially for me, that's how I look at it. 00:59:45 Speaker 1: So you might not check your era, but what about some of those things like you go in the bullpen and you get you know, full video breakdown of you know, mechanically and release point and stuff like that. Is there is there a number or something specific you look in there to measure that a little bit more? Or is it is it just what you said? 01:00:01 Speaker 3: No, again, I think it's just what I said. If anything, like numbers I'm looking at are just like, hey, what is this hit or done? You know in the last like ten games? What you know? Is he hot or is he cold? Like just stuff like that. Like though again, like I can if I start looking at my numbers and then I'm like, oh my god, I have a two point eight. Now now I'm pitching for my numbers. I'm not pitching for the game or for the outs. I'm like, well, hopefully it'll get over three, you know, or hopefully, you know, I keep this run two and then that's when things start to unravel and you know, and so I'm not ever really looking at that stuff. Yeah, it's cool to have good numbers. Yeah, it's great, fantastic. Obviously you need that if you're going to stick around. But at the end of the day, like I'm still getting outs, I'm still doing the right things. You know. I might get kicked in the stomach here every once in a while, but you know, at the end of the day, I'm available, I'm healthy. You can count on me to go out there when you need me. So that's that's the main goal for me. 01:00:59 Speaker 2: Okay, how tough is it to get to go back to back or to go three in a row, because sometimes, like for fans watching him home, I think I think you see people sit there and say, oh, like are they going to use this guy? It's like, oh, well, you pitched the night before and and you know, maybe he's down today. For example, like for you guys, like how much does that take to get out there for the second day in a row or even the third day in a row. Every now and then when guys go three straight, like like what goes into that? 01:01:23 Speaker 3: I mean, it's it's very tough because again, like a lot of the times, like what obviously, like what the fans don't see is like obviously you go back to back and sometimes that back that second day doesn't go well, well they didn't see that. We might have warm up three times in a row but didn't get into the game. And then on that fourth time we eventually get into the game, and then well you go in the game and it's like, well, you only threw ten pitches. Well, they don't count the warm up pitches yesterday, so you're hanging a little bit, you're dragging, so like that, you're just your body always feels a little differently, you know, it's never like how it did on the first day when when you had time down, and so it's like you have to go back and you have to try and focus in on your mechanics and not that can always get in the way when you're instead of you're just focusing on throwing strikes. Now you're like all right, you know, am I on time or am I behind or whatever. It is like that that second day is always a little bit tougher some days. Now, it's always different depending on the month. If we're like, you know, in let's say September compared to you know, March or whatever it is, right, like, you know, August September back to bask going to suck a little worse compared to the beginning of the year. You know, obviously when you're fresh and you have those bullets reserved. But yeah, I mean it's tough. But again, if you want to be relievering, you want to stay in this league, you know it's volatile, but you know you have to do it, and you just mental fortitude more than anything, and just just grind through it, that's all. 01:02:57 Speaker 1: I'm like. 01:02:58 Speaker 3: That's why it's even just like impressive to watch what like Matt Brash did this year, Like that guy's pitching in almost half of our games, and it's in an year where you have to face a three batter minimum compared to when you could just go in there and face one righty or one lefty and you know, you've racked up ninety appearances and that's great, but you're only pitching point one. But you know, to see what Brash did that was just like and to consistently go out there and he's still ninety seven ninety nine one hundred every single time, you're like, how is this guy doing it? And you know, obviously the trainers do really they do a great job on keeping us healthy and allowing us to do what we need to do to recover. A lot a lot of guys will be like, well you did this or you did that. Man's like, hey, this makes you feel good and you trust us and you want to do that, do it, And so I think that's obviously a huge part in that. And so it's just yeah, I mean, you got to just got to get through it a little bit. 01:04:00 Speaker 1: What was your reaction when you first saw Matt Brash slider. 01:04:06 Speaker 3: In AWE? It's just like ridiculous, Like how is he making a ball move at that? And then when I'm like, I'm like I kind of want to try and that, and then you go and look at his grip and you're like never mind, Like you know, it's like he's just so unique and everything that he does like you just can't copy it. And you know it's like how does how is it powerful? How is that so much power coming out of that small body, you know, and he's he's one of the best, And yeah, it's awesome to watch him go out there and make guys look foolish because again, like, not many people are able to spin batters around as much and frequently as he does it. And so it's just like that just goes to show you, like how gross his stuff is and you know, he's he's truly special. 01:04:51 Speaker 1: Taylor. Last thing for me before we wrap it up with a few rapid fire questions. This your story has been documented. J Garci and King find did a great story on you and Spring training about your journey through mental health, and if you want to go look at it, you can go find it on King five and on YouTube as well. So I don't I don't know if we need to talk about that specifically since that's out there, but I would imagine this season that you just had, I mean, your mental health was probably about as good as it's been. You've been through this journey. You know what works for you and what doesn't it and the results we were there for you as well. How important is the mental side of this game as well to having success. 01:05:27 Speaker 3: It's it's the biggest I mean, that's kind of what I was talking about earlier, you know, to have you know, the coaches tell you all these things and that obviously you believe that and and you carry it out there. But you know, especially especially in sports, you know, every emotions are are waves. You've seen it, and you know frustration, you know, you know, we all can imagine, you know, how easy it is because we're sitting on the couch, you know, and but it it is the difficult thing to go through day to day because nobody wants to out there and lose, and you feel it more than ever. And I think just for me and this year, like I put a little bit more pressure on myself just because of you know, obviously of all the factors of you know, playing growing up here and all that stuff. But you know, if you can go out there and you feel that people believe in you, and you feel that you know you're doing all the right things, then your mental health will will be okay. But at the end of the day, like you just got to stay on the path that you're going on and trust the people around you and just lean into that. And that's all I did this year. You know anytime that, especially after my first my first bat outing in Texas. You know, I was writing that that often trained with the Blue Jays, so I only ever knew like, hey, when you mess up, like you're probably going above flow. You know. In this case it would have been Tacoma. But you know, I I remember coming to the field that day and just probably the reason, one of the many reasons why you know, Stephen Vote is you know, the manager now for the Guardians, it is he came to me. And I always remember this because you know, I was sitting there and obviously a little bit quiet than normal, just expecting, you know, the worst, because I think we called somebody up that day too. So I'm like, all right, well it's a good run, you know, but it is what it is. I'll try and work to get back here. And I remember he came and pulled me aside and he was like, you're doing all right? And I'm like, yeah, I'm doing all right, you know, and he was like, are you upset about yesterday? And I'm like, well, of course I am sitting here like that sucked, you know, like I could have won that game, you know, obviously if I didn't do that could have kept us in it, which I didn't. And he was like, he was like so what he was like, not one of us here, don't think that you can't do it. Every single one of us believes in you. Every single one of us talk about how yesterday was nothing but a bad day and that's all it is. And he was like, you can sit here and you can play the numbers game and you can sit here and be like, oh, yeah, we could have won if you did this or that, but it didn't happen, and then we move on from it, and that that is where our mindset is, and that should be your mindset. And so like, yeah, I've worked on a lot of those things going coming up here, but at the end of the day, those old habits still creep in. But like I said, when you lean into the people around you and you trust those people and you believe in what they're saying, it makes things a lot easier. And so that's all I did this year, and especially with the Manners, you know, they just told me over and over like be you, be you, be you, and never be afraid to be you and regardless of what anybody says. And I think again, like that is why they get the best player out of you because your your style is out there on the mountd instead of like you're trying to fit somebody else's style. And you know, and that's I think that's why we have such a good clubhouse too, and it's an easy places. I've talked with guys plenty of times, you know, this year or throughout this last year about like how they handle you know, the stress of you know, every day in the big leagues, because I up to this point like, yeah, I had a nice little run with the Blue Jays, but I never had a full year per se in the big leagues. So like again those day to day emotions of just like how do you do this? And especially in September where things were tight and things were you know, high pressure, it was you leaned on the guys because you know, we fell short and we know that, and but we all leaned in on each other. And I you have that special bond with everybody, and I haven't had that since I've been in the big leagues until I got here, And so you feel that you can trust and talk to anybody, anybody about what was going on, and made it a really great working environment. 01:10:05 Speaker 2: That's really cool. Okay, so off that. The last thing I had for you before we get to a couple of fun questions to wrap this up, was the two outings that stick out to me the most from you this year were an outing at home against the Pirates and then that's save you had in Anaheim, which I mean, I remember you being just fired up after those two outings, which I think is one of many reasons a lot of fans relate to you in that way. I mean not just being from the area and not just growing up a seatle sports fan, but just like you know, you let your emotions out there. I mean both when it's really good and even when it's a little bit on the downside too. But I mean those two outings you had where you get out a huge jam. There are big moments in the game, they're late in the game and you just kind of let it rip. Can you even describe what that feeling is like when you get out of a jam like that late in the game. 01:10:53 Speaker 3: It's just pure electricity. You know. The crowd helps a lot too. Obviously the setting helps a lot too. But for me, I think because I'm I'm not normally a big like yelling the mound kind of guy. But I think I just wasn't really given those opportunities growing up. I've always been a competitor, Like I love to compete. Doesn't matter if I'm playing poper shot or if I'm closing out a game. It doesn't matter, Like You're gonna get the same competitor out of me no matter what it is. But I've always gone with a little bit of the quieter approach. But when you're in situations like that and you know it's a sold out crowd and you know, you got bases loaded three two count, you know one of their young promising hitters up there, which it was Cabrian Hayes, you know, like and you have a writing and you know that like everyone on their sides like well the matchups saying that it should be Cabrian and that you know, writing smashed me a lot, and you know, and then you go out there and you prove them wrong. You know. It's it's like you feel that energy go through you and you just kind of just gotta let it out, and you know, and especially like a save against the Angels or I think that was the win. You know, again, like nobody expects me to be in that moment. Nobody, I mean I heard it on the announcers. Nobody really wanted me in that moment. They're like, why is it game here in this moment? Why? You know, why isn't why are we doing this? And you know, you go out there and again and you prove them wrong and you're like, you know, hey, like I could do this, and you know, like look what I just did and that was that was really cool. So yeah, it's just pure electricity. That's all it is. 01:12:36 Speaker 2: Okay, you say you love to compete. When you had that Seahawks helmet on doing the pre game throws with the football on this year, what's your compete level at one through ten? 01:12:45 Speaker 3: All right, we gotta go. We gotta get that first down. You know, I gotta complete. You know that was that was good? We love it. 01:12:53 Speaker 2: Okay. We've got like five kind of rapid fire questions to wrap this up with you before we call it, before we call it closed. The first one we have for you is your go to pregame and post game meal. 01:13:03 Speaker 3: Is what m M my go to. I'm a big pre game grilled cheese. Grilled cheese are a case of the I don't. I don't like to eat a whole lot before a game. I just never. I don't like to feel a fool out there or anything. So keep a small grilled cheese, maybe some fruit, either grilled cheese or case of the post game. Now it's might expose me a little bit, but I didn't ever really eat at the field. I ate a lot of Wendy's Son Son of Baconator and a six piece spicy dug with the honey, mustard and lemonade. That was kind of my thing. I didn't. I know that you gotta eat healthy, but sometimes you come back and it's like it's like hot. You're like, I'm gonna I'm gonna go with some some Wendy's to that. 01:14:05 Speaker 2: Yeah. 01:14:06 Speaker 1: So when you're a big leaguer, you can upgrade from the four for four. 01:14:09 Speaker 3: Yeah exactly. 01:14:12 Speaker 1: Yeah, been there, done that. Okay, next question, your three favorite TV shows ever? 01:14:21 Speaker 3: Mandalorian, Breaking Bad, and third one. I don't know, probably season one of Loki Marvel Guy, so yeah, probably probably season one of Loki. Season two is. 01:14:47 Speaker 1: All right, but I will say like I love Mandalorian too. I know Wild does too. We're also big Star Wars fans, but I never I never hear it get thrown around in best TV show, So I don't know, maybe I'll have to reconsider it's up there, but maybe not number one. 01:15:02 Speaker 3: For me, it's probably it probably goes Breaking Bad and then Mandalorian, But I mean nothing fired me up, like when Luke Skywalker came out of that ship, so I knew right away. I was watching with my parents and they said they only watched those shows, so I can always give them like the background details of everything happening. Remember watching I was like, oh my god, it's happening. They were like, what's happening. What's happening? They're like, do we need to positive? Like, do not touch the remote? So that's that's how big and so yeah, I think definitely Breaking Bad number one, and then mandaloriaan number two. 01:15:39 Speaker 2: I somehow didn't pick up on it when that scene happened in in Mando where like the X Wing Fighter comes in, Like I didn't think that Luke would have still had it for whatever reason, So I didn't even realize it until they put him on camera. I just wasn't even thinking about it. But yeah, you were, you were out ahead of it. 01:15:53 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I saw it right away. I knew. I knew that actually right there, I was like, that's that's him. So cool. 01:16:00 Speaker 2: Maybe that's a whole conversation for another time. Is just dive deep into Star Wars talk. Okay, if you weren't playing baseball, third question here, what do you think you'd be doing? 01:16:11 Speaker 3: A right See? So that's that's a funny question because I've never ever had anything where I'm like, I'll do this, you know, here's my backup plan? S cuicheated is I never had a plan B, and so I don't. I don't know what I would do. Maybe that's a good thing, it's a bad thing. I don't know. I'll cross that bridge when I get there. So, but my deal, my deal dream drove would probably just be like be a streamer something like that. You know. 01:16:43 Speaker 2: That's what I was gonna say, is your backup plan be a worldwide twitch streamer exactly? 01:16:47 Speaker 3: Yeah, So I started that, started getting that thing going. So we'll see. But yeah, maybe if things all fail, maybe that's what I do. 01:16:55 Speaker 1: It's a pretty good contingency plan. I'd say, who is your favorite all time baseball player? 01:17:03 Speaker 3: Favorite all time baseball player? 01:17:05 Speaker 1: Felix is pretty good choice this podcast Concurse. 01:17:10 Speaker 2: Yeah, did you get to Oh yeah, you caught his first pitch this year, didn't you? 01:17:14 Speaker 3: No, I didn't get to catch his first pitch, but I was in his uh the Hall of Fame speech, not not by him, but by Stanton just you know. He was talking about how like Felix and inspired people, and he was like inspired our own players, and he said a few guys and I was in that and I was like, so again. That was another one of those moments where I'm like, again my favorite player in the world, and somehow I get to be in a manage uniform in the dugout and watching him get inducted in the Mayor's Hall of Fame, and then my name gets on there. I'm like, this is crazy. 01:17:53 Speaker 2: Okay, So who was the first pitch that you did catch this year? 01:17:55 Speaker 3: Then? 01:17:55 Speaker 2: Was it Richard Sherman? 01:17:57 Speaker 1: Uh? 01:17:57 Speaker 3: Yeah, I caught Uh well, I was trying to get It was Doug Baldwin, Michael Michael Bennett, and I think it was kJ Wright. No, anyways, it was one of the It was those those three guys. But yeah, I wanted to catch Doug Baldwin, but we had one one ten at the time we were we were supposed to go one by one, and one didn't know like who was who, so he just went on Doug Baldwin and I ended up having to catch Michael Bennett's and I was nervous, a little nervous, and Michael Bennett threw one a little high and sailing and I thought I had it, like I just kind of short armed it and it went right above my head and there was a camera guy and it kind of squared him up in the in the no no zone, and uh, Michael Bennett started yelling at me, like what did you? I said, I was like cut, it didn't cut. I was like it cut. He was like no, it didn't. You just made me look at him like no. And then I caught Jamie Moyer. That was pretty cool. And I caught Phoenix Junior. So I caught a few guys. Okay, yeah, so that that was all I think. I I can't remember, it's in such a long season, but I'm pretty sure I got to catch Oli Rude. Pretty sure Oli Rude. Oh yeah yeah, so yeah, a few few marriages to the Yawks. But yeah, that's my bad, Michael Bennett. 01:19:43 Speaker 2: We'll try to pass along the message if we ever in a million years ever came across him. Okay, the last one I have for you. We've asked a couple of the minor leaguers that if you were to make your big league debut today, like, what would the song? What would either your walk up song be or your entrance song be when you enter the field. But for you, I've got to ask because you've had the same walk up song for or entrance song for a decent while now, and it's the most fitting song I think ever, Funny enough, before i'd ever heard it played at the stadium for you. When entering the game, I thought to myself, you think Taylor Saucedo would ever use too much sauce as as walk up song. I asked TJ that and He's like, I don't know, maybe, And then I heard it and I was like, oh, like let's go like he actually uses it. So I guess my question is how long after that song came out did you say, oh, I have to use this. 01:20:30 Speaker 3: I think it was like the first night I dropped because I used to be a really big future fan, and so I think like the first night it dropped, I was like I just found my walkout song for hover long I played baseball now and yeah, I mean it just stuck. So I didn't use it for a while here just because, like I never said anything, I just like didn't go with the walkout. I just I don't know why, Like everywhere I go, I'm like kind of make that my walk out. But once I did, it was just like it was pretty cool. Just again to hear it in Safe Home and say safe Go. But yeah, yeah, it's pretty cool. Okay. 01:21:09 Speaker 2: Follow up to that quick follow up, we also said before Brian wu debut, we were like, would he ever use the Wu by pop Smoke? And then he did use it. Now maybe you know the answer to this, maybe you don't. But has he been using that a long time too? Or was that a first season thing for him? 01:21:23 Speaker 3: I'm not too sure. That's hopefully you guys can get him on there and yeah, I don't know. That's a perfect, perfect walk out for him. 01:21:34 Speaker 2: Well, tip of the cap to you, Like you said, you've got your walk up song pick for basically the rest of the time, and it worked. It worked beyond beliefs this year. So absolutely, well, Taylor, this has been awesome. We really really appreciate all the time you took to sit here and kind of chop it up with us. I hope fans enjoyed the interview. I'm guessing that they did, and hopefully we can do it again soon at some point, because we really enjoyed. 01:21:56 Speaker 3: It absolutely anytime. 01:22:01 Speaker 2: Okay, I think I can speak for both of us when I say that was a pretty cool conversation, right. 01:22:05 Speaker 1: Yeah, it was. It's always good to, you know, get these guys off the field and get a little bit more of a genuine side. I'll just I don't I want to speak for Taylor, but that's about as genuine as you will get from a professional athlete ever, Like ever, unless you're doing unless it's like I don't know, like Paul George's podcast, where it's like player versus player, I mean, you don't really get the authentic side of athletes that often. But here we are, I mean hearing about how Taylor Sauceadle got lost in Queen Anne somehow after a after a cracking game and didn't know where to go and followed the north Star home. So I'm or so happy that Taylor took some time to join us. It made our lives better. I'm sure. I'm sure we helped entertain him enough to that was that was a lot of fun. 01:22:54 Speaker 2: A lot of fun, I mean genuine it was funny, pretty open to talking. He shared some bullpen conspiracy, yeah, all around. It was just it was a really really cool conversation. So we certainly enjoyed it. We hope you guys enjoyed it if you want, just a little synopsis of who Taylor Sasato is. The first time I ever had a conversation with them, it was early on when we were doing some of the mini mic interviews that we do at the field, and I asked him and I said, hey, do you have like thirty seconds? And he actually had to run in, like he had somewhere he had to be. So he started to run in. He goes down the dugout steps. He gets about halfway down, and he turns back around and he comes back up the steps and he said, actually, no, don't worry about it. I got a few minutes, so I can definitely spare thirty sixty seconds, no worries. And and that was my first interaction with them, And even back then, I was like, you probably don't get that out of a lot of big leaguers. So from that point on, I was like, that's a pretty cool dude. And then the more and more, not just us, but plenty of fans got to see who he was throughout the year, and not just on the field with how well he pitched, but his personality, how active he is on social media. It's been really cool to follow in the fact he sat down for fifty minutes or so with us to kind of just talk talk and all. Yeah, we had a blast with it, So we appreciate the time Taylor took and we hope you guys enjoyed the interview. With that, that'll just about wrap 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 side of your podcast. If you do that, make sure to follow the show download leave us a five star review. Those reviews and downloads they do help us out a bunch, so just take a couple extra seconds to do that. Go watch on YouTube too. If you want to see all the Taylor's reactions to this interview, it's all over on the YouTube side. Go like, comment, subscribe over there and follow us on social media on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube shorts at Marine Layer Pod. That's TJ. I'm Lyle. As always, we thank you guys for tuning in. Talk to you soon.