Episode 79: Stacy Rost (Seattle Sports), Mariners Trade Jarred Kelenic, And Apparently Have No Money

[00:00:00] Welcome to Episode number 79 of the Marine Layer Podcast. We welcome on Stacy Rost, a host on Seattle Sports. We'll discuss the Mariners news at the Winter Meetings and her career in radio.

[00:00:12] We'll discuss this Jarred Kelenic trade as well and man, it seems like there is a whirlwind coming out of Nashville. We will try and tame it here on this show.

[00:00:23] Before we start this show, here's your reminder to download our episodes, leave us a five star review and follow the show. If you're listening to the podcast, that's the audio side. If you do that, go do all those things. They help us out a ton.

[00:00:35] And if you're watching, make sure to subscribe, like comment on YouTube. How about like comment subscribe? That's that flows a little better on YouTube full video side of the podcast over there.

[00:00:45] And then follow us on social media on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube shorts at Marine Layer Podcast. Let's get it rolling. And we welcome you to this episode of the Marine Layer Podcast, part of the Just Baseball Podcast Network recording here on Tuesday evening, December 5th.

[00:01:14] And while it pains me to say to you, the day has come that Jarred Kelenic is no longer a Seattle Mariner. How do you feel? I mean, you can guess sucks fucking sucks. Now I'm now, now I'm like in search of a new favorite Mariner.

[00:01:32] Dude, this is here's a jersey that's gone to waste. This sucks. Yeah. What are you going to do with that? Are you going to frame it or are you going to tuck it away?

[00:01:40] You're going to be like, I'm always you're always going to have a spot in my heart, J.K. I'll still wear it. He he does always have a spot in my heart. Plus, you know, I love that color that spring training blue, even though you don't like it.

[00:01:53] I love it. So I will still wear that jersey. I think it'll boil down to a lot of what his farewell post on Instagram said supporting him over sporting the franchise. Listen, what did I tweet out when he got traded on Sunday night?

[00:02:07] I said he's got a fan in me no matter where he goes. It's funny. I have seen some people being like I'm now a Braves fan because Jarred's gone. I'm not quite like that. But yes, I will root for Jarred Kelenic wherever he goes.

[00:02:17] If you've listened to this podcast, if you follow us on social media, you know that's been my guy forever. I mean, since he was traded here and like I kind of even want to reminisce for a minute to the day him and Logan debuted.

[00:02:29] I have never been more excited to go to a baseball game at that point in my lifetime than that day when they debuted because that Kelenic trade was the first big signal of here's what it could look like if the rebuild works.

[00:02:42] A blue chip top 10 upside prospect that ended up being a top four to five guy when he debuted coming up with a high end picture. It's like the futures now. That's what it felt like that day.

[00:02:54] And I'm glad Logan's worked out, but man, I just like the downfall kind of since then really, really sucks. That was a fun day. I remember that day. I pre-gamed in the back of my car. That was fun. That was to start it off.

[00:03:09] It was me and the guy. There's a guy next to me and I've never seen for a May Mariners game coming off, you know, a pretty average 2020 season and us not expecting a winner in 2021. You know, I'm sitting in the back of my car having parked there.

[00:03:22] I have a tall boy of alcohol waiting to go in and I hadn't like I'm with you, Lyle.

[00:03:27] I really hadn't felt that excited to be at a Mariner game in forever and you and I when we're in the stadium like and your brother was there and your friend, John as well.

[00:03:36] We're all there in the stadium sitting up there in the 300 level like just so excited about this. And it unfortunately is not worked out for Jared. I don't think that excitement has been replicated for myself outside of that outside of the game three of the ALDS.

[00:03:53] I mean, really it has not been replicated at a Mariner game and it certainly hasn't been replicated for anything Jared Kelley has done and it just sucks to see that he the way he goes out as a Mariner is as a salary dump like. Okay.

[00:04:11] We're just about to get into the trade, but just to kind of wrap up our feelings like like how we felt when he was gone and tie it all back to that. Game he debuted.

[00:04:20] Like like here's something to really give you a realization of wow things have just changed drastically in a couple years. I remember they ran out on the field that night and it was Kellnick and left.

[00:04:29] It was Kyle Lewis and center coming off winning rookie of the year and it was Mitch Hannigan right and remember Lewis had just gotten healthy a couple weeks prior. Mitch had missed all of 2020 and a lot of 2019.

[00:04:38] The Mariners had had issues in the outfields for a while like not a lot of impact. I remember looking at all three of you. I said look at that outfield. That is fucking gorgeous.

[00:04:48] I was so fired up to see those guys all in unison out there and Julia wasn't even up yet obviously because it was a year prior. But I was so fired up at the time and I genuinely believed this dude was going to be a perennial.

[00:05:00] I'll start for the Mariners and the guy that truly jump started to turn around and obviously had his flashes. The last April what he did I was over the moon seeing him do that. I felt like he was finally here.

[00:05:12] But for some reasons that kind of feel like some bad faith reasons he is no longer here as a result he got traded. And that outfield lasted I think one week exactly. Wasn't it was a Monday we were there on a Monday. And it was a Thursday.

[00:05:29] Oh it was a Thursday with OK so my last weekend then. Yeah because Kyle Lewis got hurt on Sunday. I thought it was a series later Lewis got her. I thought it was like a couple weeks later. Wasn't it late May Lewis got hurt.

[00:05:40] I think it was that weekend. We'll have to go back and check. Yeah we will have to go back to because I remember I went to go see Jared again I think on Sunday and we're we're we're in the pen.

[00:05:51] And yeah so that is that is kind of unfortunate. OK let's stop. Let's stop dancing around it. Let's just get get to this trade. The full trade. Kellanick to the Braves Marco Gonzalez to the Braves. Evan White who made his who made his long awaited.

[00:06:07] I don't know if it was a debut but we spent more time on him on Friday's episode than I think you and I have probably ever spent talking about him on this podcast and his name resurfaces.

[00:06:18] He said it to the Atlanta Braves along with four and a half million dollars. And the Mariners get a former second round pick of the Braves in 2022 out of high school in Texas Cole Phillips and a former first round pick of Jackson Coar.

[00:06:31] As I said earlier this is a straight salary dump from this deal.

[00:06:35] The Mariners will save twenty four million dollars over the next two seasons and they get one high upside arm who's coming off Tommy John and another who has probably been the worst pitcher in baseball in the three seasons. He is pitched at the big league level.

[00:06:50] Man this is the kind of stuff you get when you're trying to shed salary and that's what the Mariners have gotten on this trade.

[00:06:55] If we want to talk about the players the Mariners got back we can save that for a little bit but let's talk about what the Mariners gave up first.

[00:07:01] And here's what I wanted to get to with Kalnik when I said it feels like maybe he's off this team now for bad faith reasons.

[00:07:08] Jared Kalnik who has had an up and down time with the Mariners and started to break out and flash a little bit in 23 currently has five years of club control five. He is not a free agent until after 2028.

[00:07:21] Does Jerry DePoto usually trade guys like that away willingly absolutely not almost never you would think of anything if they really thought Kalnik needed more time.

[00:07:31] Even if he was 24 years old and they wanted to see other guys they just start to play him on the bench a little bit more.

[00:07:37] He's still at another minor league option if you really wanted to send him back down it doesn't make a lot of sense in Jerry.

[00:07:43] It doesn't make a lot of sense that Jerry DePoto would go trade a guy like that away who has the upside he has the club control he has and is that a position of need the Mariners need outfielders.

[00:07:52] So this feels to me like something in that relationship was strained and I don't know if it has something to do with Kalnik having issues controlling his emotions over the years.

[00:08:02] I don't know if it's something to do that we don't know about but it just feels like something is off in that relationship now because that is so unlike DePoto to trade a guy out trade away a guy like that with that much club control.

[00:08:14] So that was probably a reason for it but in the end they they needed to attach someone to ditch this hour which is really the meat of this issue like the Mariners could have had a slight issue with how Jared Kalnik

[00:08:27] handled his emotions or how they didn't like his strikeouts at the plate which I think is something that's flying under the radar a little bit with this trade.

[00:08:34] They shed another massive strikeout problem or at least current strikeout problem in the lineup with Jared for most of the season last year sitting over 30% K rate. They have now rid that out of their own outfield.

[00:08:45] So that's a little bit of it but the meat of this is the fact that the Mariners feel like to actually make an impact move. They have to save twenty four million dollars in two seasons and they have to lose a starting outfielder to do that.

[00:08:58] I mean make no mistake just strikeouts are all I mean Jared Kalnik was slotted to be your starting outfielder this season and now the Mariners have two sorry they don't have to the Mariners have one outfielder who has major league legit major League experience penciled in for last year.

[00:09:15] So the fact that they had to do this to save twenty four million dollars despite all of Jared Kalnik's flaws or how you believe in his future is pretty damning. That's what I'm going to say.

[00:09:29] The number just seems to go up every week we record an offseason podcast doesn't it because here's now where we're at. We said at the start of the offseason the Mariners need two bats after they've traded a Uhenio Suarez we said the Mariners now need three bats.

[00:09:43] And now here we sit after trading away Jared Kalnik they need four bats this winter dude they need a third baseman they need a DH and they need two outfielders.

[00:09:54] So I hope there's a plan in place I know DePoto has talked about this week they plan to go add multiple bats but you've got four spots to fill.

[00:10:03] And I'm starting to get very very uneasy about the idea of them putting Luis Urias out there on opening day at third base it feels like more and more that's the direction we're headed and I do not like that. How consequential is this Evan White contract now.

[00:10:19] I mean holy shit. I mean Marco was going to make twelve million dollars next year but it's not like Evan White is making chump change for the next three seasons on his contract.

[00:10:29] Judging the circumstances allow that contract is actually going down as as abnormally shitty to when they sign it because not only has Evan White been a just horrendous big leaguer and been unable to stay healthy in his career but that contract in big part has forced the Mariners to partway with someone who they thought was supposed to be a star in the future of their franchise.

[00:10:52] And instead now they have they have to trade away a starting player to trade away Evan White's contract who has not played a big lead game in two seasons.

[00:11:02] Like by the time opening day starts we're talking about nearly three years since Evan White's played in a big lead game if I remember this right I'm pretty sure the last big lead game he's appeared in was Calnick's debut. This is it's bad.

[00:11:18] I'm sure we're about to get into all the money stuff here in a second. I will say your point it looks bleak dude because of this very bleak. I think we're like right on the brink here getting into the money stuff.

[00:11:29] So I will say to just add on your strikeouts take the Mariners have have now gotten rid of all four guys last year that were striking out 30% of the time or more because they've gotten rid of Teo. They've gotten rid of Gino.

[00:11:41] They've gotten rid of Calnick and they've gotten rid of Mike Ford. So they must be very very motivated to cut down on strikeouts in 2024 because they have totally cleaned house with basically anybody with a strikeout issue Julio strikeout 25 to 26% of the time.

[00:11:56] That's not nothing but it's not awful. Cal Riley is going to strike out a little bit. You take that with what else he does at the plate. That's about it at this point like they have totally cast away everybody else that was punching out a lot.

[00:12:10] Pretty much that simple. Yeah. Yeah. I was going to say sorry. I thought you were going to continue that sense. I was looking at my notes. Do you want to get into the money stuff here?

[00:12:20] No, I'm just going to note here quickly on the guys they that are they're bringing back. I mean, I'm not kidding with what I said with Jackson Corr. He has been horrendous.

[00:12:28] The good thing is he probably cannot get worse than what he was with the Kansas City Royals and then eventually now traded. He was traded to the Braves never pitched for the Braves and now he's a now he's a Mariner. Now I will give this.

[00:12:41] The Kansas City Royals notoriously have been dog shit at developing pitching. I mean, horrible at developing pitching. So there's a thought that the Mariners could tweak something with Jackson Corr who throws hard. He throws a slider as well.

[00:12:58] Can they tweak something to help him get better because for a guy who has a career era of over nine cannot get much worse for Jackson Corr. So I would imagine he's going to be in the bullpen at some point in the season in Cole Phillips.

[00:13:14] There's some upside there, especially a high top two round draft pick in 2022. Don't know how healthy is coming off of Tommy John. There's not totally nothing but nothing for you to do back flips over in the return of this trade.

[00:13:30] So overall the Mariners do totally lose out on this trade. Don't don't get me wrong, but there could be something to look look at with this on the terms of the baseball talent coming back to Seattle.

[00:13:40] I do think there is some reason to like Phillips and I saw Joe Doyle tweet out some pretty positive things about him when he was the peace in the return deal of this package. Because yeah, he throws close to triple digits when he's healthy.

[00:13:51] There was thought that he was going to be a first round pick before he got injured. He's probably going to be about a top 12 of 15 prospect in the Mariner system now depending on who you look at. And yeah, he's got to change up with some decent bait.

[00:14:03] He actually has a power curveball. That's his second pitch like there is some stuff to work with there with Cole Phillips. Plus if you look at the Mariners prospect rankings right now, most of those guys are hitters because the big pitchers are obviously in the big leagues now.

[00:14:15] So the Mariners do bolster their pitching depth a little bit in their minor in their minor league system with their minor league prospects. And maybe Cole Phillips ends up having some pretty good upside at the very least.

[00:14:25] Maybe he can be a good reliever too with how Hardy throws at some point. So again, we're not justifying this as we're happy the Mariners made this deal.

[00:14:33] But to your point too, like you were talking about, yeah, maybe there is something to be excited about in the return. Yeah. So we'll have to see and to be frank, there's going to have to be. There's going to have to be. Yeah. Yes.

[00:14:49] Because otherwise this is going to look ridiculous. Oh, and let's note too by the way, just so we're all on the same page. Jared Kalmick's hitting 35 bombs and making an all-star game next year for the Braves. Yeah, he will. And I'm going to be so happy for him.

[00:15:03] I'm going to be over the moon for Jared that he's going to get his opportunity to shine in a place that wants him. I'll say. I forgot we got to add one last thing here.

[00:15:15] One of the reasons I always love Kalmick along with him having the potential to be a star is because for so long, these Mariners

[00:15:22] teams were filled with guys that I never really felt like showed all that much emotion like Nelson Cruz would show some emotion every now and then in a really big moment, but it just kind of lacked fire. A lot of the time, I felt like it lacked energy.

[00:15:34] A lot of these teams over the years growing up, Jared Kalmick had energy and he was not afraid to show it either. And sometimes he would let it show off the field too. What am I talking about? Well, sometimes he could get petty with things right?

[00:15:46] What did he do to end his Mariners career? He said a big time. Thank you in his post to his teammates, the fans, the city, his family. No mention of the organization though.

[00:15:57] Everybody else everybody else and then it gets better because after putting out that big thank you saying all talking about all these people that have held him along nothing about the org. You look at his Instagram bio now because for a while what was in his bio?

[00:16:12] It had his number the number 10 and it said athlete. There's nothing about the Mariners in there. It just said 10 and athlete. Now if you look today, it is 10 athlete and Braves. So right to the end, Jared Kalmick on brand and you know what?

[00:16:28] I will appreciate him forever for it. He kept it real forever and always. And now he has a real chance to torment the Mets. So that's also another good thing. Oh, did you see some of the discourse from Mets fans when Kalmick ended up on the Braves?

[00:16:42] They're like preparing for the worst all over again just like when he got traded. I don't doubt it. I would too for how the Braves do and I'm going to say let's check back in six months

[00:16:53] while when Jared Kalmick signs an eight year, 60 million dollar contract donating 1% of his yearly earnings to the Atlanta Braves Foundation. Oh, it's happening. It's happening. Oh man. Okay.

[00:17:09] Let's get into a little bit of the Nashville stuff here and what we were talking about with some of the money involved with this trade because there's a bigger picture here. Before we do that, a quick word from our friends over at Pagotches Pub 85.

[00:17:21] That's Pagotches Pub 85 in Kirkland. Best restaurant in town to go hang out with your friends, watch sports, eat some great food, drink some great drinks. They've got some great pizza, full food menu, full drink menu.

[00:17:32] And if you go during happy hours, you can cash in on some awesome deals. You can cash in on what is if you show up during happy hour. The hours are Monday through Friday from 2 to 6 p.m.

[00:17:43] And the deals in there include $3 Manies Blue Moons, $4, $3 domestic beers, $4 Manies Blue Moons, $4 Mac and Jacks, $4 Wells, $4 House Wines. So do all that. Go watch some games here with your friends over at Pagotches Pub 85 in Kirkland. Okay.

[00:18:02] So the winter meetings currently underway in Nashville and man, it has not been short of Mariners News. It just hasn't been the Mariners News that we've wanted to hear. We're not even talking about this Kalmick trade anymore. Now we're talking about all the quotes that have transpired afterward.

[00:18:19] So there's a couple of different ways we can start with this, TJ. And I'll bring it in unless you had something you wanted to add here really quickly. Can I just read the lead from Ryan Divish's article in The Seattle Times yesterday? That's what I want to do.

[00:18:31] I think it really sets this up nice of everything we're about to go into. Set the tone for us. Okay. Nashville, Tennessee. It's not what they wanted to do. It wasn't what they intended to do, but it's what they had to do to have any hope of success.

[00:18:50] And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where we sit with the current iteration of the Seattle Mariners. Let's get into the money here because Ryan Divish said some things on Fowl Territory 2, which I want to get into.

[00:19:04] But the big topic here is what's going on with the Mariners budget as we currently speak. Because all of a sudden, ownership is making it seem like there are questions around how much money

[00:19:15] this team actually has available to spend, which is why they made this trade to get rid of two contracts and Marco Gonzalez and Evan White. And oh, by the way, reports where that trade came together in one day.

[00:19:27] This was not weeks in the making like the Suarez trade. This all came together on Sunday to get Evan White, Marco Gonzalez, Jared Kelnick out of town, shed salary and open up some what they call needed room for payroll.

[00:19:40] So like, what the fuck is going on with a team that's supposed to be one of the most profitable in baseball? Jerry DePoto anticipated going into this offseason, going into his end of season press conferences where he made all these proclamations and got roasted for 54% and things

[00:19:57] that'll hang over his head for the rest of his career. Still anticipated going into this offseason with a significantly higher payroll than he had in the 2023 season, only to find out a couple of weeks into the offseason that that supposed budget

[00:20:12] that was supposed to be bigger was in fact not bigger. And it came out when the Mariners and Reyes have had dialogue about trades for guys we have talked about in past weeks. When Jerry is asking about these trades and they're talking about it and Jerry says, well,

[00:20:26] that's good. But with our current payroll note current payroll of a $140 million. We can't do anything with this. So we have to do we have to make room, which is why the Mariners have now shed down to about

[00:20:40] $116 million to even have a chance to add impact around baseball. And now you might ask why? Well, there are so there is one legitimate reason why the Mariners would be concerned about revenue. Root Sports Northwest, which the Mariners purchased about 11 years ago.

[00:21:02] I think it'll be 11 years ago in 2024. They purchased it, the old ownership group purchased it. And then the new ownership group took over Root Sports Northwest when they purchased the majority stake in the Mariners in 2016.

[00:21:16] Comcast Xfinity, who is the who is the biggest cable provider in the Pacific Northwest where all the Mariners fans watch their games moved Root Sports from the basic tier to the premium tier or the elite tier of sports and you have to pay X amount more

[00:21:34] dollars per month to be able to watch not only the Mariners, but the Kraken and the Trailblazers. Well, people don't want to pay that extra money. They'd rather just cut the cord and go to streaming instead. So what does that do?

[00:21:46] That affects the potential future earnings of not only just the Mariners, but the same baseball club that that purchased broadcast rights for the Portland Trailblazers and the Seattle Kraken and whose return on ad revenue is now significantly lower on

[00:22:04] three separate franchises because they have less television money because they have left less eyes on their product. It is a multifaceted issue of an antiquated business model failing the failing what the Mariners thought it would be.

[00:22:25] They thought Root Sports Northwest would be such a cash cow and that when all this ballet sports stuff was going on, it would wouldn't affect them because they own the majority stake in their network.

[00:22:35] Well, when Comcast Xfinity decided to do that, I put a real dent in potentially their future earnings and instead of pocketing the loss themselves, they will instead make the baseball budget and the roster and the fans suffer instead. That's what this is.

[00:22:55] I think you explained that all really, really well. I do. I'm also here to tell you that if that is the reason ownership is using for we can't go out and spend money, I call total and complete bullshit. I do. I'm sorry.

[00:23:09] I don't believe for one second that even if this is going on that even if they're losing money from their TV deal that they all of a sudden don't have money to spend. I don't believe that for one single second and none of you should either.

[00:23:21] The Mariners are so profitable. You've heard Divish talk about this. You've heard Ken Rosenthal talk about this. You've heard a ton of people talk about this. The Mariners have money. They are not broke. They are nowhere short in cash and let's keep in mind.

[00:23:35] What have they done recently? They have hosted the All-Star game made a ton of money off of it. They own the hatback grill across the street, which is packed every game and sometimes road games too. They make the money off that. That's not revenue shared.

[00:23:49] They were top 10 in attendance this year. That was the highest attendance they've had in nearly 20 years of the ballpark. That's a bunch of money. So okay, you're losing some money on your TV deal that you already mostly all own to yourself and are not revenue sharing. Oh boy.

[00:24:06] Oh boy. Like boo-hoo billionaires get slightly less rich. I don't believe for one second that they can't go out and spend money and the fact they had to shed payroll to now go quote on quote have the ability to go get guys.

[00:24:20] I think it's crazy because you're opening up more holes. You now need two outfielders and the losses that you're quote on quote taking from the root sports stuff and the Xfinity stuff. You are punishing fans and your team and its players by

[00:24:34] essentially putting out a worse on field product if this is what they choose to do. The quotes that they have put out this week have given the indication that they don't feel like they can afford to get for to get guys to replace that to get four big

[00:24:48] leaguers to replace what is currently empty on the roster and that's troubling. Could you imagine how Jerry DePoto feels right now where he is back in after the 2018 season by the way in a 2018 season where they hampered his ability to go add to a roster

[00:25:03] that really just needed one more impact guy to break over the barrier and go make the playoffs but instead ownership was like you know what instead of winning we're going to cap your budget and you are not allowed to go at any significant payroll at the deadline.

[00:25:16] So instead we got to go get Adam Warren and Zach do oh yeah what a big impact in that 2018 season. So then Jerry goes OK after the 2018 season here's my idea ownership we're going to take a step back. I'm going to reduce the payroll.

[00:25:31] I'm going to shed some old contracts. I'm going to shed the old players out the roster. We're going to build this thing up. We're going to get some draft picks some international signings and we're going to get young and we're going

[00:25:41] to get fun and we're going to get good and by 2021 2022 and 2023 we're going to be in our championship window and then I'm going to want to go spend some money and you know what the ownership group said let's do it.

[00:25:53] And you know who's not holding up their end of the bargain and all of this that fucking group right there they're not holding up their end of the bargain when it comes to taking taking the steps necessary to win a championship

[00:26:09] to take the steps necessary to win a championship and make the additions to this roster that they need to. They're going to let a bad business investment on their part it was their decision to fork up the money for the Portland Trailblazers.

[00:26:24] It was their decision to buy the broadcasting rights to the Seattle Kraken that is their decision billionaires people who are supposed to be good business people seeing what the future market is supposed to look like for entertainment and content consumption decided that our

[00:26:44] regional sports network that is part of a cable package on Xfinity is our future. Okay, so we're going to pitch all of this money to the Kraken and the Trailblazers. Well it seems like that was a pretty fucking shitty business investment if we're looking at it right now

[00:27:00] it looks terrible and now again we are going to have to suffer because of it and I could only imagine what Jerry DePoto is thinking in his mind of this like Jerry's caught so much flak but to have these expectations and to have

[00:27:18] the ownership group tell you what you will get like in the middle of the season yet we'll spend more cool and then you get to this point it's like well actually to get to that point we're actually going to have to have you

[00:27:29] shed payroll and shed our contributors to get what you need and it's like what am I supposed to do here? What a mess dude. You know that meme of the kid sitting in class with all the veins popping out of his head I guarantee you that's Jerry

[00:27:45] every single time he's had to talk to the media in Nashville since all this ownership stuff came out because to your point you made some phenomenal points by the way and very animated at that and I'm glad you did Jerry you're

[00:27:57] right like I'm sure internally he is tired of hearing it from this fan base so honestly let's help Jerry out a little bit let's use our platform here and help Jerry out a little bit he is not perfect.

[00:28:06] He has had his flaws sure what's going on right now should not be blamed on Jerry DePoto it should not if you've got problems with the Mariners right now climb up the ladder and take it up with ownership because I guarantee you Jerry

[00:28:19] DePoto wants to spend money about as badly as all the rest of us want him to right now but he is being hand cuffed and tied down by a group of billionaires who again through everything you just said which is true.

[00:28:32] I still don't believe the fact that they don't have money to go out and get big time players here's an idea for you have we ever thought about two people sitting right here with no business degree whatsoever. I'm going to sit here and give a bunch of billionaire

[00:28:47] quote-unquote smart business owners an idea have we ever thought about the idea of spending the money and forking up the money for Shohei Otani could actually make up the money you're going to lose on this route sports deal

[00:29:01] because so many people are going to want to watch Shohei you're going to take an entire country over with them from Japan the Jersey sales the ticket sales the promotion nights everything have you sat and thought about the fact

[00:29:12] that spending the money now to go get that guy might actually make up the money you're losing off route sports just a wild concept I'm thrown out here I mean is this just too logical or am I missing something.

[00:29:24] Well Dave Roberts I think believes in your plan he made his best push to get Shohei Otani somewhere else today. I think Roberts man. That was breaking something but if we're actually trying to get Shohei to Seattle Dave Roberts by publicly leaking

[00:29:39] the Dodgers meeting with Shohei Otani today I thought was just perfect for forgetting Shohei to Seattle but yes I agree with you we've talked about it he's going to make whatever team he goes to a ton of money I think

[00:29:52] it's a good business opportunity and you know it's man it's so frustrating you can hear in Scott's voice to like like Divish articulated in the Seattle Times like we I didn't want to trade Jared Koenig like I wanted him on this roster

[00:30:05] this season I don't think Jerry wanted to trade Jared Koenig I don't know Scott wanted to get rid of a O'Hanio Suarez as well and you know what this might not be it when it comes to shallary setting it could

[00:30:14] be more it could be more you can hear it in Scott's voice man you can hear it in some of these quotes he's had like that we got to do it like this is the deck of cards we've got this is the hand of cards

[00:30:26] we've been dealt and we just have to work with it like you read that and it's like oh my god a big league baseball a major league baseball team is saying these things you got that you've got Divish on foul territory

[00:30:39] all of a sudden saying well the Mariners think in the next two years Logan Gilbert and Cal Raleigh might get traded because the Mariners might not be able to afford them what like what are you talking about so you're not signing free agents you're not giving in-house

[00:30:52] extensions like what are you doing where where's all the money you're making going I just I don't get it it doesn't make any sense now here is here is the one thing as we're still on the show hey topic here

[00:31:04] if they actually are shedding payroll to go gear up to sign show hey which again I still believe it's possible I will take back every word I've said on this podcast if that is the reason they went and

[00:31:18] did this because they're going to go get show hey great if it's not and they're clearing payroll because they want to go sign Lordus Gurriel we're going to have problems. Yeah we're going to have problems last thing for me on this I was going to say if John

[00:31:33] Stanton believes true to his words that he truly wants to win a World Series and he truly wants to do that trading guys like Cal Raleigh and Logan Gilbert because they're too expensive is that's not the way to go about it it seems bad and

[00:31:49] it seems like I don't know how the Mariners expect to win if the payroll is that low unless they truly want to become the Tampa Bay Rays the Tampa Bay Rays have shown you can win that way but the way the Mariners are currently structured

[00:32:02] and the people they have employed yeah I'm not sure that's really really going to cut it. Look Cal Raleigh may never sign an extension anyway because he is a Scott Boris guy but again the fact that's even being put out there

[00:32:12] is crazy here is the last thing before we transition to our interview. John Stanton gets a lot of flak as he should he is the majority owner but the Mariners ownership group consists of a lot of people and when you hear the Mariners ownership group getting talked

[00:32:29] about it's John Stanton this John Stanton this Stanton Stanton Stanton Stanton I think we got to put these other names out here because if there is this much of an issue with the ownership I can't believe I'm even going to say this I don't think it's

[00:32:41] fair to put every ounce of blame on John Stanton even though he deserves a lot of it so there was an article written a while back about who the Mariners ownership group is there's 16 people on this ownership group we are going to read you guys the names

[00:32:53] and you can do what you want with it we're just going to put it out there because that article exists this is who it is besides Stanton the main minority owner is a guy named Chris Larson so if you want the number two guy behind

[00:33:06] John Stanton it's Chris Larson so you can remember that name there is still a guy from the Nintendo group named I don't want to botch his name I'm going to do my best Minoru Aracawa who is part of the Nintendo group and then the rest of the

[00:33:20] guys here are their names Frank Schrauns Rob Glazer Wayne Perry John Ellis John Bauer Howard Lincoln Buck Ferguson Joan Watgen Jeff Rakes Carl Stork Judith Bigelow Rufus Lumery and Bill Marklin there are the 16 names on the ownership group Stanton deserves blame Larson's number two and there's

[00:33:43] the rest of the group Carl Stork by the way has been catching black on Twitter yeah yeah we found him on Twitter did not many of them have Twitter accounts but he has one and he's been dug out a little bit and I'll say if you

[00:33:57] want one of them to go look at go look at Larson just just throw his name into Google and and read and I'll say you learn a lot okay before we get to our interview with Stacy Ross let's hear word from better health is something interfering with your

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[00:34:47] it's easy to sign up and get matched with a therapist there's a link in our description it's better help dot com slash marine layer pod that's better H.E.L.P.com slash marine layer pod clicking that link helps support this podcast but

[00:35:01] also gets you 10% off your first month of better help so you can connect to the therapist and see if it helps you so if you're struggling consider online therapy with better help click the link in the description or visit better help dot com slash marine layer

[00:35:15] pod well I'm very much looking forward to this interview with Stacy Ross listen to her on Seattle sports every day from 10 to 2 with Michael Bumpus she she knows her stuff and and I will say she is very good conversations with Mike Salk about the Mariners two very different

[00:35:31] perspectives there and I'm looking forward to we heard Mike Salk side I'm looking forward to hearing her side she's great and you've heard Salk say nothing but great things about her anytime she's brought up she's smart knows her stuff she's funny got a great

[00:35:45] personality I'm looking forward to everybody listening to hearing this because she really is awesome let's get to our interview now with Stacy Ross all right we welcome on Stacy Ross the host of bumpin Stacy on Seattle sports Stacy we appreciate you taking some time to

[00:36:03] hop on here with us today I will say when we had Mike Salk on he was he lopped a ton of praise onto you and said you know you guys have to have her on so I'll say Stacy the expectations are set pretty high so I look

[00:36:19] forward to not meeting them it's very awesome cool that was nice of Mike to do though okay so Mike gave you praise there but I know the two of you butted heads like all year about the whole Mariners vs Rangers roster building thing it's like

[00:36:35] okay which way is the right way I know obviously you love the Mariners like almost everybody in Seattle here does was there a part of you though that when the Rangers won that you were happy about for like you were like I can

[00:36:47] look forward to getting on air and taking my victory lap and I did a major victory lap on air but Mike texted me separately and was like oh jeez and you know what quite honestly when the Rangers were really really stumbling and the Mariners were getting really hot

[00:37:05] I texted him and was like dang it here I was praising this team building and saying oh you can't just point to the Mets if you're going to talk about spending you have to also point to the Rangers and you have to point to

[00:37:17] these teams that are doing it well and here the Rangers are just hurting themselves so there was a period of time where it was the opposite where I was like okay I might have been wrong let's wait and see what happens this season but I really thought

[00:37:31] briefly there in August this thing might turn around and God the Mariners are one of the hottest teams right now what a fun August it was for all of us unfortunately then it ended do you guys agree on it a little bit more now especially now

[00:37:47] the news has been starting to leak in a little bit yeah I think I don't know well I don't know that either of us wherever like go out and be you know a Steve Cohen led team where it's like spend spend spend I think I just felt like

[00:38:05] you can't money ball your way you can't point to the Rays and say let's build like them where's their World Series like you know what I mean like I can't point to teams that spend and have it not work out while completely ignoring

[00:38:21] teams that do spend I mean the Astros are a team that spends yes they are a team that is drafted and developed so well and that's really where they got a lot of their poor pieces but they are a team that's top 10 in payroll as were the Phillies

[00:38:31] and I don't think they like accidentally fell into a World Series I think that they were a really good team that got there so there are teams that spend and do it well but they just happen to have a really great core and so my take was

[00:38:43] Mariners have parts of a really great core but they've missed on some offense like if Kyle you know works out Carlos works out of Evan White works out maybe we're having a different conversation but you had a couple of that didn't work out

[00:38:55] and you and you struck gold on a couple arms so how do you balance this out and what do you do to fix it and the Astros were asking them you know that themselves with some that were really really great and they needed

[00:39:07] to go out and get you know verlander or to kind of round out the rotation so both of us looked at it I think a little more similarly than that video would indicate but I think his thing was people don't quite always know what they want

[00:39:27] they just want the Mariners to spend without knowing what they want them to spend on and it is harder for a Mariners team to convince some top free agents to come to Seattle than it is for a Dodgers team even if they had the same payroll

[00:39:39] and they had to convince players to go there and that is going to take years to write for the Mariners because winning incentivizes free agents so I'm not going to want to go to Seattle if I got a lot of options

[00:39:51] until you can prove that I can win there okay admittedly about a year ago I was more on the salt train and I had more of that mindset I'd say I've shifted a little bit now but I guess my whole thing back then was

[00:40:05] I'm not going to lose sleep if Xander Bogarts gets overpaid somewhere else or somebody like him I wasn't that heartbroken over the Mariners missing out on those short stops or whatever but I will say I thought the way they were building their roster

[00:40:19] was going to work out a little bit better than it did and I didn't think they had to spend all that money to do so and I thought a lot of the people that kind of scream about it on Twitter

[00:40:25] it's like kind of what Salk used to say it's like well are you sure this is the only way to build a roster because my whole thing was always I just want to see them win I don't care how they do it

[00:40:35] I'm more and more apparent now that there are issues on this roster that may only be able to be fixed by spending money and I agree with you and I remember we had a couple segments where we did this but one in particular

[00:40:47] where we said you know what we were all pointing to all these free agent short stops saying they should add these guys when JP Crawford is having a career and you're like shout out to JP Crawford we were all ready to move him to second

[00:40:57] I still think you could have moved JP to second and brought in a great short stop JP told the Seattle Times he was willing to do that I digress maybe not signing one of those short stops ended up being the right move for Seattle unfortunately

[00:41:09] could signing a DH you know have helped you could adding an outfielder have helped you it feels like that is especially true this year when you're looking at a really weak free agency class so yeah I think that combined with obviously these guys just really not working out

[00:41:25] like Ty France kind of fell off and Gino kind of fell off and you were counting on these guys making up the difference and so those holes that you had in your roster were far more pronounced than they might have done otherwise So Stacy let's get into the

[00:41:43] news that has happened this week and let's just start off with the trade that happened on Sunday and out with Jared Kellnick and you said on your show like right off the bat it's like appreciate everything Marco's done for the organization

[00:41:53] probably not going to miss him baseball wise Evan White will as once the 2024 season rolls around will have not played on a major league diamond in three seasons that is no so before we get into the money like it

[00:42:09] are you going to miss seeing is Jared are you sad seeing Jared Kellnick not on the roster in 2024 I think I had convinced myself that it may take Jared Kellnick going somewhere else for him to succeed I don't know if there's a mental block

[00:42:25] I don't know if it's maybe not gelling with whatever works developmentally for the Mariners doesn't work for him I don't know what it is there was a period earlier this past season where I thought maybe he finally figured it out obviously that didn't

[00:42:37] work out he cares deeply about this team I think Scott service cares deeply about him and that was apparent in his comments from the winner meetings but you know the trade itself were it not like you said payroll shedding aside and optics aside I'm okay

[00:42:53] like I would not have been upset by Mariners team if you didn't tell me who else was on the roster if you just said hey when they break spring Marco's not on the roster and Kellnick isn't in an oven white isn't with the club I'd be like okay

[00:43:09] assuming they got some nice players okay I think where I stand on this is I get where you're coming from but the fact that it took like Marco I kind of get but the fact that it took Evan White's contract is a reason that Jared Kellnick

[00:43:25] is not on the roster in 2024 I think I mean that's going to go down as one of Jerry's worst moves he's ever done if that like because of the constraints they have that have been laid on them the fact that

[00:43:39] Evan White is a reason you don't have a potentially valuable member of your roster in 2024 is damning yeah no that's a really really good point right you basically had to throw in Kellnick to ship off bad contracts you're absolutely right I think the frustrating thing is we'll never

[00:43:57] know what could have happened if nothing else if Jared Kellnick never met expectations he could still play left field who does it now good question apparently Jack that was going to be my next question is aside from Julio like is there

[00:44:13] anybody currently in the organization or on the roster you trust to play the outfield right now no I mean I know that they've got those utility guys can like they've used Dylan they've used Sam they've used a couple of those guys out there but

[00:44:27] this team is very clearly incomplete again something a phrase that Scott Serviced used verbatim but also incredibly obvious to every single fan like anyone right now that you would put out there you would see as a temporary solution and that doesn't make you feel confident

[00:44:43] now with the comments this week of because the reason this trade happened came to light a little bit more this week what comments stuck out to you the most and was just just made you raise an eyebrow oh my god so many okay

[00:44:57] I mean I think the biggest one would be Scott Serviced saying the cards we were dealt we did as much as we could with the cards we were dealt and then following it up with I guess that's the best way to say it like it's letting us know

[00:45:09] that like he's like if you catch my drift like heavy wing that is really standing out to me him saying things changed a couple weeks into the season clearly hinting in my opinion according to everyone I know too that that Xfinity deal

[00:45:27] was the thing that changed a couple weeks into the season also hinting that at one point or another they believed they would have more financial flexibility right is also what that indicates and I'm actually surprised that he said as much as he did but those two

[00:45:43] things to me probably stood out the most so do you feel like this is on Jerry because I know a lot of people's first instinct is well what is the photo doing figure it out put a roster on the field that can

[00:45:55] win a championship like do you feel like it's fair for him at this point to be taking all this blame not that he's not free of it not that he's perfect but do you think at this point like some of it needs to be more

[00:46:05] shifted up toward the ownership group more than it does the photo yeah that's how it feels right now and I felt like that more so after comments Monday then I did following the trade Sunday following the trade Sunday I was like what are you doing right like

[00:46:19] what kind of moves are you trying to make are you taking a risk is there another move that you're planning and your you know put in the cart before the horse but I think following particularly Scott services comments it's become clear that while I might have problems

[00:46:35] with some of Jerry's team building decisions outside of this trade and predating this trade this team needs more it needs more talent and it is becoming clear that they don't have the freedom to really go out and get the talent that's going to make this team a championship

[00:46:51] team and that is not a Jerry decision and that's what's really frustrating about it for a lot of fans. Do you actually have faith that there is going to be an impact move coming we hear Jerry say well the payroll still actually will be higher than

[00:47:05] it was in in 2023 there are we are going to add multiple bats which if you think back to all of his off seasons I'm trying to think like multiple unless it was in one trade that wasn't really the case I mean I think of the Jesse Winker

[00:47:21] and A. O. Henneal Swar's trade with the Reds in terms of adding multiple of anything that's like it I don't have faith in it do you No I don't and when he talks about the payroll being increased I think is it going to be $150

[00:47:39] are we talking you've got like 40 million to spend here or are we talking it's going to be $180, $190 I highly doubt it's toward the latter I would love to be pleasantly surprised by this team like in my most optimistic moments I think what if this is the ropidote

[00:47:55] what if the Mariners are secretly going after you know not no Tani who we've heard from multiple sources like they're out on but what if there is a one-soto move coming and what if there is this big thing that's going to throw off the market but I also

[00:48:09] have lived and grown up in Seattle my whole life and I think have learned to while I can be an optimistic fan have like a distrust that's curated of this team and I don't and I don't blame anyone for having that and so

[00:48:27] no I think that it's going to be Jerry and Justin Hollander doing their very best to fill every whole on this roster with what sounds like very limited funds like $40 million okay you mentioned kind of the ropidote and you mentioned no Tani

[00:48:47] can I throw a hot take out there at you that I kind of have I would love that that I don't actually think the Mariners are out on Cho-hey yet I love that hot take that's a great take why don't you think so

[00:48:59] okay so I could go down a whole rabbit hole about the spark nodes version like you've heard Divish kind of say that anytime anybody's asked anybody in the Mariners front office about O'Tani this off season conversation just ends right there

[00:49:11] they just stop they won't talk about them and my whole thing is well if you bout out weeks ago why are you so afraid to talk about the guy and say hey he's a great player but I think our needs are going to be shifted elsewhere this winter

[00:49:21] along with the fact that you know there have been talks for like a few months now that they've been allocating funds for the last year or two to make a run at him and how in on him they were the first time

[00:49:29] and you know and also how they've been so like so tight-lipped about it like you've heard like today with the Dodgers they accidentally spilled some beans are like oh yeah we had a meeting with them it went great or whatever and like you're like what are you doing

[00:49:41] right and you've heard the blue jays leaked stuff you've heard like the Giants leaked stuff like the Mariners aren't in any of these reports and I know there's been reports saying oh they they balked it at the money but

[00:49:51] like you haven't really heard anything out of the Mariners camp saying yeah it's not going to happen like I'm kind of wondering and maybe this is a coping mechanism I'm kind of thinking that maybe somewhere under all this they've actually got like a big

[00:50:03] plan in the works to actually try and make this happen which is maybe the reason they cleared some of this money so again it's a hot take but like I think it's like I don't know it's what I believe I guess if you had not mentioned

[00:50:17] that yes the last two years because I remember complaining last year to someone who knows this team well as well connected as he and I remember complaining last year that they weren't spending and they were like well I think we're going to

[00:50:29] try to go all in on our Tani next year I think like that's part of the big plan you mentioning that I'm like you're right that is something they've done you might have convinced me okay okay well listen if I'm wrong we're no further back

[00:50:43] than we were right now but if I'm somehow right then then I might be on this podcast taking a little bit of a victory lap so yeah like and again maybe it's a coping mechanism but I just feel like part of me too it's like well if

[00:50:57] you're going to just believe they're out already like that's no fun like I'm kind of trying to find some reasons to believe why it could still happen yeah fair I mean I think that it's normal for for I'm sorry do you guys have an echo oh no

[00:51:09] no okay just a little baby one but that's okay I think that it's I think it's normal for anyone to try to figure out what they're doing and I don't think that it is a far-fetched theory or something crazy to wonder is it our Tani like

[00:51:25] is this just how the how the game's working right now like I don't think that at this point in the season where they haven't really made any moves and when we're still waiting to see what happens anything is ridiculous like

[00:51:35] I'm still holding out hope that one solo is being part of those plans like who knows the club control aspect of it makes no sense for what the Mariners like to do part of me is screaming that at myself and yet I'm just desperately hoping that they find

[00:51:47] some power and some some some you know a great bat somewhere and so I I'm doing the same thing where it would be disingenuous of me to go on air and go yeah I mean his team screwed that sucks any of the ways

[00:52:05] do any of the rays guys jump out at you like we spent so much time on this show talking about like either isach parades or yandidi as a randy rose a rain in out there is definitely a fit there with the Mariners and there's so much rapport between

[00:52:19] Jerry and the Tampa Bay rays organization to either those three like stick out to you I mean those make significantly more sense than going out and shelling out not only thirty million dollars for one solo but I don't what are they asking for seven

[00:52:33] prospects yeah I mean a rose arena is obviously the would cost the most but I would love and and he kind of fits into this thing we were talking about this earlier today at work me Curtis and Brent who's our editor for Seattle sports

[00:52:47] and Brent made a good point which is like God and you know a rose rain is so marketable and so likeable and like there is part of me that the same thing that you could say with the Otani thing a tiny to a much larger

[00:52:59] extent I mean most marketable player baseball so there's not really comparison but in in terms of getting a star in terms of getting someone marketable let's say the Mariners are worried about cash flow and let's say the Mariners are a lot of people who are

[00:53:13] and let's say the Mariners are you know expecting some big cash flow issues because of the root sport subscriptions and they're looking to slash payroll I feel like bringing in incredibly likeable players or particularly a superstar help solve that problem rather than worsens it

[00:53:31] like I don't know how slashing payroll helps fix a problem about attendance like it you know what I mean it's almost like spend to make money is I think the better solution here there would be no better solution you know Lyle to your point than

[00:53:47] Otani in terms of bringing in eyeballs and money and oh my god you are tense in attendance congratulations it's going to be even higher than that but I think that someone like a Rosarina and to a greater extent someone like Soto also helps with

[00:54:03] that and so I don't know why they're not going after that kind of guy. Like I guess if my final Mariners question here kind of tying everything together that we've heard from Nashville at the winter meetings this week like and this is

[00:54:16] more on the ownership side of things like do you feel like Mariners fans are being gas lit at all like that's almost the best way I can put it especially when you hear like I remember Katie Greggs the president a couple years ago

[00:54:26] saying like we've asked for your patients now we're not going to ask you to be patient any longer and now you're hearing things like oh now we're going to cut back on payroll we'll see what our funds are like

[00:54:36] I don't know like do you feel like fans are being misled at all? A little bit and it's awkward to say because as part of my job you'd actually want to keep healthy relationships with the team and so I always try to not make it personal

[00:54:50] like I'll never say Jerry DePoto is a bad person or John Stanton is a bad owner and a bad person but I think it is fair to say that they have really not met the expectations that they've set for themselves and when you are

[00:55:06] a team setting expectations and don't meet them there are people that have spent money and given up hope and given a lot of time that are then disappointed you know what I mean that's the difference between me as a person not meeting expectations for my day and

[00:55:20] and a team owner not meeting expectations like there are there's buy-in that's very real with a lot of people and so when you write you know win it all on a whiteboard as part of your season promo or when you say several years ago

[00:55:36] we want to be a World Series team in 2023 and 2024 that's what fans are expecting and it is incredibly important to consider that the fans that you're speaking to in this case were fans of a team that had not been to the playoffs in 20 years

[00:55:52] thankfully that drought has been broken and currently are fans of a team the only team to never make it to a World Series that's also really important context so I think that every team owner you can make a case that every team owner and every GM

[00:56:04] you know doesn't meet expectations right 2019 they're gonna are gonna win a World Series and you could look at the Mets as spending a ton of money and you know promising they were gonna turn things around and having a disappointing season but there is something uniquely frustrating about being

[00:56:22] a Mariners fan being told hey we tore it all down and we have no right to ask for your patience but we're gonna do it we have no right to ask you to hang on with us there is a generation

[00:56:34] of people that grew up never watching playoff baseball we have no right to tell you to hang on but we're gonna ask because let me tell you what we have something special we got this guy Jared Kelnick he's unbelievable you're gonna love him

[00:56:46] we got this guy Julio Rodriguez he's unbelievable you're gonna love him they've hit on some of those guys Julia superstar and I think that what Jerry is doing this year is a little bit of like and he has probably learned not to say too much

[00:57:00] I don't know if that stems from the 54% comment or you know if that's something that's been an accumulation of missteps but saying something like we plan to spend more this year in payroll leaves a lot of room for interpretation and it is not as declarative

[00:57:18] as we plan to play in a World Series in 2023 or 2024 excuse me like those are those are different kinds of promises so yeah to answer your question in a very long roundabout way yes and I don't know how intentional it is I sometimes wonder what happens is Jerry

[00:57:38] thinks his plan is gonna work and he thinks that these guys he's signing are gonna make a difference and he really believes in what they have so he feels like he has reason to say yeah I think we're gonna be a World Series team

[00:57:50] it could also be he every season you know enters thinking he's gonna have more money and says yep we're ready to improve and then finds out he doesn't right like there could be things lost in translation that isn't this malicious kind of misleading but the end

[00:58:04] of the day Mariner spans have been misled this team that has an open window was supposed to be so much more aggressive with it didn't make the playoffs last year in a season where they entered not having answers at offense knowing they needed answers at offense that's unforgivable

[00:58:22] Stacy you mentioned accountability really early on in that answer and I think about this as sort of multi-tier question I also do not want to get you in trouble with this question so but like you work at the flagship station I mean not only the Mariners but

[00:58:36] the Seahawks as well very strong relationships and the two biggest sports brands in the Pacific Northwest so when you have to be critical I mean you're honest but the relationships with those teams need to be still need to be good your business partners in a revenue

[00:58:54] generating revenue generator for both sides so how do you like how do you balance that how does that work for you and you feel like because I feel like Seattle overall is a little softer on on franchises it's not the northeast it's not the

[00:59:10] the echo chamber of the northeast to fire this fire that like this owner sucks like whatever whatever like how does that all like balance within how you prepare for a show or along those lines so we always try to be fair but not personal that's our

[00:59:24] number one rule be fair be you know you're in you're an entertainment business but you are also you know rooted in journalism and rooted in information and so I think it is fair to say for instance the Mariners

[00:59:38] have disappointed a lot of fans by not making the playoffs that's just objectively true that is a fact another thing hey Jerry DePoto's free agency class from last year failed it did not work out that plan didn't work out none of that is personal I think Jerry DePoto

[00:59:58] is very very smart and I think John Stanton wants to win a world series like I think these things are true and so I think that there's just this careful line with being like I can point to things that have disappointed me or questions

[01:00:16] that I have or sometimes things I think that you do exceptionally well and I think that deserves more attention while also recognizing that you as a GM is not you as a person and so you know when people say stuff like with the Seahawks slump

[01:00:30] for instance we've gotten a lot of why aren't you calling for Pete Carroll to be fired and my answer is always like well I think Pete Carroll bought a lot of goodwill and I don't know what calling to fire Pete Carroll does for the Seahawks season right now

[01:00:44] it only hurts culture it only hurts the organization there are dozens and dozens and dozens of jobs behind the scene that are then lost that people aren't thinking of when they do that and so I try to stay away from too much of an emotional reaction

[01:01:00] and that's where I think the personal stuff comes in like it is really easy to get personal when you're emotional and so I try to like let it filter through and I think all of our hosts do that like some to different degrees like

[01:01:10] fired up and Bob can get really critical of the Mariners but everyone tries to filter it through what is fair the fair filter like what is a fair critique that like nothing I'm saying could be interpreted as factually incorrect was is there a moment that you've had

[01:01:32] in your career where you felt like you've gone too close to that line yes I've never called for anyone's job sometimes you worry that like a player is going to hear you or be offended by something like the other day someone asked us hey what

[01:01:52] C.O.A.C. players not living up to his contract and bump was like I'm not touching that which makes sense any most former players don't like pointing to that kind of stuff because they're like like

[01:02:02] they relate to that world so much that they don't even like going near it and it was a lighthearted segment so I wasn't thinking I said well I think we'll disley and then I was like you know what that's so unfair to say someone was like

[01:02:16] Stacey not living up to her contract we get paid drastically different from the money so I think that's okay but then I clarified he's not living up to his contract because part of why he's being paid is to be this at times explosive offensive weapon or whatever

[01:02:34] and they have needed to use him for a lot of fast walking and so he doesn't have the targets and touchdowns that you'd normally associate with getting paid a lot of money as a tight end because they needed him for help along the offensive line

[01:02:44] so that's adding what I think is a fair filter of being like let me just clarify but I've never been like blocked by anyone or had anyone be like that really really crossed the line again I've typically I am naturally

[01:03:00] and I've had to actually curb this I'm naturally a people pleaser which has been really difficult in radio when you find out people don't like you not like players or coaches but just like listeners and it's really hard to stop yourself

[01:03:14] from then saying like well what can I say to make them like me because it's such a natural inclination to want to be liked and to be friendly and to like having someone say you suck to your face is a very strange experience

[01:03:26] but like I don't think most people are conditioned for that same thing though while I've been better at curbing it and not leaning into it has I think kept me from putting my foot in my mouth too much with other things has stuff like that actually happened

[01:03:40] in person the whole you suck thing like I can imagine the text line can be brutal sometimes I said to your face but what I mean is the text line because no never in my life in person has anyone said anything really horrible to me

[01:03:54] which is wild because when I first started I was hated like if you would have put out a survey I would guarantee you I would be the most hated person on that station like people were really upset that I wasn't Lydia, that I wasn't Jessamine they

[01:04:08] thought that I sounded like an idiot I was called every name in the book they didn't they thought that my job came at the expense of at the time Graz who was on medical leave who had stepped away from like it didn't like it just did not

[01:04:24] there were all these other people that they thought should have had the job instead I think that that's this natural thing that comes with the gig right like it's no one's job to like you literally no one's job is to like you except hopefully your mom

[01:04:40] like I would hope that she does but it's still a weird adjustment and and so I think that that, Lyle to your question was one of the things that was told to me once by someone and I don't know if it was Jake

[01:04:54] or it might have been Bump it might have been Bulp and like no one ever is brave enough to say it to your face like people get real tough when they can be anonymous and when they can just kind of spew vitriol

[01:05:06] into what feels like a black hole like there's no consequence for saying anything we see it on Twitter all the time but in person it is so much more intimidating to tell someone I don't like you in person people kind of clam up and they don't say anything

[01:05:20] so no I've never had anyone in person say something like horrible it's only been very pleasant nice things but it has absolutely been on the text line and on Twitter for sure. Do you think it was harder for you to

[01:05:32] to get past that part or do you feel like it was harder to get past to the stereotype of a woman hosting a full-time radio show in a top 15 market talking about sports played by men um you mean does do I think it was tough to

[01:05:48] yeah try not to lean into a stereotype yeah well not not even that like because I'm sure the stereotype was a big reason why people were attacking you because they thought it was easy I mean you're not like anyone else that usually hosts at that station

[01:06:04] like males who sit in those chairs and host those radio shows but you are not so like I think I read before and tell me if I have this right when you were doing segments before before Salk elevated you to

[01:06:18] a full-time host you said like you really had no issue you thought it came very naturally to you and it was only when you sat down in the chair and you had full host responsibilities were really sort of set in so I actually think I might have

[01:06:30] answered my own question there uh I'll have you confirm that uh that it probably that the text line issue and the the perception issue was was harder it was it was and it's um there's something too about like hey I'm popping in and no one knows

[01:06:46] who I am and I can say whatever I want and I didn't grow up listening to Forth's radio like I was a huge fan of podcasts and obviously watched ESPN and I would watch the Anne Patrick show like I consumed a lot of my fourth media on

[01:06:58] on television or through podcasts or reading I love I used to love ESPN the magazine it's no longer thing but like um so I almost because I didn't have this preconceived notion of like what does the audience look like do they like me

[01:07:12] I don't know I'm not even thinking about it I'm going on telling myself that one person's listening like and so you're not thinking but I was so unafraid and I just I was so confident um and then you start seeing what people are saying

[01:07:26] and there is something really strange to like imagine yourself at work and you're sitting in a sales meeting and you say yeah I talked to this client and I told them this and then you get five messages that pop up

[01:07:38] going well that was stupid why do you even have this job like that would be such a weird such a weird thing you'd be like whoa god Carol what's your problem like it's just a very weird thing to get used to and I didn't come from that world

[01:07:50] I had not my host at the time Jake had been criticized since he was 16 years old I mean he decided not to go to Washington at 18 and had fans of an entire institution hating him and writing hate mail saying horrible things about him on forums so he

[01:08:06] had been dealing with that for when I met him like 10 years of his life and obviously his NFL career and people just constantly was like he was so positive and he had conditioned himself to like I care about people who love me and that's it

[01:08:18] and I was so not in that place because I hadn't even gotten to the like I used to go on Seahawks Reddit all the time and field goals I used to read all the time and I remember the first time seeing my name on Reddit

[01:08:28] and people were like oh she sucks they weren't saying very nice things and I was like I feel like I'm having an out of body experience like how do they know my name and why are they talking about me and why does this matter

[01:08:38] and all of a sudden I was like I feel like I can't go here anymore I'm just seeing bad things and so it was very strange because so many of my co-hosts Rock, Jake, then later Bump and obviously Wyman had dealt with that

[01:08:52] and learned to deal with that very young as athletes meanwhile you have Mike who's dealt with people hating him all the time and it's like I believe what I believe and I'm very he's very you know unafraid of someone he's got this like well

[01:09:06] eff him attitude if you don't agree with him because he truly believes in what he believes and I love that about him and like I just wasn't there yet and so it's actually been very helpful to work with all of these people who have such healthy coping epitisms

[01:09:20] What was that do you remember that conversation was like with Mike when he when he was going to elevate you full time to that host position like I know you went into this business wanting to write not to talk on air

[01:09:32] so when that conversation happens what goes through your mind um guilt initially because there were a couple different people who I thought were really qualified to be on air and I really wanted to like at that point I started doing some night hosting and

[01:09:48] some weekend stuff and fill in work and I loved it I was like I feel like I finally found something that I'm good at like I feel like I should be doing this and I feel really happy when I do it and so I really wanted it

[01:10:00] so I was really hungry for it and I was going to be like pay me whatever you want absolutely I'll do this but um I knew that um we have so many qualified people like I wish we had uh 17 shows so that Curtis could have his own show

[01:10:14] Curtis is one of the smartest baseball minds I know like he is so smart and knows so much stuff he's like a walking encyclopedia and uh has a great radio voice and so I was just thinking of like this weird kind of you know

[01:10:28] I want all my friends to host a show with me and I'm going to be like nice me unfortunately there's one spot and so you know here it is but yeah I felt then I felt a little nervous because I had been exposed to a little bit

[01:10:40] of the bad comments and thought here we go like this is people are going to be really really really upset that um they're not listening to Bob Graz and Tom and are instead listening to Tom Gake and Stacey they're not going to know

[01:10:54] who I am I'm going to be a female voice and when I started especially younger than I am and so they're going to think it's a young female and unfortunately there are stereotypes there that are so unfair but obviously of like you don't know anything

[01:11:08] and so I would say fear and guilt and then later replaced with like a kind of stubborn excitement like a real like well f you guys attitude and I think that in my worst moments I've tried to find that mostly by listening to like good music

[01:11:26] well I was going to ask how you've learned to channel so much of that negativity that sometimes people send you over the years I mean it sounds like maybe the good music is part of it but what else have you have you done to kind of learn

[01:11:38] to channel at all um I think that I've been better I've tried to find what works for me and uh initially I would internalize a lot so if someone texted in and said uh you're ugly you are a horse face which is something I've gotten before

[01:12:02] I would feel really bad about myself go home and like stare at myself in the mirror going oh my god yeah you're right totally you look like a horse or like something really horrible um then I would just learn to laugh at it

[01:12:16] I'd be like what a stupid kind of a funny insult or like I would call my sister and she you know my sister was like she would just laugh and be like bitch I know that's right it's almost like hearing someone you love make a funny joke about

[01:12:30] you're an insult about you almost takes the edge off because you realize like you know it's okay if you're not perfect maybe just surround some of that criticism with people you love when they could like if you turn it into a joke that you can laugh at

[01:12:46] it takes the hurt away from it that's just one example I've gotten much better about turning it off ignoring it um I'm not kidding it took me like probably probably two and a half years to even be able the idea whenever I see people that

[01:13:02] um like you'll have mean of times retweet someone and she'll always have like a 10 out of 10 burn for this person right it's always amazing but you'll have people go why don't you just ignore it and sometimes I want to like I want to say because that's not normal

[01:13:18] because just brushing it off is something that takes years and years and years and years to learn and even then that one comment can just stick with you and eat at you because sometimes it's something you believe about yourself right um and so I think that

[01:13:36] it just takes a lot of practice and uh and yeah I try to and Brock gave me this advice when I first started he was like find a really really healthy network of people that you love and pay attention to them

[01:13:50] and I didn't get what he meant and I don't know if this is what he meant by it but I think that you can have so much input on what you do and who you are and who you should be and learning to

[01:14:02] trust that input instead from people you love and who care about you really does make a huge difference and it's taken me a huge portion of my career to learn how to do that What's the music you lean on um I lean into a lot

[01:14:16] of particularly female rappers just because there's this kind of like you know FU energy that is you know I remember having a bad day granted this was uh this is like 2000 I don't know 15 or 16 so she had

[01:14:32] an album I think recently come out but I remember having a horrible day at the BMAC where I was like I felt like it was the first day of high school I went home crying I felt like an idiot

[01:14:40] and then I drove in the next day listening to like Nicki Minaj and I was like you know what I'm just channel this kind of like and what attitude with it and um and I really leaned into that a lot and those artists have since

[01:14:54] evolved and changed but I find that like in this sounds corny and maybe like some people wouldn't find strength in this and it sounds stupid to say but I really do find strength in other women like I think it is super badass

[01:15:06] that I'm in a market where like Angie is here and Jen is here and neither of them get as much credit as they deserve even though they're both very well respected like Jen is so brilliant like she is a great exes in O's mind

[01:15:20] and just because a lot of her stuff is like um you know a personal story or you know trying to bring fans in like she knows so much about football and um it's uh it's been very great to surround myself with that and then also women I don't

[01:15:36] know you know like Nicki or Ben or Beyonce so you you mentioned your time with the V-MAC and I think tie this into a question I read about you felt like you were a little bit of a late bloomer when it came to like really understanding sports

[01:15:52] and again now you you are expected to know more than pretty much everyone else like what is it that you did to make sure you were caught up in that especially like at times of the V-MAC where it's like okay man how many safeties are back there

[01:16:06] uh yeah what are they in a 3-4 yeah I can't tell what were the steps you had to go through to really to really like compartmentalize and really get to where you wanted to go um a lot a lot a lot of reading

[01:16:20] and a lot of note taking and finding my own like literally if anyone is doing this in sports it's like what works for you if you are in college or in high school can sometimes work at a professional level whether it's sales

[01:16:32] whether it's sports whether it's whatever like I found that note taking or um if I read something writing the thing I read down and things like that to help it cement into my brain really help and so like these notebooks like I have like 50 bajillion of these

[01:16:46] that I've had since I started and I literally just like write out notes every single day of like this trade happened here's those and anytime I write something that I don't know like if it's like um you know here's uh the total

[01:17:00] of these contracts and if I see these like I remember and this is going to seem stupid but like I remember when I first started I wasn't entirely sure about differences between like uh zone coverages or you know what's man coverage when do you switch like what happens

[01:17:18] so if there's ever something that as I was reading I didn't know I would write it down separately look it up and like box it out and like write in definitions and write so literally it's like you write encyclopedia for yourself

[01:17:30] and that's what worked for me I don't know if it works for other people also asking lots of questions and I'm fortunate to be in a market where I mean shout out to God everyone I've ever worked with I mean the reporters like like Bob and Tim

[01:17:46] and all those guys are fantastic at work Mike and G and Jake and later um you know obviously Bump and and Purtis like everyone loves sports and they want to talk about sports and they'll share all kinds of insight but um yeah I just I I think just

[01:18:06] really really putting in the time to learn and there's a surprising number of people that I'll hear talk about like as a woman you notice it and I don't know if you guys do but I feel like I get pointed to a lot when I don't know something

[01:18:22] and so you naturally develop this kind of filter for recognizing when someone doesn't know what they're talking about and I see it all the time it's just that a lot of other people don't like if you hear like you know an older guy on sports radio

[01:18:38] and he says something like uh just factually incorrect most people don't bat an eye but now I'm so used to seeing it because you kind of get nervous when you do it and so it's I think it happens a lot and people don't know as much

[01:18:54] it's so hard to know everything about sports and we don't it's just even when you think you do my definition or understanding of X's and O's is very much filtered through analysts and reporters football outsiders I didn't sit down with Earl Thomas and ask him to

[01:19:12] walk me through the Seahawks defense you know what I mean so even people who think that they know a ton is you're still missing out on a lot of information so I think just yeah that was such a long convoluted answer but

[01:19:28] both an understanding of how much we all don't know and also a willingness to learn what's the subject that's next for you to fill a book I'd love to be better about hockey for sure I picked up a couple books last year and

[01:19:46] and I'm still diving in it is still a new world for me so they're trying to get better about that and I'm also not super great with the NBA so that one's a little bit a little more fun that journey because it's just

[01:19:58] I just naturally am more inclined to like the sport that's my next to really be better I think that's you and like the rest of Seattle about hockey I feel like I never heard of understanding hockey we didn't have a team so you only watch marginally

[01:20:14] so like I think that's totally normal if I had one more question for you Stacy and maybe this is a pretty open-ended one but is there anything in your career that you still really want to do moving forward you know I'd love to um find a way where

[01:20:34] some things so I used to always shy away from mentioning pop culture or any like non sports things because I thought that it would discredit me and a stereotype that already existed people would be like of course you want to talk about this but in my experience

[01:20:52] a lot of athletes and other reporters and coaches like talking about those things so I'd love to find an avenue and one of my goals for my career hopefully while here at Bonneville is to find an avenue whether it's a podcast, whether it's um you know written interviews

[01:21:08] where you can talk with people about some of the more interesting parts of your life and I think it's a welcome to like everyone's idea for sports but an example would be when Jimmy Graham was still here I was going around asking players like um

[01:21:24] what was your worst summer job? Like what was the worst summer job you had? And um a lot of people had really funny ones and I uh I went up to Jimmy and like cornered him. I think he was surprised

[01:21:36] so he ended up answering and actually interviewing with me and he said that he worked on a pig farm and um he was an older teenager and it was over a summer and the I don't know what it's called because he never worked on a farm

[01:21:48] but the like little the food dispenser thing broke so he had to wheelbarrow the food to all the pigs and go back and forth and back and forth a bajillion times and he was like I put on like 10 plus pounds of muscle over the course of a summer

[01:22:04] and little things like that ended up impacting his own athletic career but he talked about like how he hated it and he was like the worst like these hot days where you're like shoveling big feed for hours and then he ends the summer and he's super muscly

[01:22:20] and like big and strong like there's a story there and something really interesting there that I wish I would have followed up on and I didn't even publish it. I had the audio of the interview and I didn't even publish because I thought like

[01:22:30] oh that's dumb. It looks like such a surface level story. People are going to think I'm stupid that was I should have done that like that's such an interesting story and I'm going to get back into those kinds of conversations. Last question for me so off of that

[01:22:44] who's the one person you would want to interview who's first on the list if you had access to them? Oh God I would love to so I love reality TV I wish I could find I want to find an athlete that is very into like a TV

[01:23:00] show of some kind and simply talk about the TV show because I think that athletes many athletes not all athletes are naturally extroverted people and like a quandary digs type is just so funny not afraid to say their opinion not worried about looking a certain way

[01:23:14] I would love to have like conversations about pop culture different TV shows trending stories with like a really funny athlete that kind of catches you off guard with some other jokes. That would be great I was going to say just to wrap this up

[01:23:32] you mentioned reality TV states it like I'll say I watch the bachelor so whatever it's worth yeah okay I just thought I'd throw it out there like maybe I'd relate to you a little bit you mentioned reality TV I love it I love reality TV

[01:23:46] I watch it all the time and more people I think more guys than some listeners realize whether it's because their partners do or whether it's because they just watch it you know you can have funny conversations about it the conversations and things are there it's fun

[01:24:02] I think that's more what it is I'll sit there sometimes and be like legitimately I don't know why I watch this show but then I'll go back the next week and do the exact same thing and I'll give like a disclaimer

[01:24:14] when I have like if I have friends that are watching with me or like you know let's say we have a friend over and you know we're watching it I'll be like I just want you to know we know these are horrible people but listen here's what's happening

[01:24:24] Kyle and Maricio we're going through all of it and without fail people will get sucked in right well Stacy we appreciate you taking some time this has been this has truly been fantastic we appreciate you taking some time to join us here today and yeah so thank

[01:24:42] you Stacy I love it thanks guys hope you enjoyed the interview with Stacy Ross exactly like Mike Salk said she was great she was like we said before the interview started really knows her stuff interesting story really funny relatable everything so we enjoyed

[01:25:00] having her on really love talking to her hope you guys enjoyed listening and with that that'll just about wrap up this edition of the Marine Lair podcast you guys know the drill you want to listen to the full form podcast

[01:25:12] you can do so wherever you get your audio side of your podcast make sure to download our episode leave us those five star reviews and follow the show if you do that all that helps us out a ton if you take

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[01:25:36] as always we thank you guys for tuning in talk to you soon