November 17, 2025 • 28 mins
In the second hour, Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain chat with Hugh Millen about the Seahawks loss to the Rams yesterday, Sam Darnold, and Ernest Jones defending his quarterback, then the guys react to Josh Naylor returning to the Mariners on a new deal.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, let's get to it.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Hugh Mellon joins us right now on the radio program
A Little More at four, or our friend Huey Millan,
who's with us now on a Monday afternoon.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hue how are you man? I'm doing well.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Guys, how are you doing good?
Speaker 4 (00:13):
Well?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
As always, before we dive into details, man, you have
the floor, you have the con man. Give us your
take on a two point loss to the Rams that
was included with four interceptions for the third time in
Sam Darnold's career.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
What'd you make what you saw yesterday?
Speaker 5 (00:32):
Well?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
I was exceedingly disappointed.
Speaker 6 (00:34):
I mean, right after we missed the field goal, I
yelled out an F bomb that scared the dog. So
I want to talk out of both sides of my
mouth in this regard. And I was as frustrated with
Sam Darnold and his decisions as anybody. We'll talk about
all that, but you know, as this moves in past
twenty four hours, I'll say this, it's possible that what
(00:59):
happened yesterday it actually increases the chance of the Seahawks
making a deep run in the playoffs and even winning
the Super Bowl. Let me explain what I mean if,
and again I wanted them to win. I was not
strategizing this beforehand. I'm just saying, based on where we
are now, if the Seahawks have a mature response to this,
(01:20):
a competitor's response to this, what you guys tell me
what would be happening right now? Seattle had won that game.
Let's say Darnold only throws one interception, Seattle wins by
ten or twelve points.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
What would be happening right.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
People would say they're the favorite to win the whole thing. Yes,
number winning the power rankings right. Well, I've been on
a Super Bowl team that was widely known to be
the best team in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys
right during that era when they were winning Super Bowls,
and I've been on other playoff teams that weren't as dominant.
(01:55):
I don't think Seattle this year is good.
Speaker 6 (01:59):
Enough to really be, you know, the tip of the
spear of the NFL, like taking everybody's best shot. It's
a cliche, but I'm telling you it's real. You can
feel it in the stadium the fans. You know, one
little stop on a second and seven for three yards,
the place goes crazy. You're you're getting everybody's best shot.
Had Seattle won this game, you know it's possible. I'm
(02:21):
just looking at the schedule. Maybe you go down to Atlanta,
I know, on Pennix's out, but Cousins has beat people,
Atlanta beat Buffalo in that stadium. Maybe if you had
won that game and you're taking everybody's best, you know,
Minnesota's best. You know the Colts hell the Colts are
number one in the NFL, and yards they got playmakers
all around. Daniel Jones like like it's possible that they
(02:44):
could have kicked a game instead of yesterday. Now instead, Okay,
let's just draft behind using an auto racing term, right,
let's just draft behind. Let let the Rams take on
all that headwind and and and really on. On January fourth,
when the Seahawks get on that plane after having played
(03:05):
the forty nine ers in the last game of the season,
there's only three objectives for where you want to be
when you get on that plane. You want to have
one enough games to be in the playoffs and hopefully
have a good seating. Number one, you want to be healthy,
and you want to be peaking schematically from an energy standpoint.
And I just there's not many teams who can peak
(03:28):
for an entire half of the year and be good
enough to just take on everybody and stay, yeah, we're
the baddest. Everybody knows where the baddest. We're gonna come in,
give us your best shot. We're still going to bootstomp you.
Like that's rare. Maybe the Seahawks will be there next year.
Maybe this is like the twenty twelve Seas. Maybe maybe
this is one of the teams that they can just
(03:48):
as I said, draft and find a way to sneak
in and be dominant and play their best football in
January and February. So I'm trying to find a silver
lining in that. It all really depends on I think
the Dee they continue to prove it. It's going to
depend on Sam Darnold. Where is his emotional state? And
I would liken it to you know, if you scout
(04:08):
a kicker coming out of college or whatever, you're not
just scouting his leg You're scouting his mentality. Is does
this guy have the clutch? He does he relish the
game winning kick?
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Right?
Speaker 6 (04:22):
And so I think in that regard, if you can
identify with that and something simple like a kicker. Obviously
that applies to a quarterback. We don't know if this
guy has the chops to be able to rise up
and play his best football in the biggest games because
he hasn't had but a few opportunities, and of late
he hasn't performed in those opportunities.
Speaker 7 (04:41):
What is a reasonable sample size then, Hugh, He's got
three more games against playoff teams, the Colts, the Rams,
and the Niners. Is that enough of a sample size
going into this playoff? If he performs well in two
of the three or all three of the three, that.
Speaker 6 (04:55):
We should say, okay, now he can win big games. Well,
I think the Rams are you know, a test like
in a syllabus. You know that that's the test that
has the most you know, points for for your final grade. Right,
I like, I get you the Colts, but you're not
You're not gonna I don't.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
I don't.
Speaker 6 (05:10):
I don't feel like viscerally you're gonna have the same response. Now,
if the Colts are undefeated between now and then, uh,
you know, they could come in and it's conceivable that
Sam could rehabilitate himself in that game. But I feel
like it's most likely going to happen in the RAM game. Uh,
you know, depending on how the Rams do.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
But but but.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
That's the game.
Speaker 6 (05:28):
We don't We won't know for a month, and that's
gonna be a long month for him. But you know what,
that's why it's hard to play the position. He's just
got a flat out cowboy up right, and in terms
of just having real fortitude and you know, mental strength
to battle through all the crap that he's going to
hear for the next month.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Well, Humilin is with us and Hugh.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Going back to to yesterday's game, Uh, the final drive.
I said this to Dick in the open. I'm curious
about your thoughts on it. I thought there was an
opportunity or two some of it, I understand, by the way,
because of new guys like Rashid Shiheed being on the
roster and maybe Darnold taking an extra second to get
him lined up properly on that first down play from
(06:11):
the one.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, I thought.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
There was a chance to maybe squeeze in an extra
play or two on that last drive.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Did you feel that way?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (06:20):
Yeah, I felt like they were wasting too much time.
I mean, you got to get up there. You know,
it's a fine line, because you can have a vanilla
play run from a vanilla formation and you just kind
of hope that they run a vanilla defense. You know,
I think that Kubiak, you know, it's a balance. It's like, okay,
I really think, based on what I'm seeing that this
is our best shot. But of course, as you said,
(06:41):
you got to line up with specificity, and so it
takes a few more seconds. But yeah, I think as
they review that they'll they'll they'll realize that they squandered
some seconds that could have been vital.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
Here.
Speaker 7 (06:53):
From the one oh four mark in the first quarter
till the end of the game, the Rams ran twenty
nine plays for one hundred and ten yards three point
seventy to nine yards per play, had the ball for
eleven minutes and forty three seconds. What were the adjustments
made by just the brainiac Mike McDonald in the last
three quarters of that game.
Speaker 6 (07:11):
Yeah, well, I think you had a couple of plays
where Ernest Jones got out of a gap, you know,
on a weak side lead when Emon Worry's got the
outside half of the of the beat what's called the
beg gap between the garden and tackle. Ernst Jones has
got to have the inside half of that. He didn't
get there. On a stretch play, the bubble tackle on
the left tackle for the rams, he's gonna rise up
(07:31):
to get the mic Ernstone's got to fight over the
top of that block. So in those situations, the second
level was missing in terms of the run fits. And
then in both of those plays Kobe Bryant miss tackles
at the third level. So in each of those runs
he had over thirty yards. They and so they were
(07:52):
better at the gap gaps, and they and the safeties
were filling faster so they didn't have to make the
tackle in space, could just come up and thump and
and you know, think of if you're a kicker and
you are going to make a tackle on a kickoff return,
you want to get up in the hole. You don't
want to be out there in space trying to make
(08:12):
that tackle. So if you can kind of lock into
that philosophy, well, obviously safeties are better tacklers than kickers.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
But if the.
Speaker 6 (08:21):
Safety can get up in the hole and just bring it,
you know, five or six yards at the lines from
the line of scrimmage as opposed to eight, nine or
twelve yards from the line screams, you got a better chance.
I thought they were filling faster in that regard, as
far as they played more man to man there in
the second quarter, so that they were able to run
around the blocks on the tight end screen, so they
weren't getting burned by that, you know, you know.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
And then they they just were more active.
Speaker 6 (08:47):
They brought more simulated pressures, particularly off of Stafford's right side.
He's right handed quarterback obviously, and I thought that they
had some free runners that they created and really attacked
Blitz as it was phenomenal and Dick just to close
on it, there's so much to bark about with Mike McDonald,
but you asked me on Friday aptly so about the
(09:07):
Seahawks use of excuse me, the Rams use of thirteen personnel.
That's the one running back the three tight ends, you know,
and Greg Olsen is you know, from a scheme standpoint,
he's as good analysts as there is out there, right,
and so he's on that. He works his tailoff and
over the last three games in thirteen personnel, the Rams
(09:27):
had gained two hundred and two yards against the forty
nineers one hundred and sixty seven before that one hundred
and twelve yards. They were averaging one hundred and sixty
yards per game over the last three from that personnel group,
the Seahawks holding to forty nine. They had been the
Rams at five point four yards per play. They were
two point seven. The Seahawks cut it exactly in half.
And for Matthew Stafford flying high going yeah, man, seven
(09:50):
point eight net yards per pass attempt, you know, leading
in the Seahawks. I love thirteen personnel. Well, the Seahawks
held him two point.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Seven right, wow, right?
Speaker 6 (10:00):
Not not seven yard yeah, which would be slightly under
point seven. So you know, there's just every time you dig,
every time you watch the tape, you just you just
kind of love, uh, you know what what he brings
schematically and young guys like Emon.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Worry and you know, I mean Emon Worry.
Speaker 6 (10:17):
I could just do a whole segment on him and
and Witherspoon and they just got some dogs, man that
they play together and they are feisty.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
I don't know, it's fun to watch that.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
You let me go back to Donald for a minute,
and I want to I want to ask you a
two part question, all right. I want you to give
me like a like a like a two minute answer,
because I've got a bunch of stuff we gotta squeeze
in here in the next six minutes. First of all,
I'm one, I'm curious if there was any kind of
a blueprint provided by the Rams against Sam Donald that
other teams will try and rip off.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
And then as the next quarterback, I.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Want to get your thoughts on this quote from Ernest
Jones after the game. He was talking about all the
criticism of Sam Darnald after throwing four picks.
Speaker 8 (10:57):
I mean, Sam's been bothering, right if we want to
try to define Sam by this game, and man, Sam's
been had us in every game, So for him to
sit there and say, oh, that's my fault, No, it's not.
It was plays that defensively, we could have made plays.
There were opportunities where we could have got better stops. Yeah,
I mean, like it's football, man, he's our quarterback. We
(11:18):
got his back, and we got anything to say.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Quite frankly, quite frankly, f you says Ernest Jones, what
does that mean to you as a quarterback when your
linebacker says that?
Speaker 1 (11:28):
And did the Rams provide a blueprint?
Speaker 6 (11:30):
Well, I'll take the Ernest Jones. First, I hear a
rational response from him and an emotional response. The rational
response was, look at where we are. We're here because
of all the things Samon Darnald has had. That is
absolutely true, and it's good that the defensive captain and
(11:51):
the guy with the green dot calling the plays recognize that.
Then there's an emotional response because of the nature of
Sam Donald. You know how he is.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
That's just that good guy.
Speaker 6 (12:03):
Uh, you know, professional, Uh you know how he leads
and and uh, you know, he's an ego list guy.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
I think that he's very likable.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
I think that they respect his playmaking, they respect his
toughness and what have you and and what he's done.
And you know, look, he came into the game against
the Rams. He was he was number one in the
NFL and QBR, which has a higher correlation to winning
than passer rating, and he was number one in the
subjective part of it, Pro Football Focus. He was the
number one graded quarterback. So so I think that Ernest
(12:36):
Jones sees that and he probably knows, hey, this has
to work, right because nothing's Jalen Milro has been a
nothing burger, right. Drew Locke by all accounts is going
to be a career backup like this has to work,
and so maybe there's a little bit of a self
preservation in that. But I just think it's what I
said before he recognized that. And then as far as
(12:58):
as Donald the blueprint, Look, I think the Rams, I've
really studied them on a number of games, and I
tried to convey it to you guys last week. I
think that they are really talented on defense at all levels.
They are extremely well coached by Chris Sula, grandson of
Don Shula, And you know, I think they're they're hard,
(13:19):
hard to move the football, and they're second second in points. Uh,
they're second and yards, second and third down, you know,
first in in uh preventing.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Yak after reception.
Speaker 6 (13:30):
I mean, you just go through the matrix that that
team when you watch them on they disguise well. So
if you've got all those parts and they can play
some dime deep, if they've got a lot of dbs
that can really trigger on the ball, they can they
can squad on the ball. And then the that that interception,
the on the on the sideline on the third quarter,
(13:53):
the out route to J s N. You watch, uh,
you watch this corner, he like, he starts to go
turn into a three quarter turn or see me a
half turn with his knees in, and he's bailing to
go defend the deep route. And then when he reads
that it's an out route, he turns his hips and
just triggers so hard. That was a I don't know
if he's a Pro Bowl player. That was a all
(14:15):
pro level hip turn and drive on a football. So
I just think they got good dudes. And the disguising
I don't think there's a blueprint. I mean, you can
try and disguise him. And also, you know what, and
Darnald had a lot of pressure. There was a lot
of times where he there was a second or third
open receiver and he couldn't get to him because of
(14:38):
the pressure.
Speaker 7 (14:39):
Hugh, you talked about the narrative of what we'd be
talking about if the Seahawks were to win that game.
I want to talk about the narrative of Sam Darnold
if Jason Myers makes that kick. If Jason Myers makes
that kick, Sam led them to twenty one plays for
one hundred and forty yards and a touchdown seven of
seven eighty yards on one drive, five of eight thirty
nine yards on the next Can we take some solace
(15:02):
in that part of Sam Darnold that when it was
that you know what hit the fan in the last
two drives, he did a really nice job.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
Yes, absolutely, I mean put you say, put it in
a position to win. I don't know how how how
much you would describe sixty one yard field goal as
a position to win, but but certainly for him, I
think he'll derive confidence from that. I'm not in his head,
but that's that's a good close. And then the other
part of it is that's difficult when you've already got
(15:32):
four interceptions under your belt. You know, it's hard for
a quarterback to push that aside and just say, hey,
I'm still gonna have to try. And you know, particularly
in those situations where I'm gonna have to be a
little bit aggressive to try and get some chunk plays.
I can't go check down Charlie just because I've had
four picks, right like, for us to win this game,
I'm gonna I'm gonna need to find some you know,
(15:53):
mailbox down the field that I can stuff this ball into.
And so yeah, absolutely, Dick there you can you can
takes some some I don't know, Solace, but in encouragement
from that, all.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Right, one minute, and I swear to God, if it's
not a minute, I'm gonna cut you off, all right,
because we've got to get to a break. First of all,
great news that Grey's Abel has avoided a significant injury.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
He's day to day, says McDonald's. So great news there.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
And then I'm wondering what's going on with Kenny Walker
man last drive of the game. He's not even on
the field, that is all Zach Charbonay. And then McDonald
came out today and said Ken is showing he deserves
some more opportunities, to which I would ask, what's he
shown that he doesn't deserve opportunities? Can you explain what
they're thinking is with Zach Sharbonay over Kenny Walker?
Speaker 1 (16:37):
At times.
Speaker 6 (16:39):
Maybe they think that Zach Sharbonay is just a little
bit more reliable, but on a successful percentage, google it
that we don't have the time. While Sarboney is forty
four point eight percent, Canine is forty four point one percent.
That's kind of like a batting average, but the slugging percentage.
To carry out the analogy, well, well, Canine is sixth
(17:02):
in the NFL of all twenty nine running backs who
have one hundred more yards excuse me attempts rushing attempts,
Canine is six in the NFL, and explosive run percent
Zach is is dead last at three point eight twenty
ninth out of twenty ninth a plus twenty runs. Oh
and also he's Zach Sarbonny is dead last in yards pertemp.
(17:24):
He's dead last in explosive run percentage.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Well.
Speaker 6 (17:28):
While Canine has seven runs of twenty or more yards,
Zach has won. While Canine has nineteen rushes of ten
yards or more, Zach has four. I don't get it.
My eyes tell me that there's just way more explosiveness,
more bursts, even as a receiver out of the backfield,
catching that checkdown in the left alley and zooming up
(17:51):
the sideline like he was on a turbo button on
an Xbox like either's just your eyes tell you he's
much more explosive. The numbers tell you he's much more explosive,
equally reliable in terms of just kind of grinding out
the tough yards. I don't get it to meet Canine
as the guy, and it's not close. I love it
all right, great stuff.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
We'll talk Friday, man, see you bout it with us.
We're gonna break big news for the Mavengers. We'll explain
next on ninety three three kJ a r F.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
M from the R and R Foundation Specialist Broadcast Studio.
Now back to Softie and Dick on your home for
the Huskies, Kraken and the twelfth Man Sports Radio ninety
three point three kJ R FM to the game.
Speaker 9 (18:32):
Hold up, he touch horolight, scorchave it home, hold on
to the plans, catch to the light.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Duane.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Hi, There you go, the voice of Aaron Goldsmith.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Hopefully we will hear a lot more of that in
the next five years. The Mariners made it official Josh
Naylor a press conference tomorrow morning at ten thirty at
te Mobile Park, where they will introduce him for the
foreseeable future as the first basement of the Sea Attult.
Mariners reports now trickling out Dick five years, ninety two
(19:18):
point five million dollars eighteen point five million per season,
which makes him, I believe, the one two, three, four,
five six seven eighth highest paid first baseman average annual
per year based on last year's numbers. Some of these
numbers may go up, but you know he's right there
in the top ten. I mean, I just think it's
(19:40):
a great deal. It's a team friendly deal by the Mariners,
and the fact that it's five years, I'm totally fine with.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
We talked about this on Thursday.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I'm not going to sit around and worry about where
this thing is going to be when he's thirty two
years old in two thoy thirty, if Josh Naylor can
give them a solid three four years of this contract
and help them get to a wor World Series, and
the price I have to pay is maybe overpaying a
little bit in five years from now, when, by the way,
in five years from now, eighteen point five million might
be the twentieth highest paid first baseman in Major League Baseball.
(20:11):
I think it's great. So get him in, get him
locked in. I was expecting this to happen. I was
slightly slightly nervous it wasn't going to But I thought
the idea of losing Josh Nayler to anybody in free agency,
barring some ediot offering him fifty million dollars a year,
would have been a total disaster.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
And it's not going down that road.
Speaker 7 (20:31):
No, it's a fabulous deal. I mean I was guessing
at the price.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Essay.
Speaker 7 (20:34):
My mom was actually asking me, what are we going
to pay him? And I said, well, I say.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Is this before after she mother f Sam Darnold by
the way in the midst Okay got it in the
mid Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Absolutely.
Speaker 7 (20:44):
I quickly changed the subject to Jeffshonnaylor to make her
feel better. I said, probably a hundred. But if we're
lucky ninety, that's what I said, So we're we're closer
to her lucky side than we are what I what
I actually thought he could end up getting. I just
I just marveled these numbers, guys t Mobile Park last year. Yeah,
three sixty batting average, ten to fifteen ops right at
te Mobile Park. And he has said he's like maybe
(21:06):
the only person ever that said I really enjoy hitting
at this park.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
I mean, there's.
Speaker 7 (21:09):
Probably somebody else that said that down the road, but
it certainly doesn't happen very often. I'm just wondering, is
is this a shift in philosophy by the ownership or
is this just the twenty twenty five version of the
Luis Castile deal.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
I don't know the answer to that question.
Speaker 7 (21:25):
Because it's basically what they did with Castelle, right. They
traded for him, he was great for him down the stretch,
took him to the playoffs, and.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
So they rewarded him.
Speaker 7 (21:32):
So I don't know if it's a shift in philosophy.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Or not, but I love it so among Mariner I
guess I don't want to say regulars because Nigeler only
played fifty four games with the team this year, and
he played twenty five games I believe at home, but
among the everyday players at the end of the year,
and it's hard to look at a twenty six game
sample and think a lot. He had the highest ops
(21:56):
at home among anybody ten point fifteen, as you said,
compared to nine ozho two for Polonco, eight ninety three
for cal Raley and in forty three career games, which
is not again a ton, but it's not nothing.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Eight seventy ops at team mobiles.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
So that's one of the reasons why you could not
justify this guy walking that you finally found a guy
who you know delivers at tea mobile. He's a clutch player,
The players love him, the fans love him. He wants
to be or he brings energy in a spark to
the clubhouse.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
How in the hell can you let that guy walk?
Speaker 2 (22:28):
But then to answer your question, is this a shift
in philosophy, Well, let's see what else they do right right,
because it looks like they've saved maybe a little bit
of money. And maybe one of the reasons why they
did save some money is because they went to the
fifth year, which we'll talk more about in a second.
But if they go out and use that extra money
to get a right fielder, maybe a third baseman, to
(22:50):
kind of bring Williamson along, maybe even slower than what.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
They've been doing some bullpen arms.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I know they made the trade for the guy from
the Dodgers over the weekend, but not expecting a lot
from that kid.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
I just want to see what they do.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
And I've said it kind of sarcastically that look, man,
if there's ever a time in John Stanton's life, Chris
Larsen all the owners of this baseball team to wake
up and just be thinking World Series every day, it's
right now and asking themselves what have they done today
to make this team better to give them a shot
to make the World Series. So this is great that
they're bringing them back. It cannot be all of it though.
(23:25):
They cannot be done, and there's no way that they're done.
It's the seventeenth of November. The season doesn't start for
five months. Can you imagine the next five months, And
this is the only thing they do of significance over
the offseason.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
No way. I'm not buying that. I'm not buying it.
I will put my neck out for them. I'm not
buying well.
Speaker 7 (23:46):
And then the data is there because they said that
their payroll is going to be where it ended last year.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
That's right, twenty million off of that, so Garver's money,
all that stuff. So I'm looking. You know, I might
be the world's biggest bozo. Don't answer that, by the way,
but I might be the world's biggest sucker. I'm gonna
stick my neck out and say that, Dick, they are
not done, that they are motivated by what happened this year,
and they're not done.
Speaker 7 (24:10):
I'd agree they're not done. But I think this is
the biggest move. I mean, I don't think they. I mean,
this is clearly the A move of an A. They'll
probably do an A B in a C and Polonko's
probably the B. Yeah, I mean let's hope Polonco's the
C right and there's actually a B because they need
another hitter. That's like a B move, and then they
need to bring in a left handed Marietta add if
(24:30):
they add another hitter and they add a reliever and
they bring Polonco back, I am satisfied with the off season.
And then let's see where they are in July and
then go get a big slugger at the trade deadline,
like you got two sluggers this year.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Well, I think I think there's a couple of things
for me. I don't want to fall into a trap
of just saying do X, y Z and I'm satisfied. Like,
let's see what other players go for, right, Yeah, Let's
see what other players sign for. Like the guy that
Chuck wanted to sign with the Dodgers a year ago,
whatever his name was. There were two of them with
the same name, remember the guy, and it was like nothing.
(25:04):
It was a turd of a deal, Like what are
we doing? We can't get involved in that. So I
want to see what other deals look like Number one
and the number two. I think it's pretty simple for me, guys.
I want to compare the roster that we had in
Game seven against Toronto to the roster we have on
opening day. How much has it improved? I want to
(25:25):
play add on how much better has this roster gotten
since that final game against Toronto. So look again, it
doesn't need to be big money deal. I don't care
about the money. I don't care about not spending money.
I don't care about spending money. I just want better players.
I want better players, and sometimes that takes doing that
spending cash. But maybe the reason why they got I remember
(25:47):
David Samson was on with You and Me on Thursday
night of last week, the former president of the Marlins,
and there was a rumor going around that it would
take a five year deal, not a four year deal
to get Josh Shnailor done. This is what David Samson
said Thursday night about that.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
For me, are you really going to go five years
for Josh Nayler? Is that really a plan that you
would suggest is proper? I just don't know that I
would do.
Speaker 10 (26:14):
They though, think though that hey, if there's ever a year,
though David, to maybe go a little bit above what
we're comfortable with, maybe at another year. It's right now
because of the window that we're in with this pitching
staff and the roster that we have.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Is that fair? Again?
Speaker 5 (26:31):
I did that all the time. You know, you want
to get the players so badly during the offseason. You
want to win the offseason because it feels good to
the fans, it feels good to you, and you give
the extra year. But all of a sudden, that extra
year comes quick and you are despondent, beyond repair. And
that is the toughest battle the front office's face when
(26:51):
they look themselves in the mirror. What's an extra year?
I probably won't even have a job, and half the
fans I just can get good press for the now,
can have a great press conference. Let me not worry
about it. But as an owner or a team president,
you've got to think about that because that extra year comes.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
So he'll be thirty three in the middle of his
fifth year with the Mariners. He'll be twenty nine next June. Okay,
he'll be thirty three. If the Mariners get this done
between now and then, I promise you they won't give
a damn what they're paying him in two thousands.
Speaker 7 (27:23):
That's right, But I mean I'd be shocked if he's
the starting first base on that.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Fine, so what.
Speaker 7 (27:28):
Donned so what so? And I mean, hey, we got
it done. If it took the fifth year to get
it done, fine, I'm usually on the side of David
Sampson on these particular things, but I know you are.
But this is Naylor. Naylor is different, right, because we
have seen what kind of fit he is. Part of
the reason I'm worried about bringing free agents in is
(27:50):
because I don't know if they're.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Gonna fit, right.
Speaker 7 (27:53):
That's one of the main reasons that I don't like
to overpay for other people's free agents. This I already
know is going to work. I'm you know, with my
own eyes. So therefore I'm much more likely to get
one to yea reasonably give up the fifty.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I just would love to know. And I'm trying to
look it up where eighteen point five mil would have
been five years ago, and where it would have been
ten years ago, and where it's going to be in
five years from now. I just to me, it's not
even a factor, not even a factor, because by then,
hopefully the Mariners will have a lot of other young
guys like Emerson maybe that aren't making chef squat and
(28:27):
they can make up for Y. Yeah, they'll overpay a
little bit, and who knows, maybe they'll have to trade
the guy to dump his salary like they did Cano
in five years from now. But hey, man, for now,
for probably at least the next three maybe four, you
got a legitimate dude at first base that you can
rally around. And if you win and get it done
between now and then, who cares what you're paying them
(28:48):
in five years from now.
All right, let's get to it.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Hugh Mellon joins us right now on the radio program
A Little More at four, or our friend Huey Millan,
who's with us now on a Monday afternoon.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hue how are you man? I'm doing well.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Guys, how are you doing good?
Speaker 4 (00:13):
Well?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
As always, before we dive into details, man, you have
the floor, you have the con man. Give us your
take on a two point loss to the Rams that
was included with four interceptions for the third time in
Sam Darnold's career.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
What'd you make what you saw yesterday?
Speaker 5 (00:32):
Well?
Speaker 3 (00:32):
I was exceedingly disappointed.
Speaker 6 (00:34):
I mean, right after we missed the field goal, I
yelled out an F bomb that scared the dog. So
I want to talk out of both sides of my
mouth in this regard. And I was as frustrated with
Sam Darnold and his decisions as anybody. We'll talk about
all that, but you know, as this moves in past
twenty four hours, I'll say this, it's possible that what
(00:59):
happened yesterday it actually increases the chance of the Seahawks
making a deep run in the playoffs and even winning
the Super Bowl. Let me explain what I mean if,
and again I wanted them to win. I was not
strategizing this beforehand. I'm just saying, based on where we
are now, if the Seahawks have a mature response to this,
(01:20):
a competitor's response to this, what you guys tell me
what would be happening right now? Seattle had won that game.
Let's say Darnold only throws one interception, Seattle wins by
ten or twelve points.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
What would be happening right.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
People would say they're the favorite to win the whole thing. Yes,
number winning the power rankings right. Well, I've been on
a Super Bowl team that was widely known to be
the best team in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys
right during that era when they were winning Super Bowls,
and I've been on other playoff teams that weren't as dominant.
(01:55):
I don't think Seattle this year is good.
Speaker 6 (01:59):
Enough to really be, you know, the tip of the
spear of the NFL, like taking everybody's best shot. It's
a cliche, but I'm telling you it's real. You can
feel it in the stadium the fans. You know, one
little stop on a second and seven for three yards,
the place goes crazy. You're you're getting everybody's best shot.
Had Seattle won this game, you know it's possible. I'm
(02:21):
just looking at the schedule. Maybe you go down to Atlanta,
I know, on Pennix's out, but Cousins has beat people,
Atlanta beat Buffalo in that stadium. Maybe if you had
won that game and you're taking everybody's best, you know,
Minnesota's best. You know the Colts hell the Colts are
number one in the NFL, and yards they got playmakers
all around. Daniel Jones like like it's possible that they
(02:44):
could have kicked a game instead of yesterday. Now instead, Okay,
let's just draft behind using an auto racing term, right,
let's just draft behind. Let let the Rams take on
all that headwind and and and really on. On January fourth,
when the Seahawks get on that plane after having played
(03:05):
the forty nine ers in the last game of the season,
there's only three objectives for where you want to be
when you get on that plane. You want to have
one enough games to be in the playoffs and hopefully
have a good seating. Number one, you want to be healthy,
and you want to be peaking schematically from an energy standpoint.
And I just there's not many teams who can peak
(03:28):
for an entire half of the year and be good
enough to just take on everybody and stay, yeah, we're
the baddest. Everybody knows where the baddest. We're gonna come in,
give us your best shot. We're still going to bootstomp you.
Like that's rare. Maybe the Seahawks will be there next year.
Maybe this is like the twenty twelve Seas. Maybe maybe
this is one of the teams that they can just
(03:48):
as I said, draft and find a way to sneak
in and be dominant and play their best football in
January and February. So I'm trying to find a silver
lining in that. It all really depends on I think
the Dee they continue to prove it. It's going to
depend on Sam Darnold. Where is his emotional state? And
I would liken it to you know, if you scout
(04:08):
a kicker coming out of college or whatever, you're not
just scouting his leg You're scouting his mentality. Is does
this guy have the clutch? He does he relish the
game winning kick?
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Right?
Speaker 6 (04:22):
And so I think in that regard, if you can
identify with that and something simple like a kicker. Obviously
that applies to a quarterback. We don't know if this
guy has the chops to be able to rise up
and play his best football in the biggest games because
he hasn't had but a few opportunities, and of late
he hasn't performed in those opportunities.
Speaker 7 (04:41):
What is a reasonable sample size then, Hugh, He's got
three more games against playoff teams, the Colts, the Rams,
and the Niners. Is that enough of a sample size
going into this playoff? If he performs well in two
of the three or all three of the three, that.
Speaker 6 (04:55):
We should say, okay, now he can win big games. Well,
I think the Rams are you know, a test like
in a syllabus. You know that that's the test that
has the most you know, points for for your final grade. Right,
I like, I get you the Colts, but you're not
You're not gonna I don't.
Speaker 5 (05:09):
I don't.
Speaker 6 (05:10):
I don't feel like viscerally you're gonna have the same response. Now,
if the Colts are undefeated between now and then, uh,
you know, they could come in and it's conceivable that
Sam could rehabilitate himself in that game. But I feel
like it's most likely going to happen in the RAM game. Uh,
you know, depending on how the Rams do.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
But but but.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
That's the game.
Speaker 6 (05:28):
We don't We won't know for a month, and that's
gonna be a long month for him. But you know what,
that's why it's hard to play the position. He's just
got a flat out cowboy up right, and in terms
of just having real fortitude and you know, mental strength
to battle through all the crap that he's going to
hear for the next month.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Well, Humilin is with us and Hugh.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Going back to to yesterday's game, Uh, the final drive.
I said this to Dick in the open. I'm curious
about your thoughts on it. I thought there was an
opportunity or two some of it, I understand, by the way,
because of new guys like Rashid Shiheed being on the
roster and maybe Darnold taking an extra second to get
him lined up properly on that first down play from
(06:11):
the one.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Yeah, I thought.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
There was a chance to maybe squeeze in an extra
play or two on that last drive.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Did you feel that way?
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (06:20):
Yeah, I felt like they were wasting too much time.
I mean, you got to get up there. You know,
it's a fine line, because you can have a vanilla
play run from a vanilla formation and you just kind
of hope that they run a vanilla defense. You know,
I think that Kubiak, you know, it's a balance. It's like, okay,
I really think, based on what I'm seeing that this
is our best shot. But of course, as you said,
(06:41):
you got to line up with specificity, and so it
takes a few more seconds. But yeah, I think as
they review that they'll they'll they'll realize that they squandered
some seconds that could have been vital.
Speaker 5 (06:53):
Here.
Speaker 7 (06:53):
From the one oh four mark in the first quarter
till the end of the game, the Rams ran twenty
nine plays for one hundred and ten yards three point
seventy to nine yards per play, had the ball for
eleven minutes and forty three seconds. What were the adjustments
made by just the brainiac Mike McDonald in the last
three quarters of that game.
Speaker 6 (07:11):
Yeah, well, I think you had a couple of plays
where Ernest Jones got out of a gap, you know,
on a weak side lead when Emon Worry's got the
outside half of the of the beat what's called the
beg gap between the garden and tackle. Ernst Jones has
got to have the inside half of that. He didn't
get there. On a stretch play, the bubble tackle on
the left tackle for the rams, he's gonna rise up
(07:31):
to get the mic Ernstone's got to fight over the
top of that block. So in those situations, the second
level was missing in terms of the run fits. And
then in both of those plays Kobe Bryant miss tackles
at the third level. So in each of those runs
he had over thirty yards. They and so they were
(07:52):
better at the gap gaps, and they and the safeties
were filling faster so they didn't have to make the
tackle in space, could just come up and thump and
and you know, think of if you're a kicker and
you are going to make a tackle on a kickoff return,
you want to get up in the hole. You don't
want to be out there in space trying to make
(08:12):
that tackle. So if you can kind of lock into
that philosophy, well, obviously safeties are better tacklers than kickers.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
But if the.
Speaker 6 (08:21):
Safety can get up in the hole and just bring it,
you know, five or six yards at the lines from
the line of scrimmage as opposed to eight, nine or
twelve yards from the line screams, you got a better chance.
I thought they were filling faster in that regard, as
far as they played more man to man there in
the second quarter, so that they were able to run
around the blocks on the tight end screen, so they
weren't getting burned by that, you know, you know.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
And then they they just were more active.
Speaker 6 (08:47):
They brought more simulated pressures, particularly off of Stafford's right side.
He's right handed quarterback obviously, and I thought that they
had some free runners that they created and really attacked
Blitz as it was phenomenal and Dick just to close
on it, there's so much to bark about with Mike McDonald,
but you asked me on Friday aptly so about the
(09:07):
Seahawks use of excuse me, the Rams use of thirteen personnel.
That's the one running back the three tight ends, you know,
and Greg Olsen is you know, from a scheme standpoint,
he's as good analysts as there is out there, right,
and so he's on that. He works his tailoff and
over the last three games in thirteen personnel, the Rams
(09:27):
had gained two hundred and two yards against the forty
nineers one hundred and sixty seven before that one hundred
and twelve yards. They were averaging one hundred and sixty
yards per game over the last three from that personnel group,
the Seahawks holding to forty nine. They had been the
Rams at five point four yards per play. They were
two point seven. The Seahawks cut it exactly in half.
And for Matthew Stafford flying high going yeah, man, seven
(09:50):
point eight net yards per pass attempt, you know, leading
in the Seahawks. I love thirteen personnel. Well, the Seahawks
held him two point.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Seven right, wow, right?
Speaker 6 (10:00):
Not not seven yard yeah, which would be slightly under
point seven. So you know, there's just every time you dig,
every time you watch the tape, you just you just
kind of love, uh, you know what what he brings
schematically and young guys like Emon.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Worry and you know, I mean Emon Worry.
Speaker 6 (10:17):
I could just do a whole segment on him and
and Witherspoon and they just got some dogs, man that
they play together and they are feisty.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
I don't know, it's fun to watch that.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
You let me go back to Donald for a minute,
and I want to I want to ask you a
two part question, all right. I want you to give
me like a like a like a two minute answer,
because I've got a bunch of stuff we gotta squeeze
in here in the next six minutes. First of all,
I'm one, I'm curious if there was any kind of
a blueprint provided by the Rams against Sam Donald that
other teams will try and rip off.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
And then as the next quarterback, I.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Want to get your thoughts on this quote from Ernest
Jones after the game. He was talking about all the
criticism of Sam Darnald after throwing four picks.
Speaker 8 (10:57):
I mean, Sam's been bothering, right if we want to
try to define Sam by this game, and man, Sam's
been had us in every game, So for him to
sit there and say, oh, that's my fault, No, it's not.
It was plays that defensively, we could have made plays.
There were opportunities where we could have got better stops. Yeah,
I mean, like it's football, man, he's our quarterback. We
(11:18):
got his back, and we got anything to say.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Quite frankly, quite frankly, f you says Ernest Jones, what
does that mean to you as a quarterback when your
linebacker says that?
Speaker 1 (11:28):
And did the Rams provide a blueprint?
Speaker 6 (11:30):
Well, I'll take the Ernest Jones. First, I hear a
rational response from him and an emotional response. The rational
response was, look at where we are. We're here because
of all the things Samon Darnald has had. That is
absolutely true, and it's good that the defensive captain and
(11:51):
the guy with the green dot calling the plays recognize that.
Then there's an emotional response because of the nature of
Sam Donald. You know how he is.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
That's just that good guy.
Speaker 6 (12:03):
Uh, you know, professional, Uh you know how he leads
and and uh, you know, he's an ego list guy.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
I think that he's very likable.
Speaker 6 (12:13):
I think that they respect his playmaking, they respect his
toughness and what have you and and what he's done.
And you know, look, he came into the game against
the Rams. He was he was number one in the
NFL and QBR, which has a higher correlation to winning
than passer rating, and he was number one in the
subjective part of it, Pro Football Focus. He was the
number one graded quarterback. So so I think that Ernest
(12:36):
Jones sees that and he probably knows, hey, this has
to work, right because nothing's Jalen Milro has been a
nothing burger, right. Drew Locke by all accounts is going
to be a career backup like this has to work,
and so maybe there's a little bit of a self
preservation in that. But I just think it's what I
said before he recognized that. And then as far as
(12:58):
as Donald the blueprint, Look, I think the Rams, I've
really studied them on a number of games, and I
tried to convey it to you guys last week. I
think that they are really talented on defense at all levels.
They are extremely well coached by Chris Sula, grandson of
Don Shula, And you know, I think they're they're hard,
(13:19):
hard to move the football, and they're second second in points. Uh,
they're second and yards, second and third down, you know,
first in in uh preventing.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Yak after reception.
Speaker 6 (13:30):
I mean, you just go through the matrix that that
team when you watch them on they disguise well. So
if you've got all those parts and they can play
some dime deep, if they've got a lot of dbs
that can really trigger on the ball, they can they
can squad on the ball. And then the that that interception,
the on the on the sideline on the third quarter,
(13:53):
the out route to J s N. You watch, uh,
you watch this corner, he like, he starts to go
turn into a three quarter turn or see me a
half turn with his knees in, and he's bailing to
go defend the deep route. And then when he reads
that it's an out route, he turns his hips and
just triggers so hard. That was a I don't know
if he's a Pro Bowl player. That was a all
(14:15):
pro level hip turn and drive on a football. So
I just think they got good dudes. And the disguising
I don't think there's a blueprint. I mean, you can
try and disguise him. And also, you know what, and
Darnald had a lot of pressure. There was a lot
of times where he there was a second or third
open receiver and he couldn't get to him because of
(14:38):
the pressure.
Speaker 7 (14:39):
Hugh, you talked about the narrative of what we'd be
talking about if the Seahawks were to win that game.
I want to talk about the narrative of Sam Darnold
if Jason Myers makes that kick. If Jason Myers makes
that kick, Sam led them to twenty one plays for
one hundred and forty yards and a touchdown seven of
seven eighty yards on one drive, five of eight thirty
nine yards on the next Can we take some solace
(15:02):
in that part of Sam Darnold that when it was
that you know what hit the fan in the last
two drives, he did a really nice job.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
Yes, absolutely, I mean put you say, put it in
a position to win. I don't know how how how
much you would describe sixty one yard field goal as
a position to win, but but certainly for him, I
think he'll derive confidence from that. I'm not in his head,
but that's that's a good close. And then the other
part of it is that's difficult when you've already got
(15:32):
four interceptions under your belt. You know, it's hard for
a quarterback to push that aside and just say, hey,
I'm still gonna have to try. And you know, particularly
in those situations where I'm gonna have to be a
little bit aggressive to try and get some chunk plays.
I can't go check down Charlie just because I've had
four picks, right like, for us to win this game,
I'm gonna I'm gonna need to find some you know,
(15:53):
mailbox down the field that I can stuff this ball into.
And so yeah, absolutely, Dick there you can you can
takes some some I don't know, Solace, but in encouragement
from that, all.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
Right, one minute, and I swear to God, if it's
not a minute, I'm gonna cut you off, all right,
because we've got to get to a break. First of all,
great news that Grey's Abel has avoided a significant injury.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
He's day to day, says McDonald's. So great news there.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
And then I'm wondering what's going on with Kenny Walker
man last drive of the game. He's not even on
the field, that is all Zach Charbonay. And then McDonald
came out today and said Ken is showing he deserves
some more opportunities, to which I would ask, what's he
shown that he doesn't deserve opportunities? Can you explain what
they're thinking is with Zach Sharbonay over Kenny Walker?
Speaker 1 (16:37):
At times.
Speaker 6 (16:39):
Maybe they think that Zach Sharbonay is just a little
bit more reliable, but on a successful percentage, google it
that we don't have the time. While Sarboney is forty
four point eight percent, Canine is forty four point one percent.
That's kind of like a batting average, but the slugging percentage.
To carry out the analogy, well, well, Canine is sixth
(17:02):
in the NFL of all twenty nine running backs who
have one hundred more yards excuse me attempts rushing attempts,
Canine is six in the NFL, and explosive run percent
Zach is is dead last at three point eight twenty
ninth out of twenty ninth a plus twenty runs. Oh
and also he's Zach Sarbonny is dead last in yards pertemp.
(17:24):
He's dead last in explosive run percentage.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
Well.
Speaker 6 (17:28):
While Canine has seven runs of twenty or more yards,
Zach has won. While Canine has nineteen rushes of ten
yards or more, Zach has four. I don't get it.
My eyes tell me that there's just way more explosiveness,
more bursts, even as a receiver out of the backfield,
catching that checkdown in the left alley and zooming up
(17:51):
the sideline like he was on a turbo button on
an Xbox like either's just your eyes tell you he's
much more explosive. The numbers tell you he's much more explosive,
equally reliable in terms of just kind of grinding out
the tough yards. I don't get it to meet Canine
as the guy, and it's not close. I love it
all right, great stuff.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
We'll talk Friday, man, see you bout it with us.
We're gonna break big news for the Mavengers. We'll explain
next on ninety three three kJ a r F.
Speaker 4 (18:16):
M from the R and R Foundation Specialist Broadcast Studio.
Now back to Softie and Dick on your home for
the Huskies, Kraken and the twelfth Man Sports Radio ninety
three point three kJ R FM to the game.
Speaker 9 (18:32):
Hold up, he touch horolight, scorchave it home, hold on
to the plans, catch to the light.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
Duane.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Hi, There you go, the voice of Aaron Goldsmith.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Hopefully we will hear a lot more of that in
the next five years. The Mariners made it official Josh
Naylor a press conference tomorrow morning at ten thirty at
te Mobile Park, where they will introduce him for the
foreseeable future as the first basement of the Sea Attult.
Mariners reports now trickling out Dick five years, ninety two
(19:18):
point five million dollars eighteen point five million per season,
which makes him, I believe, the one two, three, four,
five six seven eighth highest paid first baseman average annual
per year based on last year's numbers. Some of these
numbers may go up, but you know he's right there
in the top ten. I mean, I just think it's
(19:40):
a great deal. It's a team friendly deal by the Mariners,
and the fact that it's five years, I'm totally fine with.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
We talked about this on Thursday.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
I'm not going to sit around and worry about where
this thing is going to be when he's thirty two
years old in two thoy thirty, if Josh Naylor can
give them a solid three four years of this contract
and help them get to a wor World Series, and
the price I have to pay is maybe overpaying a
little bit in five years from now, when, by the way,
in five years from now, eighteen point five million might
be the twentieth highest paid first baseman in Major League Baseball.
(20:11):
I think it's great. So get him in, get him
locked in. I was expecting this to happen. I was
slightly slightly nervous it wasn't going to But I thought
the idea of losing Josh Nayler to anybody in free agency,
barring some ediot offering him fifty million dollars a year,
would have been a total disaster.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
And it's not going down that road.
Speaker 7 (20:31):
No, it's a fabulous deal. I mean I was guessing
at the price.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
Essay.
Speaker 7 (20:34):
My mom was actually asking me, what are we going
to pay him? And I said, well, I say.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Is this before after she mother f Sam Darnold by
the way in the midst Okay got it in the
mid Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
Absolutely.
Speaker 7 (20:44):
I quickly changed the subject to Jeffshonnaylor to make her
feel better. I said, probably a hundred. But if we're
lucky ninety, that's what I said, So we're we're closer
to her lucky side than we are what I what
I actually thought he could end up getting. I just
I just marveled these numbers, guys t Mobile Park last year. Yeah,
three sixty batting average, ten to fifteen ops right at
te Mobile Park. And he has said he's like maybe
(21:06):
the only person ever that said I really enjoy hitting
at this park.
Speaker 1 (21:08):
I mean, there's.
Speaker 7 (21:09):
Probably somebody else that said that down the road, but
it certainly doesn't happen very often. I'm just wondering, is
is this a shift in philosophy by the ownership or
is this just the twenty twenty five version of the
Luis Castile deal.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
I don't know the answer to that question.
Speaker 7 (21:25):
Because it's basically what they did with Castelle, right. They
traded for him, he was great for him down the stretch,
took him to the playoffs, and.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
So they rewarded him.
Speaker 7 (21:32):
So I don't know if it's a shift in philosophy.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Or not, but I love it so among Mariner I
guess I don't want to say regulars because Nigeler only
played fifty four games with the team this year, and
he played twenty five games I believe at home, but
among the everyday players at the end of the year,
and it's hard to look at a twenty six game
sample and think a lot. He had the highest ops
(21:56):
at home among anybody ten point fifteen, as you said,
compared to nine ozho two for Polonco, eight ninety three
for cal Raley and in forty three career games, which
is not again a ton, but it's not nothing.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Eight seventy ops at team mobiles.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
So that's one of the reasons why you could not
justify this guy walking that you finally found a guy
who you know delivers at tea mobile. He's a clutch player,
The players love him, the fans love him. He wants
to be or he brings energy in a spark to
the clubhouse.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
How in the hell can you let that guy walk?
Speaker 2 (22:28):
But then to answer your question, is this a shift
in philosophy, Well, let's see what else they do right right,
because it looks like they've saved maybe a little bit
of money. And maybe one of the reasons why they
did save some money is because they went to the
fifth year, which we'll talk more about in a second.
But if they go out and use that extra money
to get a right fielder, maybe a third baseman, to
(22:50):
kind of bring Williamson along, maybe even slower than what.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
They've been doing some bullpen arms.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
I know they made the trade for the guy from
the Dodgers over the weekend, but not expecting a lot
from that kid.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
I just want to see what they do.
Speaker 2 (23:03):
And I've said it kind of sarcastically that look, man,
if there's ever a time in John Stanton's life, Chris
Larsen all the owners of this baseball team to wake
up and just be thinking World Series every day, it's
right now and asking themselves what have they done today
to make this team better to give them a shot
to make the World Series. So this is great that
they're bringing them back. It cannot be all of it though.
(23:25):
They cannot be done, and there's no way that they're done.
It's the seventeenth of November. The season doesn't start for
five months. Can you imagine the next five months, And
this is the only thing they do of significance over
the offseason.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
No way. I'm not buying that. I'm not buying it.
I will put my neck out for them. I'm not
buying well.
Speaker 7 (23:46):
And then the data is there because they said that
their payroll is going to be where it ended last year.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
That's right, twenty million off of that, so Garver's money,
all that stuff. So I'm looking. You know, I might
be the world's biggest bozo. Don't answer that, by the way,
but I might be the world's biggest sucker. I'm gonna
stick my neck out and say that, Dick, they are
not done, that they are motivated by what happened this year,
and they're not done.
Speaker 7 (24:10):
I'd agree they're not done. But I think this is
the biggest move. I mean, I don't think they. I mean,
this is clearly the A move of an A. They'll
probably do an A B in a C and Polonko's
probably the B. Yeah, I mean let's hope Polonco's the
C right and there's actually a B because they need
another hitter. That's like a B move, and then they
need to bring in a left handed Marietta add if
(24:30):
they add another hitter and they add a reliever and
they bring Polonco back, I am satisfied with the off season.
And then let's see where they are in July and
then go get a big slugger at the trade deadline,
like you got two sluggers this year.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Well, I think I think there's a couple of things
for me. I don't want to fall into a trap
of just saying do X, y Z and I'm satisfied. Like,
let's see what other players go for, right, Yeah, Let's
see what other players sign for. Like the guy that
Chuck wanted to sign with the Dodgers a year ago,
whatever his name was. There were two of them with
the same name, remember the guy, and it was like nothing.
(25:04):
It was a turd of a deal, Like what are
we doing? We can't get involved in that. So I
want to see what other deals look like Number one
and the number two. I think it's pretty simple for me, guys.
I want to compare the roster that we had in
Game seven against Toronto to the roster we have on
opening day. How much has it improved? I want to
(25:25):
play add on how much better has this roster gotten
since that final game against Toronto. So look again, it
doesn't need to be big money deal. I don't care
about the money. I don't care about not spending money.
I don't care about spending money. I just want better players.
I want better players, and sometimes that takes doing that
spending cash. But maybe the reason why they got I remember
(25:47):
David Samson was on with You and Me on Thursday
night of last week, the former president of the Marlins,
and there was a rumor going around that it would
take a five year deal, not a four year deal
to get Josh Shnailor done. This is what David Samson
said Thursday night about that.
Speaker 5 (26:04):
For me, are you really going to go five years
for Josh Nayler? Is that really a plan that you
would suggest is proper? I just don't know that I
would do.
Speaker 10 (26:14):
They though, think though that hey, if there's ever a year,
though David, to maybe go a little bit above what
we're comfortable with, maybe at another year. It's right now
because of the window that we're in with this pitching
staff and the roster that we have.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Is that fair? Again?
Speaker 5 (26:31):
I did that all the time. You know, you want
to get the players so badly during the offseason. You
want to win the offseason because it feels good to
the fans, it feels good to you, and you give
the extra year. But all of a sudden, that extra
year comes quick and you are despondent, beyond repair. And
that is the toughest battle the front office's face when
(26:51):
they look themselves in the mirror. What's an extra year?
I probably won't even have a job, and half the
fans I just can get good press for the now,
can have a great press conference. Let me not worry
about it. But as an owner or a team president,
you've got to think about that because that extra year comes.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
So he'll be thirty three in the middle of his
fifth year with the Mariners. He'll be twenty nine next June. Okay,
he'll be thirty three. If the Mariners get this done
between now and then, I promise you they won't give
a damn what they're paying him in two thousands.
Speaker 7 (27:23):
That's right, But I mean I'd be shocked if he's
the starting first base on that.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
Fine, so what.
Speaker 7 (27:28):
Donned so what so? And I mean, hey, we got
it done. If it took the fifth year to get
it done, fine, I'm usually on the side of David
Sampson on these particular things, but I know you are.
But this is Naylor. Naylor is different, right, because we
have seen what kind of fit he is. Part of
the reason I'm worried about bringing free agents in is
(27:50):
because I don't know if they're.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
Gonna fit, right.
Speaker 7 (27:53):
That's one of the main reasons that I don't like
to overpay for other people's free agents. This I already
know is going to work. I'm you know, with my
own eyes. So therefore I'm much more likely to get
one to yea reasonably give up the fifty.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I just would love to know. And I'm trying to
look it up where eighteen point five mil would have
been five years ago, and where it would have been
ten years ago, and where it's going to be in
five years from now. I just to me, it's not
even a factor, not even a factor, because by then,
hopefully the Mariners will have a lot of other young
guys like Emerson maybe that aren't making chef squat and
(28:27):
they can make up for Y. Yeah, they'll overpay a
little bit, and who knows, maybe they'll have to trade
the guy to dump his salary like they did Cano
in five years from now. But hey, man, for now,
for probably at least the next three maybe four, you
got a legitimate dude at first base that you can
rally around. And if you win and get it done
between now and then, who cares what you're paying them
(28:48):
in five years from now.
Dave 'Softy' Mahler and Dick Fain News
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